Re: I'll let the Freemasons know Debian is distributing their trademark
William Ballard writes:
> Regarding
> http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2005/01/msg00312.html
>
> I'll let the Freemasons know Debian is distributing their Trademarked
> logo and diluting their trademark.
>
> I'm also going to write letters to Duracell, Namco, and Hummer.
>
> I don't think it's right to distribute other people's trademarked images
> as merchandise, even if it's free. It's fundamentally different than
> reviewing the product in a magazine -- which has a purpose. The purpose
> of this is to market Debian and entice people to use it using other
> people's trademarked property.
Given that your original bug report (#289764) on the question used
"copyright" when "trademark" or "trade dress" would have been
appropriate, that your comment "illegal to distribute in Germany" is
wrong (as previously discussed on this list), and that those images
are provided for end-user use and not to promote a commercial product,
I suspect that neither you nor the purported rights owners would have
any traction in court.
Michael Poole
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