http://davidbix.com/the-trade-marks-episode-002-may-be-flammable/

 

 

After some updates/follow-ups on topics from episode #1, like the status of FWE, WWN Live woes, and the WrestleMania bootlegging lawsuit, we look at everything going on w/ Pro Wrestling Tees including WWE sending a C&D, their new MMA brand, and their past takedowns sent to fan art print sites, then finally we go over the Doug and Tommy Gilbert’s lawsuit against WWE & ESPN.

Time Stamps:

0:01:58 FWE Update

0:08:39 WWN Live pricing and customer service issues

0:29:15 WrestleMania 31 bootlegger lawsuit

0:43:24 Pro Wrestling Tees: WWE files C&D/launching a MMA brand/NJPW-related takedowns

1:13:20 Doug & Tommy Gilbert sue WWE & ESPN.

Enjoyed the first one - thanks for the timestamps

Apparently there's a minimum # of twitter followers you have to have in order for PWTees to add a t-shirt shop for you. Not sure of the minimum # but it's at least 1500. I guess that makes sense as they would want some reassurance that they may actually sell some shirts.

I am one of those who refused to buy the WNN shows at the increased rate. Because of the hectic nature of the weekend, I wasn't going to commit to a show if I wasn't going to be home for it. Add that the VOD wasn't available until after Mania weekend, instead of getting 3 or 4 shows, I ended up with none.

The VOD seems like it might be a problem going forward. This weekends shows were both put up on Monday. The fact that we need to go through hoops to get our free VOD is major problem too. I've been waiting for an email or a message on the WWNLive site. No on that part too.

The whole tiered system is pretty much a scam.

I laughed at Dylan's note about Austin not needing the $ from the shirts being taken down off PWTees. I think the same thing every time he or Ross heavily plug their Amazon links. Either I support giving pennies to millionaires or I somehow reward them with pennies for having theoretically pissed away millions they once had (which would be the case if this was Hogan or Flair, quite unclear in the cases of these 2).

I laughed at Dylan's note about Austin not needing the $ from the shirts being taken down off PWTees. I think the same thing every time he or Ross heavily plug their Amazon links. Either I support giving pennies to millionaires or I somehow reward them with pennies for having theoretically pissed away millions they once had (which would be the case if this was Hogan or Flair, quite unclear in the cases of these 2).

 

Me too. I have zero problem with them plugging actual merchandise but it comes off so ridiculous for them to beg for their ~8% of my Amazon purchases when smaller shows need that so much more.

Really good episode, just a couple questions...

 

1. Dylan at one point says something to the effect of "WWN Live doesn't reward their loyal customers" and while I agreed with pretty much everything he said on the subject, I could see WWN saying that by giving the five dollar discount to all preorders, they are in fact rewarding their most loyal customers. I don't think that is a great business practice but I could see that being WWNLive's thinking. The only other justification I could see for their current pricing system is maybe they think if they offer a good deal that's time sensitive, people who were on the fence about ordering an iPPV may take that limited time sale as the push they need to order it immediately, rather than taking time to mull the decision over and eventually end up either forgetting about it or making other plans. Again, I'm not saying I agree with that thinking completely but I am just trying to think of reasons WWN is set up the way it currently is.

 

2. A theme that is already coming up in this podcast two episodes in is big companies like WWE nickle and diming small scale bootlegging operations on things they could probably let slide. I have no legal background so I'd be interested in knowing if companies like WWE have an incentive to go after every pirate operation they find, no matter how small, just so they don't set a precedent of looking the other way that could be used against them. If WWE were to ignore a couple of known small scale bootleggers for a year or two and then went after a third slightly larger/more infuriating one, could that third one use WWE's past leniency in other cases to help them in court?

Short story, no.

 

Long story, enforcement is an issue for trademarks, since if you do not enforce the trademark you lose it (or it becomes generic... and you lose it). Copyright lasts for a set period of time, whether you enforce it against all parties or no one. The enforcement of that copyright is only an issue for determining damages, e.g., if you never enforce your copyright you're probably not going to get much in damages if you sue years later for infringement. You will still hold a valid copyright, however. So if the WWE ignores someone but knows that this person is infringing on WWE copyrights, then the WWE can still go after a separate third party. The bootlegger may be able to claim that the statute of limitations ran if more than three years passed, but that three years renews every time the bootlegger infringes on it. Additionally, the US Supreme Court said just last year that the defense of laches almost never applies, so little ol' bootlegger who the WWE didn't go after originally will not be able to use the WWE's inaction as a defense if the WWE did eventually sue.

One thing of note on the FWE shows being cancelled; people were skeptical that those Upstate shows would happen long before the show. Some people associated with the show were considered a bit shady. One was involved in a debacle during the State Fair. So these shows weren't likely to ever get off the ground. Seems like FWE has been trying to push the local promotion to other areas. I know you mentioned NEW but 2CW is probably a better source of reference since NEW to my knowledge doesn't run much Upstate. Binghamton,NY is considered pushing the idea of "Upstate" so NEW is probably pushing CNY at best. FWE was running 20 minutes outside of Utica if I recall and one show in Rochester. Which is weird since that ends up being cross-state. Bridgewater(?) was not running a great area to begin with. If there was a territory system then they'd be running pretty much in 2CW territory with NEW being Poughkeepsie and ESW being the Buffalo-Niagara area.