Mr. Re: www.ravnwood.com
Dear Mr. As counsel to Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth In your wholesale misappropriation and imitation of the yagen.com web
site, you violate a host of copyright and trademark laws. While we might
overlook this given our recognition of the constitutional right to free
political debate, we cannot, in this instance, given the nature of the
material you graft onto the words, look and feel of Kenny and Kate's site.
For that reason, we must demand that you immediately cease and desist your
misappropriation of the materials on Kenny and Kate's copyright and trademark-protected
web site.
The Kenny and Kate's official web site is an informational presentation
and display of photographs, illustrations, text, and arrangements created
by, and owned by Kenny and Kate. The federal copyright laws protect Kenny
and Kate's web site displays to the same extent these laws protect all
other person�s and business� creations, including the creations of book
authors, artists, advertisers, and software developers. Kenny and Kate's
web site is for public access without charge, but it is still protected
by copyright. See e.g., Storm Impact, Inc. v. Software of the Month Club,
13 F.Supp.872, 48 USPQ2d 1266 (N.D. Ill. 1998). (Material placed on the
internet for free distribution held protected by copyright). Even if you
are or you represent a not-for-profit entity, or even a political group
or organization, this does not allow you unlimited and unauthorized use
of the copyrighted features of Kenny and Kate's web site. See Scanlon v.
Kessler, 11 F.Supp. 444, 47 USPQ2d 1692 (S.D.N.Y. 1998)(being a non-profit
entity is not a defense against liability for copyright infringement.)
The copyright laws protect you, as well as all other members of the
public. I do not believe you would want your own written creations taken
at will, by anyone, without your permission and without your control. Your
cavalier usurpation of Kenny and Kate's web site may reflect a confusion
on your part of the "fair use" provision of the copyright laws of the United
States. Without providing a tutorial on "fair use", I suggest that you
consult with a copyright attorney. If you cannot afford one, then you may
wish to contact the pro bono services likely provided by your city government,
and by certain law firms and, perhaps, by the law school nearest to you.
As a general matter, I can assure you that the copyright laws do allow,
in particular defined and reasonable circumstances, for a certain amount
of "fair use". See 17 U.S.C. � 107. See also, Harper & Row Publishers,
Inc. v. Nation Enterprises, 723 F.2d 195, 206 (2nd Cir. 1983) for a helpful
discussion of fair use. However, the quantity of the Kenny and Kate's web
site materials appearing in your web site is so large that, on that basis
alone, your use is far outside of the "fair use" provided for by the copyright
laws.
Your use of Kenny and Kate's web site material is so substantial that
there is a real likelihood that a person "surfing" the web could be confused
into believing, somehow, that your site represents or is authorized by
Kenny and Kate. Such confusion may damage the perceived integrity of Kenny
and Kate's web site. I therefore demand that you remove immediately from
your web site all of the materials and arrangements you have taken from
yagen.com, with the exception of such pure facts that you may wish to use
and, as pure facts, may be shown by you as a permitted "fair use" under
the U.S. Copyright laws.
If you do not take this action immediately upon your receipt of this
letter, Kenny and Kate will consider sending Meathead after you.
Sincerely,
Benjamin L. Ginsberg
P.S. Kenny and Kate laughed their asses off at your take on your friends!
Counsel
Kenny and Kate Wedding Website, Inc.
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