Few things are as stupid as copyright law. IKEA is suing a website ikeahackers.net for its use of the word IKEA in its name. The website is run by IKEA enthusiasts who come up with ingenious ways of using IKEA’s products. The company is persecuting its own fans for liking it. Because nobody should take IKEA’s name in vain, or something.
This is beyond stupid.
Clarissa's Blog 
Well, the existence of all those lawyers has to be justified somehow….
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Trademarks have to be asserted or the company loses the trademark.
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The present system of copyright has become completely unrelated to the realities of the modern world.
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I agree, this is beyond ridiculous.
That said, as someone who has actually received the occasional $.72 royalty check for a piece of music I’ve written, because someone purchases a single copy and just photocopies enough for the whole chorus, I wouldn’t like to see copyright law disappear completely. 🙂 Because most of the time people do seem to respect the law and not just outright steal multiple copies…or at least often enough that those sizes of check are pretty rare nowadays…
–J
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Of course, it shouldn’t disappear completely. But it is acquiring really bizarre dimensions, which is a problem. Especially in educational settings.
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The destruction of entire industries because huge technology corporations don’t respect creators suggests otherwise. Copyright needs to be made stronger. Think of other people please Clarissa.
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It’s stupid trademark, not stupid copyright, in this case, but yes, the intellectual property law has become bizarre.
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Yes, of course, trademark. I should not blog early in the morning because I’m all over the place.
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Copyright and patents are against free-market principles.
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Copyright and patents are against free-market principles.
This is not true. The person who works to create something must have some way of earning a living. Copyrights and patents are a way of assuring this. Admittedly, copyright lasts too long while patents expire too quickly. Trademarks are a different issue. I have the haunting fear that someday it will be impossible for anyone to legally utter any sound at all, since everything is a protected symbol which can be used only to market a specific family of products. Then, Kirkegaard will be right: All one, finally, can do is stand in silence before the gods.
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I knew a guy who tried to start a wiffle ball league, but was shut down by the owners of that trademark. The problem is that a company has to protect their trademark aggressively. If they don’t, someone down the road can use it freely (and perhaps inappropriately) with the excuse that the company didn’t care in the past, so why now?
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