I've uncovered yet another blogger with no moral compunctions about stealing Venom And Honey™ for her blog title -- this one in Australia*, where (unlike the other one) I have zero legal protection (common law or otherwise) for my trademark, as she was quick to point out. I mean, at least I can still hope to become wealthy enough someday to hire a lawyer and bring justice to the American infringers...
The real fact of the matter is, as we discovered with the last one, that being rude, uncreative, unoriginal, and immoral isn't a crime. And since it isn't a crime, there ain't nothin' you can do about it -- nanny-nanny, boo boo. Why don't you go cry about it on your blog? (This blog, Venom And Honey™, the REAL original Venom And Honey™, not one of the rip-offs.)
At least in the good old days, people had things like honor, integrity, respect, manners, pride in their reputation... I believe this is mostly because they faced the constant threat of getting challenged to duels. Shame the cowards were able to put a stop to the duels.
Below, for the record, you may read our correspondence:
MattDuffy:
Hey -- this is Matt Duffy from Venom And Honey™, a blog which I have been running across various sites for about ten years now (since the Friendster days).
Out of respect for me and my trademark/intellectual property, would you mind please choosing an original name for your own blog?
Sarahlinaballerina:
Dear Matt Duffy,
Thank you for your enquiry [sic] regarding the name of Venom & Honey. I respond respectfully with the following.
To begin with, my blog is not created for commercial purposes and therefore fundamentally cannot be in breach of copyright laws. Secondly, even if my blog was created with commercial intent (which it is not) your blog of a similar name to mine is not registered as a trademark within Australia (yes, it has been checked) and therefore you are out of your jurisdiction to request the change. Thirdly, I have never seen your blog and nor will I search for it because they will not be remotely similar in content, Venom & Honey is a personal expression of my own interests and has nothing to do with your 'intellectual property'. Lastly, Venom and Honey is derived from a latin poem, which, last I checked, was not written by Matt Duffy.
I hope you enjoy the content of Venom & Honey and wish you all the best with your endeavours [sic] with Venom and Honey. The name of this blog will not be changing.
Kind Regards,
Sarah
Matt Duffy:
You are right that I have no legal authority to make you change the name; I am merely appealing to your sense of honor and integrity to do the right thing.
Unlike some other copycats I have dealt with, you seem like an intelligent and creative person who could probably come up with your own original blog title and wouldn't have to steal mine.
Also, just to clarify, the correct translation of the Latin is actually "honey and venom".
Anyway, in case I do ever get rich, I hope all of this proves that I've made the effort to protect Venom And Honey™ as my own.
* For those who don't know, Australia is a continent populated by the descendants of British criminals, so I guess I can't really blame her if thievery is in her blood.
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