[d at DCC] (US) Copyright or Trademark issue?

[Russell McOrmond]

Scott Elcomb wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> I came across a story from Newser today that kinda makes me shake my head.
> 
> http://www.newser.com/story/49796/citigroup-sues-pawnshop-over-similar-name-logo.html
> 
> The article claims this as a Copyright issue but strikes me as a
> Trademark problem.


>From the NYPost article it references:

  "A Citigroup spokeswoman said, 'As a matter of course, we work to
protect the value of our trademarks.'"

  This is yet another reminder of why RMS is right, and that the term
"Intellectual property" is simply a bad idea.  It was the uninformed
reporter (Andy Geller) that injected the incorrect word "copyright" into
a story that clearly related to a trademark dispute.

  The idea that professional writers who believe they make their living
from "copyright" have no idea what the term actually means shouldn't
surprise anyone here ;-)   In their case they most often confuse the
term "contract" with "copyright".

-- 
 Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/>
 Please help us tell the Canadian Parliament to protect our property
 rights as owners of Information Technology. Sign the petition!
 http://www.digital-copyright.ca/petition/ict/

 "The government, lobbied by legacy copyright holders and hardware
  manufacturers, can pry my camcorder, computer, home theatre, or
  portable media player from my cold dead hands!"