FC: Godzilla movie owner nastygrams "Davezilla.com" humor site

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

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Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 14:05:12 -0400
From: Dave Linabury <davel () davezilla com>
To: <declan () well com>

This is just silly Declan. I am being legally threatened over the name of my
weblog. Davezilla.com, a parody/humor site run by me since 1995, is being
threatened by Toho Co. Ltd., for being too similar to Godzilla [they own all
Godzilla movies, toys, etc.].

The letter I received via Fed Express from their lawyers on Saturday is on
my site here: http://www.davezilla.com/index.php?p=1292

I have also added a text copy at the bottom of this email, if you're
interested. The silly thing is, it reads like a form letter and it's quite
obvious they've never visited my site. I have no mentions [until posting
their letter] or images of Godzilla anywhere on my site. Google has 29,000
links to my site but no Godzilla on there.


Color me gone,
Davezilla
----------------------------------
davel () davezilla com
http://www.davezilla.com/
http://www.antibloggies.com/
http://www.davezilla.com/fucked/
http://homepage.mac.com/davezilla/
----------------------------------


ORIGINAL LETTER:


re: DAVEZILLA.COM
Dear Mr. Linabury:

We represent Toho Co., Ltd ("Toho") in intellectual property matters. Toho
is the owner of all rights in and to the trademark and service mark GODZILLA
and the GODZILLA characters. In addition, the name "GODZILLA" and the
likeness of Toho's GODZILLA character are federally registered trademarks
belonging to Toho. Copies of Toho's U.S. Registrations for GODZILLA and the
GODZILLA character image are enclosed.

[Omitted long, dull paragraph about the history of Toho...]

It has come to our attention that you have incorporated the "ZILLA" portion
of our client's GODZILLA marks in the name of your "DAVEZILLA.COM" domain
name, and that you have included a "reptile-like" character as well as a
"monster-like" character, which you refer to as "GODZILLA", on your website
accessible through "DAVEZILLA.COM." Please be advised that your use of the
GODZILLA mark constitutes a trademark infringement and confuses consumers
and the public into believing that your "GODZILLA" character originates from
Toho, which it does not. Moreover, your use of the "ZILLA" formative along
with imagery associated with GODZILLA is likely to cause the users of your
site to believe that the "DAVEZILLA.COM" website is either associated with,
authorized by, or sponsored by our client, and demonstrates an attempt by
you to trade on the goodwill built up by our client. As such, we request
that you remove the objectionable imagery and reference to GODZILLA from
your website to eliminate any likelihood of confusion and possibility of an
inaccurate affiliation with Toho and GODZILLA.

We look forward to receiving your prompt reply, with a statement of your
intentions, no later than August 16, 2002. Thank you for your anticipated
cooperation.

Very truly yours,

SEYFARTH SHAW

Jill A. Jacobs




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