There’s nothing that would make this a test case of any sort. Copyright covers more than verbatim copies. It explicitly includes derivative works, and not just slavish copies. “Substantial similarity” is really the key test used to determine if there was a copy. Even if the cosplayers could defend themselves, they would certainly lose if this was the only defence they asserted.
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Thanks. I guess I need to turn my bullshit meter on myself more often.
Good way to get some publicity for your carpet company though.
That hotel probably wont be 100% full next year if they really stick it to these guys.
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I’m just mad that you only posted a picture of the carpet, and not the cosplayers hiding on it. It would have been nice to see if it worked as camouflage.
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This is the kind of thng that I find SO bloody stupid, that, even that I don’t care at all, I must comment.
Trademark? Copyright? On some totally ugly carpet design? Fuck that shit. There are more important things going on in the world to worry about. Feh.
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I’d like some fabric made like the carpet at this local place for kids called Paradise park. It uses this wavy grid pattern that makes it look like it’s under water - or you’re drunk.
Is there anything stopping the camo designers from giving their design away for free? Sounds like a great plan, and then don’t go back to that marriot next year.
Weirder things have happened regarding hotel carpets and copyright:
"Nadelstern v. Couristan, Inc. et al., No. 06 CV 0248 (JFK) (S.D.N.Y. June 26, 2006).
In October 2006, Paula Nadelstern, a prominent quilt designer, filed a copyright infringement claim against the carpet manufacturer Couristan, Convention Center Hotel Corporation, Hilton Hotels Corporation, and the interior design firm Wilson & Associates alleging copyright infringement of thirteen of her kaleidoscope designs after they reproduced them on carpeting. The carpet manufacturer, Couristan, admitted in its reply that, "the interior designer firm Wilson & Associates 'provided copies of the designs and instructed Couristan to use the designs in the carpeting.
The case was settled without a trial."
http://www.tabberone.com/Trademarks/CopyrightLaw/Quilting/QuiltingCourtCases.shtml
In this case, they used her (copyrighted and published in a book of her art quilts) designs, so similar that when the National Quilt Association show was held in Houston, she had numerous quilters coming up to her and congratulating her on her prominent “sale.” Then, when her lawyers contacted the carpet manufacturer, their lawyers claimed that she couldn’t copyright her “derivative works” because she had made them out of commercial printed fabrics, each of which was copyrighted by its respective designer. Fortunately for artists everywhere, this argument didn’t pass the smell test and the case was settled. A plaque at the Hilton now identifies her as the source of the design.
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Mostly penniless? Dragon•Con brings in over $40 million to the downtown Atlanta area over Labor Day weekend.
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so she has a suit against Gravatar pending, too?
i don’t think the luxury hotel industry will really miss the patronage of mostly penniless and slovenly hordes of the unwashed.
Wow, that’s as ignorant as it is shitty and insulting. Many of the people I know that participate in these type things have successful tech jobs. Maybe you should quit projecting your own failures in life on others?
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It wasn’t the hotel that sent them the letter it was the carpet manufacture Couristan, Inc. You can’t even throw up in Vegas without hitting a Couristan carpet.
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I still don’t think they should stop selling the design. Camo made from a photograph of a thing is, without any doubt, an entirely new work which could not reasonably be confused with or take sales away from the thing from which it was derived. In fact it adds value to the original because without the carpet to match with, the fabric is simply ugly and entirely not funny.
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Fair enough. I meant to be getting the point across that fans can be a bit…fanatical… about making things right.
You’re quite right about who sent the letter.
Well that’s like, your opinion, man.
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I almost tripped over one of them at the con. Those were damn good costumes.
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well, i stopped gaming largely because the majority of folks i knew who did fit my description, so your little comeback seems not to pertain.
i do have a lot of failures in life, most of which are due to following my dreams, being honest, and trying to do things the right way instead of being a half-assed hack, instead of toeing the line like a rational person. i guess i got what i deserve, but really i don’t see the relevance.
Most people who casually insult others don’t see the relevance when it is turned back on them.
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Have a snickers bar. You turn into a real diva when you’re hungry.
