This post has been updated and corrected – Ford Motor Co. – Trademark Bully — NOT!
A group of Ford Mustang enthusiasts, make that black Ford Mustang enthusiasts (I think the “black” refers to the car, not the enthusiast) have a little community here. They decided to produce a 2008 calendar of their cars.
Along comes Ford… I’ll let the forum speak for itself:
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. (source)
I’m not convinced that Ford’s position is correct.
This is my ever-so-bad-ass 2000 Focus. I keep it real.
