is not "dummies" name copyright ? |
That's way too funny!! Thanks for pointing it out, philip!!! |
/pd,
yes, the "...for Dummies" series (the term, the cover design, the triangle-shaped man, ...) is trademarked by Wiley Publishing. I worked as an editor there (then IDG) when that series was young and they're pretty serious about keeping that trademark intact. While this generator is obviously done for fun, I would expect that the site will get a C&D letter from Wiley, especially since they're profiting from it via Adsense. |
FYI – the design is obviously similar and could probably be C&D'd but the name of the generator is "Dummiez Book Cover Maker 2006". Nowhere is the word "Dummies" mentioned on the site itself. (Philipp created the "Dummies" example shown on this site using the "Dummiez" generator.) |
If you look at the titlebar, Tony, it says "For Dummies(R) Book Cover Generator 2006", So it does mention the name "Dummies" on the site. |
Kirby: My bad – sorry! (I bet he suddenly realised he was abusing their trademark and forgot to replace it in the title...) |
yeah I thought that this was strange too.. I played around and created a cover for myself and pulled a prank on some offce..that I was producing a "dummies" book.. adn then next thing I know was the 'legal' person asked me --"are you sure you could use the word dummies on your cover – its copyrigth you know --not ccc type of license"
anyhoot, that was a nice cover generator :)- |
i did one of these once...
it went like: You Know What Would Be Damn Funny...?
http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/8949/loss5up.gif
Giving one of these to your Girlfriend :)
good days ... |
As far as trademarks go, I've heard that parodies are not infringement. So I can use the Google logo if I'm making fun of Google, apparently. Not sure if that clause would apply in this case... and certainly, C&D's aren't always based on what's the law... |
Philipp, I think the rules are different if you are profiting off of it. Though you may still be right because things like The Onion and Saturday Night Live make money (both from advertisers) but as parody they can use logos of companies. |
"Trademark Fair Use" is the concept you want (different from "Copyright Fair Use").
Disclaimer: I Am Not A Lawyer.
|
Using wikipedia's a bad idea, especially if better articles are just as accessible:
http://www.cll.com/articles/article.cfm?articleid=32#4 |
I am the maker of the "For Dummies" parody bookcover generator, my intentions are completely to be for satire use, I have changed it around a bit to make it more of an obvious parody (plus the default book title is "For Newbies" now, but it's changeable by the public).
http://www.customsigngenerator.com is my main parody image making site. |
I believe Satire is considered differently to Parody so you might want to decide which you are doing. |
