nah 

seems some merchant in manchester has failed in an attempt to claim copyright 

 

 

Some good news for soul music lovers from an unlikely source: a recent trademark decision by the UK’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) sent a strong message that the iconography of the “northern soul” scene belongs not to any corporation, promoter or trader, but to its fans.

 

 

https://theconversation.com/northern-soul-trademark-win-shows-music-subcultures-belong-to-fans-31722

What a complete waste of time and money. I would guess that the Retro Bag Shop failed to pay Mr Brian Poulton the sum of £2000 within seven days.

The pdf of the Court ruling is also a good read https://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/tm/t-os/t-find/t-challenge-decision-results/o35814.pdf

The pdf of the Court ruling is also a good read https://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/tm/t-os/t-find/t-challenge-decision-results/o35814.pdf

Very interesting reading with a cast of, well, not quite 1,000s, but certainly some well-known names.

 

And the later descriptions of 'the scene' will from now on have to be quoted as legal evidence in those argumentative "What is Northern Soul/" and "Is this Northern Soul?" threads that pop up on here from time to time!   

A good and proper result, but I only managed to get to page 3 of the document.  Too much legal jargon for a Thursday afternoon.  If Retro Bags had won, it would mean they could prevent others using the logo for whatever purpose.  Pretty difficult to enforce, I would have thought.  They're hardly Nike.

A good and proper result, but I only managed to get to page 3 of the document.  Too much legal jargon for a Thursday afternoon. 

Skip to page seven and onwards… 

Normal design copyright laws prevent you from trademarking images/designs that are already clearly in the public domain (a bit like patents - you can't patent something that already exists) - surprised it even went to court - but WHAT a bunch of slimey profiteering little turds to even try it!

Dx

Skip to page seven and onwards… 

 

Thanks for that.  I will now display the fist with impunity.

Normal design copyright laws prevent you from trademarking images/designs that are already clearly in the public domain (a bit like patents - you can't patent something that already exists) - surprised it even went to court - but WHAT a bunch of slimey profiteering little turds to even try it!

Dx

To be honest, if it hadn't been down to the opposition of Brian Poulton, et al, then everyone from event organisers to sew-on patch makers might have had to pay the Plastic Leatherette Crap Bag Co of Manchester a licensing fee to use the fist/keep the faith design - or be subject to trademark infringement cases.

 

Well done to Brian Poulton and everyone else involved in contesting this bit of stupidity!

To be honest, if it hadn't been down to the opposition of Brian Poulton, et al, then everyone from event organisers to sew-on patch makers might have had to pay the Plastic Leatherette Crap Bag Co of Manchester a licensing fee to use the fist/keep the faith design - or be subject to trademark infringement cases.

 

Well done to Brian Poulton and everyone else involved in contesting this bit of stupidity!

 

Mind you, it would have led to less tat fairs at the weekenders.