Re: ADT Yard Signs

["Robert L Bass" <robertbass1@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Not sure about that. If someone stole my sign
> and put it on the side of their truck that would
> be tradename infringement (and I DID win a
> lawsuit based upon this)...i wonder how it would
> be different?

Easy.  If they steal *your* sign it's theft.  If they use it to pretend they're you, that's impersonation.  If they try to attract
business pretending to be you, that's a trade name infringement.  But if you abandon the sign itself (not the copyright) the person
you left it with can dispose of it lawfully.  Once you abandon property you can't come back later and claim ownership rights to it.
There is a significant difference between copyright or trademark rights and chattel property rights.

Let's go back to the analogy of a written work.  Suppose you write a book on the "Life and Times of Jiminex".  It's only about six
pages long but you wrote it and you're proud of it.  You publish it at significant expense down at Office Depot's copy center.
After being thrown out for printing profane language, you visit Bob Lalonde and go for a ride on his brand new Vespa.  While there
you lend Bob a copy of the book.  Bob reads it in five minutes, snickers a few times and tosses it on a heap of rotting copies of
Easy Rider magazine in the corner of his garage.  Three years go by and you make no effort to retrieve the book.  You visit Bob a
few times during that time and see the book staring balefully at you from the heap but you don't ask for it back.

One night Bob passes the book on to Stevens, who he ran into at a strip bar around the corner from the ISC show.  Stevens has been
waiting for years to get his hands on a photo of the subject for his website.  The following week Bob L offends you in the newsgroup
so you demand your book back.  Unbeknownst to Bob, Stevens has already scanned the picture of Jiminex from the front page and posted
it on his website.

You can't sue Bob because you gave him the book.  Even though it was originally a loan, by failing to retrieve it for several years
you effectively abandoned it.  He doesn't have to give it back and he can lawfully give it away.

You later discover that Stevens has scanned your prized photo of Jiminex in his rowboat, crossing the Arthur Kill between Staten
Island, NY and Elizabeth, NJ, cursing and flailing his arms at some seagull which has just proven itself incredibly accurate at
aerial targeting and... well, never mind that for now.

You can sue Stevens for all he's worth.  He has infringed your copyright.  Jiminex, in turn, files a lawsuit against you for failing
to curse me out in the book.  Graham calls and offers to testify in your favor if only you'll pleeeease be his friend.

I hope this explanation helps.

--

Regards,
Robert L Bass

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