Nobody is safe from plagarism...
Story Text:
Think of the most random, quirky, unique little niche gift idea you can, like maybe a set of aluminum dog tags with a pulsar map of the universe on them, to provide insurance that you'll be returned home in the even you're abducted by aliens...
...somebody really did think of exactly that, and started marketing it back in the 80's. They're called Galactitags. I first found out about them back in the late 80's via a Christmas Gift Guide (or somesuch) in OMNI magazine. (They even came with a money back guarantee, in case you're not returned to Earth by the aliens in question...)
Now, imagine someone almost 20 years later decides to rip off your idea and market it online... as these impostors have done to Galactitags (note "copywrite [sic] 2002" at the bottom of their page). Imagine further that since these impostors have a good deal more internet savvy than you do (as evidenced by the design quality of the two websites) they've squeezed you almost completely out of the SERPs for certain extremely unique keyphrases for your product... phrases like "pulsar map dog tags" and "alien abduction guarantee dog tags". (all it really took was one link from boingboing, actually)
Should the clever originator of Galactitags be rendered irrelevant for their own idea by virtue of their lack of web savvy? Doesn't seem fair to me, no matter how much of an eye bleeder their site may be...
Think of the most random, quirky, unique little niche gift idea you can, like maybe a set of aluminum dog tags with a pulsar map of the universe on them, to provide insurance that you'll be returned home in the even you're abducted by aliens...
...somebody really did think of exactly that, and started marketing it back in the 80's. They're called Galactitags. I first found out about them back in the late 80's via a Christmas Gift Guide (or somesuch) in OMNI magazine. (They even came with a money back guarantee, in case you're not returned to Earth by the aliens in question...)
Now, imagine someone almost 20 years later decides to rip off your idea and market it online... as these impostors have done to Galactitags (note "copywrite [sic] 2002" at the bottom of their page). Imagine further that since these impostors have a good deal more internet savvy than you do (as evidenced by the design quality of the two websites) they've squeezed you almost completely out of the SERPs for certain extremely unique keyphrases for your product... phrases like "pulsar map dog tags" and "alien abduction guarantee dog tags". (all it really took was one link from boingboing, actually)
Should the clever originator of Galactitags be rendered irrelevant for their own idea by virtue of their lack of web savvy? Doesn't seem fair to me, no matter how much of an eye bleeder their site may be...
- Y! MyWeb
sic the bloggers on them?
or the lawyers?
i wonder if the original creators know the other site exists?
is it our duty as netizens to inform him?
I was actually thinking...
...of offering to redesign their site for free, to help them out (and let them know about the other site). I feel indebted to them for the number of times I've used their product description to get laughs. ;-)
Then if they wanted to get legal about it, the magazine write ups they got in the 80's would clinch the "who did it first" question.
count me in if you need help
i can offer some free hours...
:-D
Hey, cool! Thanks... (just submitted the Galactitags site to boingboing as well)
you could mention it to boing boing and they would probably mention that the idea was a ripoff and xyz is the real site.
SAVE GALACTITAGS!
A few years ago, I searched online for something like "pulsar map of the universe" "money back" aliens "dog tags", and like magic Glactitags popped up at the top of the search result.
do you know if the new site licensed the idea or anything like that or are we lighting the torches and rounding up the lynch mob just in case?
*ahem*
Well, it's a different actual tag design, and there's no mention on either site of the other one...
...and I'm totally making assumptions and jumping to conclusions. hehe
But it all started with a link on boingboing after all, and they post "clarifications" on their site all the time, so I'm just following the leader. ;-)
But I did email the Galactitags site asking them about it, so we'll see what they say.
legalistics
Excellent point - comes easy, what with the Net being such an ultra fast, impulse driven medium, doesn't it.
So, yes, I'd say contacting the original copyright or whatever holders first is the thing to do.(BTW, "copywrite" really says it all, doesn't it? Typo, plain bad spelling or fundamental attitude, one wonders.)
Guess that if Galactitags hold no (current, i. e. renewed if required) patents on this stuff they're probably out of luck, though. Simply can't protect mere "ideas", however original. It would still be plagiarism, but quite possibly not in any legal sense. Could well keep the lawyers and courts happy for years ...
True, true, but...
...I'm not pushing any sort of legal 'punishment' against the other site either. Posting on the internet, "PersonA thought of IdeaX 20 years before PersonB, so let's give credit where it's due," isn't illegal either. ;-)
do they float!?
heh. reminded me of that monty python with hunt bit... ;)
i'm sure once someone contacts the oldschool owner, the truth will be known.
already done...
...I emailed them a bit ago. Not sure how often they check their email though. ;-) It doesn't look like a "we check our email every 5 mins" kinda outfit, eh?
might even be the same people...
Yeah, I'd wait to hear back from them before mounting a citizen's army. It might be the same people with a new web site, and they just never bothered to take down the old one...
Doubtful, IMO.
Well, one wonders -- if they're the same person -- why they'd have different tag designs for sale through two different PayPal accounts. Or why they'd change a product name that had been established since the 1980s with a history of press coverage in fairly major publications.
I *seriously* doubt they're the same person, and the possibility of a licensing deal between them seems remote at first glance...
...and if they're the same person, no harm done. They're getting free publicity out of anything I spread around, right? If nothing else, the attention would prompt them to redirect the old site to the new one, no?
could be co-incidence
a few years ago we had a totally stupid but very compelling idea for something along similar lines in the middle of a meeting. We decided to do it, but when we started looking at where we'd market it we discovered two other people already were.
Even the wierdest things have people doing it already.
I don't know that we should be outing anyone here. There are too many unanswered questions: maybe they have an arrangement, maybe no law was broken. The designs are different and both are derivative of the NASA satellite yhat was built in the 1960's (Voyager?) that left the solar system and had a plaque on it.
Sorry I don't see the harm, both GM and Ford make cars, both Random House and Penguin make books - they just are not identical.
Patents
Patents are funny. They only last for 20 years. After that a new manufacturer doesn't have to pay the patent holder. Since the original dog tags were in production in the early eighties, chances are any patent is already past due date.
Design patents are extremely specific, so if the design is different, then there's no infringement.
So legally there isn't much to go on here.
But giving the original manufacturer some extra promo is of course a good thing.
Good lord...
...you'd think I was trying to hire an assassin or something. I don't recall ever mentioning lawyers, lynch mobs, the DMCA, or trying to put anyone out of business.
I just happen to think it's sad that someone (IMO, as I haven't heard back from the Galactitags people yet for verification) swiped a really clever idea froim someone else, and basically just because they're better site designers and were web savvy enough to score a link on boingboing now totally swamp the original product's site in the SERPs.
But giving the original manufacturer some extra promo is of course a good thing.
My point. My point exactly.
From the horse's mouth...
"Thank you for this informative e-mail. They say that imitation is the highest form of flattery, how ever I don't feel that way. Some people couldn't have an original idea if there life depended on it, seems you have found one."
He went on to decline the offer of a free webpage redesign, but said he'd be working on updating the site himself, and looking into his legal options...
...and he thanked me for spreading the word on his behalf.