Is Ford trying to fail?

[CrazyRussian540]

Basically... long story short.

A Mustang enthusiast forum wanted to make a calender of member's cars. No problem right? Well, Ford thinks otherwise.

The forums created a calender, and uploaded it to CafePress to have it made. Shortly afterwards, Ford demanded that CafePress take down the calender because they claimed to own all photos of Ford vehicles... no matter who took the photo or holds the copyright.

These are quotes of the forum founder

I just got off the phone with CafePress and this is a Ford issue ... they instructed CafePress to not print anything with any of their vehicles in it, regardless of who owns the copyright to the photo or who owns the vehicle ... Stay tuned ...

I got some more info from the folks at cafepress and according to them, a law firm representing Ford contacted them saying that our calendar pics (and our club's event logos - anything with one of our cars in it) infringes on Ford's trademarks which include the use of images of THEIR vehicles. Also, Ford claims that all the images, logos and designs OUR graphics team made for the BMC events using Danni are theirs as well. Funny, I thought Danni's title had my name on it ... and I thought you guys owned your cars ... and, well ... I'm not even going to get into how wrong and unfair I feel this whole thing is as I'd be typing for hours, but I wholeheartedly echo everything you guys have been saying all afternoon. I'm not letting this go un-addressed and I'll keep you guys posted as I get to work on this.

I'm sorry, but at this point we will not be producing the 2008 BMC Calendar, featuring our 2007 Members of the Month, solely due to Ford Motor Company's claim that THEY own all rights to the photos YOU take of YOUR car. I hope to resolve this soon, and be able to provide the calendar and other BMC merchandise that you guys want and deserve! This thread will remain open for you to comment however you wish, and I'll update it as needed.

Full thread here - http://www.bmcforums.com/showthread.php?t=42402
Reply from cafepress is post 42.


This kinds makes me want to go out, buy a Mustang, take photos of it, and make t-shirts/posters/calenders/etc... and give them out to everyone.

[avanti]

this is the craziest thing I have ever heard!!! I have no more words...

[Donington]

NANNIES!

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Fuck me sideways with a lunchbox, who at Ford decided that alienating its most loyal fanbase was a great idea?

[Vette Boss]

This probably has something to do with a royalties issue, enthusiasts have to pay Ford to publish pictures of their OWN cars. How ridiculous is that.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

After reading the whole thread, I'm starting to suspect that this is a Caffepress issue, rather than a Ford one. It's a fact that Ford sent Cafepress a Cease&Desist back in September over people selling shirts with Ford logos on them. It seems to me that Cafepress has just done a kneejerk and banned all Ford stuff just in case.

[vegasrebel29]

What's really funny here is that I know of a group of Cadillac enthusiasts who did the exact same thing. Without all the copyright nonsense.

[CraigB]

Sometimes I wonder about Ford. Wasn't it last year (or maybe the year before) when they went around telling companies that sold parts for Mustangs with word mustang in the name to remove it?

[Elmo187]

i agree with BCS. this HAS to be a CafePress issue.

Originally Posted by CraigB

Sometimes I wonder about Ford. Wasn't it last year (or maybe the year before) when they went around telling companies that sold parts for Mustangs with word mustang in the name to remove it?

it was all websites, forums, and companies that sold aftermarket parts for Mustang's. and it even included websites that had the word "stang" in it also.

i guess they failed.....
www.mustangforums.com
www.muscularmustangs.com
www.mustangblog.com
www.mustangsunlimited.com
www.allfordmustangs.com

and last but DEFINITELY not least.....
www.stangnet.com

[jayhawk]

I used to belong to a Pontiac Grand Am forum, right away at the beginning the founder went straight to Pontiac and got permission to use the brands name...surprisingly, Pontiac and GM are very willing to do so, the only stipulation being that you have to ask in a formal letter.

So this forum puts out a calender every year through Cafe Press, with no problems.

[sonza68]

Ford has never had an issue with the Cougar community issuing calendars or using their logos for our national meet. They were contacted in our case as well, and they were pretty lenient in the restrictions. We couldn't sell things with only the Cougar head or Mercury logos, but we were free to incorporate them in more elaborate designs.

[Elmo187]

Originally Posted by sonza68

It would seem to be the case. Ford has never had an issue with the Cougar community issuing calendars or using their logos for our national meet.

that's because they don't care about Mercury anymore.

[sonza68]

I won't argue about that.

[BigDaveDogg]

I've never heard any issues like this on any Mustang forum I'm on. Ford would make an effort to cover the large enthusiast forums first, I would think. Sounds like a load of garbage.

[epp_b]

So, Ford is selling pictures of it's cars now? What's the logic behind Ford's actions?

This, in no way, has a negative impact on Ford's line of business. Their actions show a clear sign of stupidity and shortsightedness.

[Quadrax]

What a ridiculous situation if it is true. Unfortunately it does sound plausible to me.

BMW did a similar thing when they started producing the new mini. They sent out legal notices to any/all businesses, clubs and so on associated with the "classic/original mini" stating that the word "mini" is now owned by BMW and may no longer be used by anyone else. Some of these businesses and clubs had been around for almost 40 years using the "mini" name and providing services to passionate owners of the original mini.

Way to piss off your potential customers.

[British_Rover]

Originally Posted by Quadrax

What a ridiculous situation if it is true. Unfortunately it does sound plausible to me.

BMW did a similar thing when they started producing the new mini. They sent out legal notices to any/all businesses, clubs and so on associated with the "classic/original mini" stating that the word "mini" is now owned by BMW and may no longer be used by anyone else. Some of these businesses and clubs had been around for almost 40 years using the "mini" name and providing services to passionate owners of the original mini.

Way to piss off your potential customers.

Yup I remember when that happened. I was part of Mini cooper online when it first started and BMW forced us to remove mini and cooper. We changed it to north American motoring society. I am actually surprised that BMW didn't try and trademark the Motoring slogan too.


Ford did the same thing to a Jaguar club last year.

http://chuck.goolsbee.org/archives/458

http://xkedata.com/blog/2007/10/11/calendars-areoff/

Looks like GM gets it though...

http://www.trifive.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8216

[starfox07]

Its the damn business men in their expensive suites trying to make a buck. Everybody at ford is going to get a bad reputation for it, even the good guys. (the engineers and designers and stuff) I'm a huge fan of ford, but this is infuriating.

[bartboy9891]

Originally Posted by jayhawk

I used to belong to a Pontiac Grand Am forum, right away at the beginning the founder went straight to Pontiac and got permission to use the brands name...surprisingly, Pontiac and GM are very willing to do so, the only stipulation being that you have to ask in a formal letter.

So this forum puts out a calender every year through Cafe Press, with no problems.

Yes this is off topic, but this Grand Am site has the best name.

http://www.grandayum.com/

[Spectre]

Yeah, same problem with their Jaguar brand as well. The one big site on the Internet for Jags has someone (I think) sleeping with someone (or something similarly slimy, in my opinion - I have no proof either way) at Ford so they have permission, but everyone else is fair game for legal action.

I hope the new Indian owners of Jaguar are better about this, and I suspect they will be.