It so easy could happen! lol

> 22. (1) No person shall use a trade-mark registered by another
> person in a manner that is likely to have the effect of depreciating
> the value of the goodwill attaching thereto.

Certainly, a novice attorney might take this literally, and profess to the world that a corporate right to goodwill supercedes free speech in Canada. SOCAN sure seems to think so, at least.

Nevertheless, those experienced in law know that statutes provide specific, and often counter-intuitive, definitions for the terms they use. Canada’s Trade-marks Act, for instance, defines the word “use” thusly:

> “use”, in relation to a trade-mark, means any use that by section 4
> is deemed to be a use in association with wares or services;

And so, it becomes clear. I’m not stupid. SOCAN’s not stupid. I know, and SOCAN knows, that Jon’s not selling t-shirts with SOCAN’s logo on it, but instead, clearly using the logo in conjunction with news reporting and commentary.

It all boils down to– surprise, surprise– another sad case of intellectual property extremists distorting the law to silence criticism.

And I love that line in the text: “the GOODWILL associated with the mark”. HA HA

At least you know you’re making an impact on the readership of the web. Usually folks like this don’t deign to notice the use of their trademarks. If they do it is a SURE SIGN they are not only reading your material but watching with close eyes. It’s also a sign they are worried about their precious “image” as it appears to the public eyes.

Sounds to me like someone is becoming a bit more than just concerned with trademark images. Since those mentioned in this article are well known to travel in the same errr, “circles” as some of the other organizations we all love to hate, it also means that other eyes are well aware of the activities of this site.

Welcome to the big time, Jon! You’ve surfaced above the background noise on the net to become someone whose site needs attention.

Disclaimer notice that this response is opinion. It is not based on anything other than speculation. Wonder where that marvelous add-on went we were seeing so much of at one time?