I am writing to offer an unsolicited suggestion that stems from the confusion that many write about in forums & such about the evh stripe designs. Perhaps you are already aware of the confusions that exist.
If ELVH Inc. is out to protect the stripe designs, it seems to make simple sense to have a website that describes simply & clearly in very easy to understand language about the copyrights & trademarks & what constitutes infringement. There are many a confused person throughout the world in regards to the infamous stripes. Some have written that they've turned their backs on EVH because of auctions being pulled, rightly so of course. There are many people who are angry with Edward in regards to stripes on guitars & alienation is occurring. If the aforementioned website was easily found by search engines, more people would be educated more quickly. And it seems that would reduce the workload upon those at ELVH Inc. I did many a search on the net & found nothing about Frankie 1 & 2. I did learn quickly about the 5150 design being trademarked however but not from searching the net.
I've found many a picture & many videos on YouTube that would most likely be considered infringement upon all things Van Halen. And none of what I found have any notice of copyright with them.
The web has created a huge, if not impossible, challenge for those seeking to protect their intellectual/artistic property.
The reality is people are going to set out to paint evh stripes on their own guitars. There's nothing that is going to stop that throughout the world. The stripes in of themselves are a legend & people want to have them. I know I won't do so, but many who paint guitars will set out to paint the stripes for profit in secret. Many will try to find loopholes to do so. Why? Solely because they cannot afford what is offered via manufacturers. It's hard to understand how any entity who paints guitars for $250 to $400 for profit is infringing upon the Fender $25+ thousand dollar market or the $2k+ Charvel artist series market. People seeking such paint jobs cannot afford more than $400-$600 for a guitar.
But unlike many, if not hundreds, I do & will respect the copyrights & trademarks in place.
Until later comes, turn it up to let freedom jam.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
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2 comments:
Sheesh. Pretty lame. I think they are really more concerned about people selling the guitars, but unfortunately they have lawyers and you don't, which means they get to bully you around at your expense.
Copyright laws are very important to our economy. Without them artists would not be able to make money. But they are often also ridiculously enforced.
great piece.
i too will honor all copyrights and trademarks because i can afford to. i wish everyone could.
nobody disagrees Mr. Van Halen deserves to paid for what he invented, but the copyright system is imperfect but evolving.
he used to be that broke kid in the garage himself. yeah, like he paid ASCAP & BMI for the covers he played at parties.
i don't envy his dilemma.
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