Copyright and Cartoons

[labradorian]

One of the things you gotta do to keep a trademark or copyright is "vigorously defend"it. That means if you know about an infringement, how ever trivial, you gotta do something about it. Day care centers around here are always gettin ‘notices’ about Disney or WB characters that are visible to the public. And why the small town 100 year old McDonalds Resturant gets hassled even tho they don’t sell burgers (Hmm, the Arches don’t sell real burgers either but…) If the name kleenex,formica, or bandaid appears in an article or fiction without the circle c the publisher gets a letter and prints a correction.

TRADEMARKS can be eroded, and have to be vigourously defended. COPYRIGHTS don’t erode, even if you don’t bother following up on infringements. They subsist for the statutory term whether you want to enforce your copyright rights or not.