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Post by PistolPete on Jul 2, 2019 9:49:34 GMT
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leoroberts
C.O.G.
Posts: 24,673
My main instrument is: probably needing new strings
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Post by leoroberts on Jul 2, 2019 13:01:59 GMT
Do you have as little sympathy for the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band?
They didn’t register their name as a trademark, or intellectual property - but recently found out that, 2 years ago, someone else did.
This means they can’t tour or release music under their own name...
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Post by bleatoid on Jul 2, 2019 13:10:07 GMT
I could have been a lawyer, but I’m not enough of a git to have made a success of it.
(This view is not universally held.)
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Post by PistolPete on Jul 2, 2019 14:05:34 GMT
Do you have as little sympathy for the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band? They didn’t register their name as a trademark, or intellectual property - but recently found out that, 2 years ago, someone else did. This means they can’t tour or release music under their own name... I think there's dramatic differences in the two cases - no one has tried to stop Gibson from making flying Vs or attempted to charge them for it. I'm not entirely without sympathy for Gibson - they have created a number of iconic designs that have been widely duplicated in the guitar world, but at some point in the seventies when the market was flooded with LesPaulalikes & V-shaped guitars they must have made the decision not to go after the makers. Suddenly changing their mind now, after those designs have effectively become public property, and aggressively litigating isn't really going to win them friends amongst the guitar buying public, and is very much a case of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. It's not that they're in the wrong, it's just terrible PR and very short-sighted.
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Post by vikingblues on Jul 2, 2019 19:16:17 GMT
On the subject of Les Paul alikes flooding the market, there was the Appleton App solid body single cutaway guitar that predated the Les Paul by 7 years. Turned down by Gibson apparently. Then the "shape" miraculously shows up as Gibsons own design and as their own innovation. Then we have the open book headstock that appeared on musical instruments centuries earlier, now apparently a Gibson invention. Appleton AppI certainly have sympathy for the Bonzos. They didn't borrow their name from someone else and then patent it and then take legal action against any group with the word "Band" in their name. In Gibsons case I'm afraid I have less sympathy. They are a huge corporation with huge resources and access to legal expertise, and have not been shy in the past about taking legal action, so they should know what is legally acceptable practice. To let something slide for 40 years in that instance and then expect litigation to be effective is rather naive. Having seen a chunk of the very recent YouTube video ("Play Authentic") by Mark Agnesi (Gibson director for "Brand Experience") trying to look and talk like a Mafia boss and issuing threats to guitar builders everywhere I am baffled by why they thought it would be a good idea. It's not surprising the video was quickly pulled down by Gibson. Worth a look if you can find it. It keeps popping up on YouTube and then being taken down and reappearing elsewhere. Mark
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mandovark
C.O.G.
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Post by mandovark on Jul 2, 2019 20:14:39 GMT
I'd be willing to bet that Gibson have been quite happy to have all those other companies making Les Pauls, flying V's, etc, over the decades. It helped establish those designs as industry standards while allowing Gibson to position theirs as the only authentic ones. However many companies made Les Paul copies, Gibson were the only ones making the real thing. If you were a young player who bought a cheap Les Paul copy, you probably dreamed of owning a Gibson one day.
Makes me wonder why they've decided to change course now. Maybe the brand reputation isn't what it was.
That said, personally I think that whoever invented the Flying V should be pelted with rotten fruit in the town square, but maybe that's just me.
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Post by PistolPete on Jul 3, 2019 19:16:41 GMT
On the subject of Les Paul alikes flooding the market, there was the Appleton App solid body single cutaway guitar that predated the Les Paul by 7 years. Turned down by Gibson apparently. Then the "shape" miraculously shows up as Gibsons own design and as their own innovation. Then we have the open book headstock that appeared on musical instruments centuries earlier, now apparently a Gibson invention. Appleton AppI certainly have sympathy for the Bonzos. They didn't borrow their name from someone else and then patent it and then take legal action against any group with the word "Band" in their name. In Gibsons case I'm afraid I have less sympathy. They are a huge corporation with huge resources and access to legal expertise, and have not been shy in the past about taking legal action, so they should know what is legally acceptable practice. To let something slide for 40 years in that instance and then expect litigation to be effective is rather naive. Having seen a chunk of the very recent YouTube video ("Play Authentic") by Mark Agnesi (Gibson director for "Brand Experience") trying to look and talk like a Mafia boss and issuing threats to guitar builders everywhere I am baffled by why they thought it would be a good idea. It's not surprising the video was quickly pulled down by Gibson. Worth a look if you can find it. It keeps popping up on YouTube and then being taken down and reappearing elsewhere. Mark Yes I have seen reference to the Appleton before. There's also the Bigsby Merle Travis, which was very close to a Les Paul body with a Fender neck, but predates both the Les Paul and Fender's move into guitar production. I suspect the existence of these instruments was probably still in living memory at Gibson in the sixties and seventies and may have been a factor in the decision not to pursue the makers of the Asian copies originally.
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