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NEWS: Bootleggers Boot Legitimate Products from China


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jfrog



Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 925
Location: Seattle
PostPosted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 2:22 am Reply with quote
ShellBullet wrote:
Wait, lower quality than the horse meat they use now? Is that even possible?


Yes.

Aardvark.
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Ataru



Joined: 04 Jan 2002
Posts: 2306
Location: Missouri (Strikeman)
PostPosted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 2:25 am Reply with quote
Wow. I mean, wow. So basically, if you don't live here, you don't make the rules. *Insert a some what unclear joke about US and "Bigger Bother".*
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Ohoni



Joined: 10 Jun 2003
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 2:31 am Reply with quote
Hahahaha, this is just too awesome. China iss just a fun little country. Wink
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napalm68



Joined: 29 Jan 2005
Posts: 3
PostPosted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 3:56 am Reply with quote
You know, I keep thinking that I have seen or heard of every possible permutation of stupidity, but then something like this comes up.
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cyrax777



Joined: 05 Mar 2003
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 4:22 am Reply with quote
Should be the new definiton of Irony.
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Erufu



Joined: 06 Jul 2004
Posts: 191
PostPosted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 4:46 am Reply with quote
darkhunter wrote:
Erufu wrote:
Wow. This is just funny.


What's so funny about it? This is just sad, seeing as how bootlegs can affectlegimate product. And you thought that bootlegs were good.


Not funny ha ha. Funny as in weird situation. Who'd have thought that legitimate companies would ever get outdone by bootleggers? And is it disturbing that China let bootleggers file and recieve a copyright?


Hmm... lower quality big macs... could they get lower? (Forgive me McD fans!) Ahh... ShellBullet beat me to the punch!


You know, the bootleggers might be looking at it this way:
Yes, the Shin-chan makers had copyrights in Japan, but they did not hold copyrights in China. So, the bootleggers pranced down to the local copyrights office and file a copyright for something that was not copyrighted in China, and, therefore, theoretically legal. Now, here comes the actual makers of Shin-chan selling their goods in China that happen to violate a copyright already held there. It's kind of like the bootleggers beat them to the punch.
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Iria51



Joined: 05 Aug 2004
Posts: 138
Location: San Antonio, Tx
PostPosted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 12:11 pm Reply with quote
Keep in mind too that VCDs are the primary medium in China, not DVDs, because VCD movies will cost far less than a legitimate DVD. The Chinese government has waited too long to deal with this mess and now they are forced to deal with it due to rampant piracy.
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jay saenz



Joined: 10 Dec 2003
Posts: 81
Location: Costa Rica
PostPosted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 12:55 pm Reply with quote
Kazuki-san wrote:
Ranmah wrote:

Can someone clarify what exactly happened. I'm a little confused.


It would be like me registering the McDonald's trademark in some country (and opening a store selling lower quality Big Macs and the like) and then suing McDonald's when they came in and tried to build a store.


So that is what happened here, because the Big Macs of Mcdonalds in Costa Rica are so small that we call them "Meat Cookies". Burger King's Whoopers are bigger and better...

Now, i think that Futaba have the right to sue these people, because they are violating the copyright laws. If you are getting money for selling something that doesn t belong to you, you are stealing.

Fansubs are different, because they are not earning money for what they do, at least thats they say.
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Tempest
I Run this place.
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Joined: 29 Dec 2001
Posts: 10420
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 1:01 pm Reply with quote
Ohoni wrote:
Hahahaha, this is just too awesome. China iss just a fun little country. Wink


This exact thing could happen in the USA.

Company X, a bootlegger registers a trademark for a foreign product that isn't currently imported to the USA.

Company Y, the legitimate owner of the product decides to import it a few years later.

Company X says, "Nope we got the trademark."

Company Y then needs to go to court to have the trademark overturned and possibly sue Company X for IP infringement.

Company X uses this court delay to sell off its remaining inventory, close shop and dissapear.

It's a bit more complicated than that, but that's the basics. It's not a phenomenon reserved to China, but the US trademark laws, and the copyright enforcement make it a bit harder for the bootlegger.

-t
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Tempest
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Joined: 29 Dec 2001
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 1:04 pm Reply with quote
jay saenz wrote:
Fansubs are different, because they are not earning money for what they do, at least thats they say.


That's a matter of ethics, not law.

Companies have the legal right to sue fansubbers.

Of course, should this happen, the court would take into consideration the fact that the fansubbers weren't charging any money. They'd still lose the lawsuit, but the companies wouldn't be awarded very much in damages, and the fansubbers wouldn't be punished very harshely for the infringement (copyright infringement can lead to jail time).

-t
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Tempest
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Joined: 29 Dec 2001
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 1:07 pm Reply with quote
Erufu wrote:
You know, the bootleggers might be looking at it this way:
Yes, the Shin-chan makers had copyrights in Japan, but they did not hold copyrights in China. So, the bootleggers pranced down to the local copyrights office and file a copyright for something that was not copyrighted in China, and, therefore, theoretically legal. Now, here comes the actual makers of Shin-chan selling their goods in China that happen to violate a copyright already held there. It's kind of like the bootleggers beat them to the punch.


That is essentially what happenned, but with a trademark, not a copyright.

Legally speaking, Japanese copyrights are respected in China, as both countries are members of the WTO (The WTO includes a copyright treaty similar to the Berne convention. The copyrights of all member nations are to be respected in all member nations).

-t
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cyrax777



Joined: 05 Mar 2003
Posts: 1825
Location: the desert
PostPosted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 1:13 pm Reply with quote
tempest wrote:
Ohoni wrote:
Hahahaha, this is just too awesome. China iss just a fun little country. Wink


This exact thing could happen in the USA.

Company X, a bootlegger registers a trademark for a foreign product that isn't currently imported to the USA.

Company Y, the legitimate owner of the product decides to import it a few years later.

Company X says, "Nope we got the trademark."

Company Y then needs to go to court to have the trademark overturned and possibly sue Company X for IP infringement.

Company X uses this court delay to sell off its remaining inventory, close shop and dissapear.

It's a bit more complicated than that, but that's the basics. It's not a phenomenon reserved to China, but the US trademark laws, and the copyright enforcement make it a bit harder for the bootlegger.

-t
Theres a arcade stick manufactor thats trying to trademark the name MAME http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/02/21/0415209&tid=203&tid=17&tid=10
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Tempest
I Run this place.
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Joined: 29 Dec 2001
Posts: 10420
Location: Do not message me for support.
PostPosted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 1:28 pm Reply with quote
cyrax777 wrote:
Theres a arcade stick manufactor thats trying to trademark the name MAME http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/02/21/0415209&tid=203&tid=17&tid=10


No quite the same thing. UltraCode is trying to trademark MAME to cut-down on illegal use of the MAME emulator to compete with their legit products.

Not quite the right route IMHO, but not an attempt to use trademark laws to further illegal gains.

0t
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Mohawk52



Joined: 16 Oct 2003
Posts: 8202
Location: England, UK
PostPosted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 3:02 pm Reply with quote
Now you know why it's called "organised crime". Wink
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AnimeHeretic



Joined: 10 Jul 2003
Posts: 179
PostPosted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 9:54 pm Reply with quote
tempest wrote:
jay saenz wrote:
Fansubs are different, because they are not earning money for what they do, at least thats they say.


That's a matter of ethics, not law.

Companies have the legal right to sue fansubbers.

Of course, should this happen, the court would take into consideration the fact that the fansubbers weren't charging any money. They'd still lose the lawsuit, but the companies wouldn't be awarded very much in damages, and the fansubbers wouldn't be punished very harshely for the infringement (copyright infringement can lead to jail time).

-t

Unless of course, they're the type of fansubber that charges $6 for shipping, or auctions on ebay or charges for expenses-- all of which can be considered "income"

This is an interesting article on anime fans and the law: http://members.tripod.com/~AvatarHR/legalfaq.html
If there are flaws in the arguments, I'd be interested in hearing them
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