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RE: Controversy over BDSM symbol - 6/25/2008 7:21:03 AM   
shivermetimbers


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When I think of coming to the forums to learn something, threads like the one you started here really spike my interest.  I think back when I first learned about a community, to use the term loosly, of those who identify within the BDSM realm,  and "the symbol".  The various claims of the symbols meanings, and the confusion it created with me as to know, "who is actually telling the truth here?"

Though I could never begin to attempt to give a comment regarding the copywrite issues, as I haven't the slightest clue about copywrites, the articles themselves did clear up much of my confusion regarding the claims of what the symbol meant, it's origins, etc.

Thanks for helping me learn.

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(in reply to mistoferin)
Profile   Post #: 21
RE: Controversy over BDSM symbol - 6/25/2008 7:37:46 AM   
Madame4a


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From: Washington, DC area
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quote:

ORIGINAL: EvilKitty

I was "leather" before I was "BDSM", so I've been wearing (& painting) the Leather Pride flag for many years. One of the reasons I've never bothered to learn Quagmyr's trikele is because it had already had many meanings for me. As a pagan, I know druidics who use a similar emblem. As an SCAer, the Kingdom I live in uses a blue & white triskelian emblem. As an artist, I was doodling celtic spirals with 3 arms, ie. a "triskele" since my teens, and, as a SciFi fan, I'd seen something similar on Star Trek somewhere.
So, the "new" meaning of a triskele, as long as it's metal & black with holes in it, seemed shortsighted to me. All the more so when, early on, we knew that Tony had given the flag emblem freely to the pansexual community & that the artist of the triskele was being VERY proprietary about his piece of art. It seemed from the beginning like a way for him to make money & nothing else. It didn't seem very pretty or distinctive or very much like I had imagined after reading "O".
I've always loved the Black & Blue & Black & Blue & always with a Heart aspect of the Leather Pride flag. I've had stickers on my car for over a dozen years; sometimes long strips of the colors, sometimes a flag shape, sometimes cut into the shape of the state of Florida. No one but BDSMers have EVER approached me about them & it's always nice to be waved & smiled at on the highway!
Whew, long-winded this afternoon! There's my 2 pfennig's worth!
hugs from Lady Cat


yep ... me too..

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Profile   Post #: 22
RE: Controversy over BDSM symbol - 6/25/2008 9:33:46 AM   
Alumbrado


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quote:

ORIGINAL: CalifChick

I wasn't going with my personal, thought-up opinion Alumbrado.  I was going with the standards of the trademark office and how they have operated for many, many years.

Do you really think you could take a well known symbol (of a tv network, of a cereal manufacturer, whatever), stick three holes in it and try to claim it as your own?? 

Cali





This is from the Copyright Office links repeatedly posted...

How is a copyright different from a patent or a trademark?
Copyright protects original works of authorship, while a patent protects inventions or discoveries. Ideas and discoveries are not protected by the copyright law, although the way in which they are expressed may be. A trademark protects words, phrases, symbols, or designs
identifying the source of the goods or services of one party and distinguishing them from those of others.




This is from the 'Trademark office'...

A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination of words, phrases, symbols or designs, that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others.
  • A service mark is the same as a trademark, except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product. Throughout this booklet, the terms "trademark" and "mark" refer to both trademarks and service marks.

Do Trademarks, Copyrights and Patents protect the same things?
No. Trademarks, copyrights and patents all differ. A copyright protects an original artistic or literary work; a patent protects an invention...
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/tac/doc/basic/trade_defin.htm




And back to the Copyright Office on what constitutes creating a copyrightable work from older material...

A "derivative work,” that is, a work that is based on (or derived from) one or more already existing works, is copyrightable if it includes what the copyright law calls an “original work of authorship.” Derivative works, also known as “new versions,” include such works as translations, musical arrangements, dramatizations, fictionalizations, art reproductions, and condensations. Any work in which the editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other modifications represent, as a whole, an original work of authorship is a derivative work or new version.
 
Examples of derivative works:
 The following examples show some of the many different types of derivative works:
  • Sculpture (based on a drawing)
  • Drawing (based on a photograph)
  • Lithograph (based on a painting)

The copyright in a derivative work covers only the additions, changes, or other new material appearing for the first time in the work. It does not extend to any preexisting material and does not imply a copyright in that material.




If Quagmyr were selling BDSM soup in cans with that triskelion on it, then the symbol would need to be a trademark.

Since he is not, it clearly falls under the copyright laws regarding visual art, and he is clearly the owner of that copyright, with the attendant rights to say who can or cannot use it.

If someone else already held the copyright to the original triskelion, then it would be a different story. Since they do not, Quagmyr's modifications represent an original work.

If Quagmyr were claiming that his copyright gave him ownership of all trikelions, he would be wrong... since there is ample evidence that he has never claimed any such thing, it is ( like the other claims of wrongdoing on his part) simply a non-issue.



Feel free to provide your links to the 'the standards of the trademark office and how they have operated for many, many years', though, if they are completely the opposite of the ones I've linked to, I would like to read them.



(in reply to CalifChick)
Profile   Post #: 23
RE: Controversy over BDSM symbol - 6/25/2008 9:41:19 AM   
CalifChick


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It's not worth the pissing contest.  It's not worth dragging a box out of the deep recesses of my dusty garage with binders full of correspondence, examples, memos, etc., on things I've been involved with over the years regarding trademarks and copyrights. 

Cali


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(in reply to Alumbrado)
Profile   Post #: 24
RE: Controversy over BDSM symbol - 6/25/2008 9:43:58 AM   
Alumbrado


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quote:

It's not worth the pissing contest.  It's not worth dragging a box out of the deep recesses of my dusty garage with binders full of correspondence, examples, memos, etc., on things I've been involved with over the years regarding trademarks and copyrights. 

Cali



  Yeah those pesky old  facts simply aren't worth the trouble, hmmmmm?

(in reply to CalifChick)
Profile   Post #: 25
RE: Controversy over BDSM symbol - 6/25/2008 9:46:40 AM   
CalifChick


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Joined: 10/28/2007
From: California
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Why Alumbrado?  What does it matter? This isn't personal for me, I have nothing to prove.  You believe what you believe and I believe what I believe.  Proving a point isn't worth the time and effort (and frankly, the scariness) of navigating that deep into my garage.

Cali


_____________________________

AKA "The Undisputed Goddess of Sarcasm", "Big Bad Cali" and "Yum Bum". Advisor to the Subbie Mafia, founding member of the W.A.C. and the Judgmental Bitches Brigade, member of the Clan of the Scarlet O'Hair-a's and Team Troll

(in reply to Alumbrado)
Profile   Post #: 26
RE: Controversy over BDSM symbol - 6/25/2008 9:51:46 AM   
Alumbrado


Posts: 5560
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All you have to do is link to the trademark office where it says the opposite of my links.

Whether or not you want to believe what the links say is not my problem.

If you want to smear someone like Quagmyr based on your uninformed opinion, that is also your business.

Why it matters is that I am in the business of copyrighting and trademarking my own material, and I have to shoot down claims like yours on a regular basis, so it behooves me to be able to back up what I'm saying with authoritative cites, and not idle claims of secret knowledge.

Sharing it with anyone who wants to click on the links is a freebie.

(in reply to CalifChick)
Profile   Post #: 27
RE: Controversy over BDSM symbol - 6/25/2008 10:00:34 AM   
CalifChick


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From: California
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Saying I don't believe he owns the design is hardly a smear, merely a difference of opinion.  And it's not a matter of links, as the material you posted doesn't prove that he owns the design.

Cali


_____________________________

AKA "The Undisputed Goddess of Sarcasm", "Big Bad Cali" and "Yum Bum". Advisor to the Subbie Mafia, founding member of the W.A.C. and the Judgmental Bitches Brigade, member of the Clan of the Scarlet O'Hair-a's and Team Troll

(in reply to Alumbrado)
Profile   Post #: 28
RE: Controversy over BDSM symbol - 6/25/2008 10:09:40 AM   
Alumbrado


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They do if you bother to read everything, particularly the part on creating a new copyrightable design from an existing one.

But feel free to stick to your differing opinion, I'll stick to the copyright laws as written.

(in reply to CalifChick)
Profile   Post #: 29
RE: Controversy over BDSM symbol - 6/25/2008 10:38:53 AM   
mrbob726


Posts: 155
Joined: 4/15/2007
From: Illinois
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The simple fact is that Quagmyrs design is almost universally recognized by a large part of the community as identifying to others in the community that one is involved in the BDSM lifestyle. He has hardly gotten wealthy over it. I have carried one of the pendants on my keyring for years, and have given a necklace bearing one, as a gift. Fact is, he has provided a relatively inexpensive source of  identifying "jewelry" to the community. Whether he has a piece of paper from the government is immaterial to me, and I suspect to the majority of those in the lifestyle.


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(in reply to CalifChick)
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RE: Controversy over BDSM symbol - 6/25/2008 1:17:24 PM   
saraUK


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I contacted Quagmyr about five or so years ago, as I wanted permission to digitise and embroider the design onto items to sell.  He gave me written permission in an email and never asked for anything.  Never got contacted by him again and never had any problems.

sara
xx

(in reply to CalifChick)
Profile   Post #: 31
RE: Controversy over BDSM symbol - 6/25/2008 5:23:22 PM   
EvilKitty


Posts: 148
Joined: 7/13/2006
From: Tampa Florida
Status: offline
Oddly enough, I found the website
www.puretnt.com  on CM & looked at their "BDSM Symbol" jewelry. They range in every conceivable color combination, with & without dots or holes, Celtic spiraled triskeles that don't touch the edges of the circle, you name it! Laughed my tuchus off (& my tuchus was abysmally flat to start with)!
Amongst the things I do to keep hearth & home is copying articles from professional journals & sending them out to students & educators. We are schooled VERY thoroughly in copyrights & what constitutes copyrightable material & who is entitled to use it & in what manner. After reading all the different posts, I did my research. The symbol which looks like a triskele in a circle with holes in each of it's 3 open sections is not copyrighted. It may well be "registered" & that will take more hours to pinpoint than I'm willing to do research!
Looks like to the semi-trained eye, that it's very nice that someone drew up a symbol that they thought would be anonymous enough to pass public scrutiny & represent some people. I think I'll stick with the Leather Pride idea; mostly because it can be shown off in a variety of shapes & still be recognizable as what it IS.....our not-very-mainstream lives.
Evil Kitty
the Lipstick Librarian


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(in reply to mistoferin)
Profile   Post #: 32
RE: Controversy over BDSM symbol - 6/25/2008 5:34:49 PM   
Alumbrado


Posts: 5560
Status: offline
quote:

I did my research. The symbol which looks like a triskele in a circle with holes in each of it's 3 open sections is not copyrighted. It may well be "registered" & that will take more hours to pinpoint than I'm willing to do research!


If your research had extended to actually reading the regulations from the copyright office (which has been linked here more than once), you would have learned that copyright exists from the moment of inception.

Your coming on the internet, pronouncing yourself knowledgeable about copyright, and then debunking that by grandly announcing that no copyright exists because you couldn't find it, says a lot... but not about Quagmyr.

(in reply to EvilKitty)
Profile   Post #: 33
RE: Controversy over BDSM symbol - 6/25/2008 5:37:18 PM   
camille65


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From: Austin Texas
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An earlier discussion about the BDSM symbol that some may find interesting.

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(in reply to mistoferin)
Profile   Post #: 34
RE: Controversy over BDSM symbol - 6/26/2008 5:52:02 AM   
thetammyjo


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Sorry, I'm a leather pride flag gal... see no reason what so ever to get a new symbol and have rejected all others. But then again, I learned primarily through the gay leather scene so it may mean more to me.

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Profile   Post #: 35
RE: Controversy over BDSM symbol - 6/26/2008 9:46:23 AM   
RCdc


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Right here, right now - your words are now copyrighted.
You don't have to register to be copyright protected.  You said it - it's here under your name.  Done and dusted.
 
Copyright is totally different to trademarks and patents as Al has already stated.  What I am reading is that people are just mixing them up.
 
What people are failing to acknowledge is that a triskelion is not simply a three symboled yin/yang type object.  It is an object of three interlocking, matching symbols - like the isle of man symbol .  Just like a flag is a flag.  But the mere adition of stating it as 'the emblem' makes the difference copyright wise, not the fact that it is a type of triskelion.
 
Triskelions aren't the issue - emblem is.  And that is what is copyrightable.
 
the.dark.

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love isnt gazing into each others eyes - it's looking forward in the same direction

(in reply to EvilKitty)
Profile   Post #: 36
RE: Controversy over BDSM symbol - 6/26/2008 10:33:32 AM   
CruelDesires


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Do you ever get the feeling that you are ...  lol.


CD

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(in reply to RCdc)
Profile   Post #: 37
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