LegalEagle’s 35-minute tear down of ‘Established Titles’ is excellent

This is why I only buy souvenirs from Rodney Morelli’s International Cloud Registry

4 Likes

I love Legal Eagle and watched this the other day when he released it. Kept seeing some of the creators I like doing sponsorship ads for Established Titles and it felt like a scam. Definitely was, although I will say the company is pretty clear (on its website) no one is actually a “Laird” or Lady. They just forget you have to be honest in your ads, too, and that requires ensuring those you’re sponsoring put out accurate info.

Look, if buying land could make you an earl, I’d do it just so I could go to all the noble gatherings and tell them to fuck off into the sun, the rich pricks.

6 Likes

That is true. But it is not illegal to call yourself Lord, Lady or Laird as long (in the UK) as you do not attempt to use the title to gain advantage from it.

They are joke gifts to hang in the toilet (or above your desk if you want people to laugh at you).

1 Like

I like how “you can’t register tiny novelty plots of land” magically turned into “you don’t have to register souvenir plots”,

2 Likes

Although there are still companies that will let you go to their stockholder’s meetings (which often have free food) even if you still have just a single share, although many are getting wise to this trick and require some minimum number of shares.

2 Likes

possibly this episode?

3 Likes

Indeed. I have something like 25 shares in a corporate realty firm and keep thinking I should go to the annual meetings just to blow raspberries at them (I used to work for them back in the day, got stocks and stock options as part of our comp).

3 Likes

Yes, and that’s the stance Established Titles has taken. Unfortunately a number of their promotional advertisers are wording the whole deal as a legal right you gain when buying the novelty product, leading to a lot of misconceptions about what exactly they’re shilling. Due to this a controversy has been spawned and has resulted in number of videos explaining either side of the situation.

2 Likes

I’ve started my own registry and anointed myself the Contessa of Rittenhouse Square.

5 Likes

Does China or Argentina have the title of Lord applied to certain owners of land? I figured that is why it is Scotland, because IIRC it is based on a thing that was real. Same with England and Wales where people still have titles tied to estates. I think the majority of people in “the West” think of Europe when it comes to royalty (though most places at one point had a monarchy). So this scheme could work elsewhere, but it helps to grift Americans from places that speak English. Heck, you can’t sell German lord titles because the title of lord is Herr, and but Herr is also “Mister”, so you would be paying for the default surname!

China also had royalty so maybe there is a grift in China selling titles there.

Anyway - this is on my listen list, hope to listen today.

1 Like

Yep, that’s the one!

3 Likes

Not to mention the even scammer companies that will sell you a one square inch plot on the Moon, and asteroid or a star, all things they don’t have any ownership in to sell in the first place.

3 Likes

Don’t forget the “citizen of the Moon” thing.

I guess it’s nice that Established Titles seems to be paying for a lot of Youtube sponsorships lately, at least?

4 Likes

It’s true, you can call yourself whatever you want, as long as you’re not doing it to commit a crime or fraud, and I honestly don’t think people buying these souvenirs would even be able to commit fraud with their titles. Then again…

1 Like

Maybe the could help, but if history is any guide a good suit or a pilots uniform would work better. It’s often the small things that fool people.

2 Likes

I just wanted to point out that for a time I’d put Lord Lastname on my medical forms for preferred name (eg a Sith lord), and no one ever used it :frowning:

2 Likes

There’s a site that sells german orders of nobiilty. they also sell Scottish lordships, and Russian Tsardoms

Duke of Merania
79,90€

During the Middle Ages, the nobility title “Duke of Merania” was personally awarded by Frederick Barbarossa – and now it can be affixed to your name! Until this day, the origin of the name “Merania” is uncertain. It may mean something like “Land by the sea”. Considering the fact that Adriatic regions where ruled all the way from Bavaria, this name certainly seems appropriate.
Need help? Here is how to redeem your voucher correctly

Become a tsar or tsarina

In cooperation with our partner from the Bashkortostan region in southwest Russia, we can offer you the title of tsar together with a share of a country estate. It is a small forest with a clearing in the centre, which you may visit and use by arrangement. By owning a share, you become the tsar or tsarina of Marinovka, i.e. the ruler over the country estate. Your children will receive the title of “prince” or “princess”. A tsar or tsarina is a person who is considered to be the ruling, dominant, most powerful person in the area indicated in the root word. The title tsar is associated with a territory, for example, the “tsar of Russia”.

Incidentally, James I sold baronetcies to fund the colonization of Ireland.

1 Like

It’s a clean grift, I guess. They literally get people to send them money for nothing. As though there’s anything stopping me from calling myself Duchess of Merania right now.

3 Likes

Also, Established Titles’ customers don’t even really own the land. Their name is just entered in the company’s registry and there’s a contract that the company won’t develop that square foot of land. This is what led Legal Eagle to call the scheme “NFTs for lands”; you don’t own it but you have certain nebulous rights in it.

1 Like

If I remember the video correctly (saw it a few days ago and didn’t watch it again now), the lordship rule in Scotland applies to people who own land in certain historic noble holdings. I think Established Titles did buy their land in one of those holdings, but two things keep their customers from legally using noble titles: 1) Small souvenir plots don’t entitle you to claim a title, and 2) Established Titles doesn’t actually confer ownership of the square-foot plots to their customers.