Stouffer Article...

[heidi.h.tandy.c92 at alumni.upenn.edu]

No: HPFGUIDX 15791

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Jamieson <crowswolf at s...> wrote:
> --heidit at n... wrote:
> <snip>
> Penny- something else for us to get VERY pissy with the prats at teh
> times about:
> http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/01/business/01BOOK.html

Was I the only one who thought that (a) the article really was 
MISSING SOMETHING - namely EITHER a quote from someone at Scholastic 
or WB, OR AT LEAST a statement that they had refused to comment? and 
(b) the article seemed unnaturally cut off? 
Also, in the Intellectual Property law bar, the Gone WIth The Wind 
case from last week has been causing a stir - *that* should've been 
the focus of the article, since it's a published book which has been 
enjoined from distribution, and which covers issues of parody and 
free speech, and has *nothing* whatsoever to do with the alleged 
issues that Stouffer is bringing up - which involve, specifically, 
access to copyrighted works and things like trademark abandonment 
(generally, as a matter of law, nonuse for *7* years is more than 
what's necessary for a mark to've been abandoned). 

Also, on the Things In Article Which Are Flat Out Wrong front, 
Stouffer doesn't have a registration for her marks - (1) she has 2 
pending applications which have been given preliminary refusals due 
to likelihood of confusion with other, registered marks; (2) Stouffer 
may be accusing the other parties of selling goods with the term 
MUGGLES on them - but, um, they AREN'T!

Jamison wrote 
> I mean, think about it...has ANYONE heard of her? I certainly 
> haven't, and I read A LOT of childrens fiction. I even took a 
> course with it in univeristy, and they had some of the most obscure 
> books for children, and she was nowhere in existence.

That's because it seems, as indicated in the articles, that they're 
not "books" of the kind one reads - they're activity books, with 
things to color in. The kind of junk they sell at drugstores & gas 
stations which people pick up before VERY VERY long car trips to 
throw into the back seat at cranky children in hopes that something, 
ANYTHING, will get them to stop throwing things at each other. 


Someone else asked, who sued who? WB & Scholastic & I think JKR too 
sued Stouffer in NYC in November, 1999 in what's called a 
Declaractory Judgment suit - they want the court to *declare* that 
they aren't infringing. She then sued them in Pennsylvania (case 
dismissed) AND filed counterclaims in the NYC case, so at this point, 
yes, she *is* suing them, but they *did* sue her first.