Wow, I know we started this website without the text "B*W" in the it because that is crossing the line for copyright infringement, however supportive of the corporation as it is. Anyway, check out this email I just got. It's legit, I traced the origin back to bmwna.com.
Quote:
From: Renate.Kulnik@bmwna.com <Renate.Kulnik@bmwna.com>
To: hmaugans@gmail.com
Date: Dec 22, 2005 10:50 AM
Subject: Trademark Infringement
Dear Sir or Madam:
Your unauthorized use of the BMW trademark came to our attention when we saw an advertisement for your business on the Internet in which the BMW Roundel logo is prominently displayed on every page. A sample copy of the infringements is attached.
The BMW logo is a trademark owned by Bayerische Motoren Werke AG ("BMW AG") and is federally registered. BMW AG maintains the sole and exclusive right to use it. You have not been licensed to use BMW’s trademarks and are thus infringing BMW AG's trademark rights.
Accordingly, we hereby request that you sign this notice acknowledging that you will take immediate steps to cease this and any other unauthorized use of the BMW trademarks. We ask that you return this signed notice to us no later than 20 days from the date of this letter.
For your information and future reference I attach BMW NA’s Fair Use Rules. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
Renate Kulnik
Legal Assistant
BMW OF NORTH AMERICA, LLC
300 Chestnut Ridge Road
Woodcliff Lake, NJ 07677-3771
Phone: 201-307-3542
Fax: 201-307-9286
e-mail: renate.kulnik@bmwna.com
I have read the above and acknowledge that I will cease and desist all uses of the BMW trademarks and logos.
Signed ______________________ Dated__________________
______________________
Name
______________________
Position
2 attachments — Download all attachments
Fair Use LLC.doc
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SFX4AC.PDF
218K View as HTML Download
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And here is a screenshot they attached showing where we were legally threatening.
I guess the giant company BMW is threatened by a 16x16 pixel image that you can't even read the text "BMW" on, and a banner from a sponsor that runs a completely different site.
Anyway, I removed the top part, and I'm about to email him back about the sponsor banner.
And finally, since you guys won't be seeing it "on every page" anymore, here's a tribute to the roundel, so you won't forget what it looks like.
(and to see if that BMW guy signed up for our forums, haha)
(none of the images are hosted on our servers, they're all linking to other sites)
