Thursday, December 16, 2010

Will Nikki Finke sue me? Or will I just get a cease and desist?

In between all the recent excitement of everything Facebook, lesbian ballerinas and my mention on NPR was this little nugget of news about the humorless Nikki Finke (courtesy of THR):

According to Reuters, the $14 million woman and her corporate overlords at Mail.com filed a trademark infringement suit in early December against a site called Deadline Hollyweird.  The report says Darling Nikki/Mail.com are "the sole owner of certain inherently distinctive trademarks related to the goods and services associated with Deadline" which includes the word "Deadline" hanging over the Hollywood sign.

From the U.S. Patent and Trademark office (9/28/10)
This is not the first time Nikki has used the legal system for something completely absurd.  There's the whole trademarking "TOLDJA," which is basically a done deal according to the U.S. Trademark Office despite the fact that Sister Toldja and Sister Toldjah both predate her in the blogging world.

But this lawsuit against Deadline Hollyweird got me thinking.  Maybe Nikki owns the "Deadline" part, but who wants that anyway.  The part I want is the "Hollywood." So I've been thinking of ideas for new sites.

Temp news all the time. Today's shocking revelation - $9/hr sucks.

PBS covers entertainment as only they can.  Gwen Ifill introduces
the catch phrase "I believe I mentioned that item a fortnight ago." 

64% of Hollywood execs flock to this site hoping to find a 
supplier who doesn't cut their snow with baby powder. 
The remaining 36% are too high to use their computer.
 
Covering the adult entertainment - top to bottom.  Perhaps
that's not the best term.  How about inside and out?  Nope. 
Well.  You get the point.  It's about a bunch of naked people.

All news Nikki Finke. Oh, wait, she already does that. Isn't it time
for Nellie to do another report on a Tilda-induced traffic jam?

Will I get a Cease and Desist letter for Christmas?


Oh, Nikki.  One quick thing. I sure hope you got the okee-dokee from the Hollywood Chamber to use the sign on your site because their site specifically states, "if the images or footage you are taking are intended for any sort of commercial purpose, then permission is required." You wouldn't want to get sued.

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