"googlerandy" <occasionaluse@hotmail.com> wrote in
news:1118552928.448516.165680@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:
Can anyone tell me what is copyright'able about a "TOP 20 list".
Check here:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=%22Travelzoo+Top+20%2
8TM%29%22&btnG=Search
What exactly has this particular website/company TM'd?
I've seen them list it as:
"Company_name Top 20(TM) list" and also when just refering to their
"Top 20(TM)" list.
What does this mean to the rest of us? "Can" I create a travel site
and have my OWN "Top 20" list? - or do they have some legal precedence
on the whole "TOP 20 list/travel specials" thing...I guess my question
is WHAT EXACTLY HAVE THEY trademarked by placing that (TM) where it
is.
They are CLAIMING a trademark on "Travelzoo Top 20". It is not a registered
trademark (R). Of course one might wonder (SM) is more appropriate in this
case.
1. In their disclaimer, regarding "custom graphics, button icons" they
say those things "may not be copied, imitated or used". They happen to
have a simple icon that says "TOP 20". Does this mean that I can't
create my own icon that also says "TOP 20"? I can think of several
sites that have a "Top 20" graphic somewhere on their page.
Disclaimer: This is not legal advice.
Immitated is probably an overreach here. You'd have no problem creating
your own "Top 20" button. A "Travelzoo Top 20" would have the potential to
get you in trouble, depending upon how you use it.
Coke can mention Pepsi on their website. They just can't claim that Pepsi
is their product or Coke is Pepsi's product.
How about this...
2. "...All Web-site materials, including, without limitation, the
logo, design, text, graphics, other files, and the selection and
arrangement thereof are Copyright..." - What is meant by ARRANGEMENT?
Suppose you gather photographs of various paintings by masters. For the
most part the photographs would not be copyrightable if they were images of
existing works with no significant contribution of their own.
No suppose you pict from your selection of non-copyright photos and create
a book, "The 100 Greatest Works of Art of the Masters" and you grouped them
by, say, subjects (e.g. landscapes, portrait, etc.)
Your arrangement and selection of the works would be copyrightable subject
matter even though the pictures it contained would not be.
What is unique about their arrangement? Most of their pages have a
simple left-side navigation/top logo/ and content boxed in somewhere
between the two. There are 1000's of sites with that layout.
If they sued you for copyright infringement, that's what they'd have to
prove. :-)
