Wednesday, March 28, 2012

The Victim Industry

Trayvon Martin's mother has trademarked the two most-used catchphrases that use her son's name.

Really don't know quite how to take that. It reminds me of a traffic-signal control box I pass on my way to work, which until recently had featured a tagger's symbol and a naughty word: They've been carefully painted out and "STAY CLASSY" has been scrawled across the thing in a contrasting hue.

Yeah, if only anyone bothered.

9 comments:

Tango Juliet said...

Cooper called it "The Age of the Common Man."

Shermlock Shomes said...

Alice?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQE0pfBAYQ8

Stuart the Viking said...

I would think that the concept of "previous art" would apply. You can't trademark something that people at large are already actively using and expect to win in court (as far as I know, I am not a lawyer). All someone would have to do is to prove that they were using the slogan/name/etc. before the trademark went into effect and their case is lost.

There is a Burger King resturant in Mattoon Illinois that predates the Burger King franchise. The franchise people tried to sue them out of existance, and lost BIG. The franchise ended up having to pay THEM to use the Burger King name. I haven't been back to Illinois for a number of years, but as far as I know, it's still there.

s

Bubblehead Les. said...

I think that's there's a bunch of Scumbags out there who want to use Martin's Image, Name and anything else to make up T-Shirts, Posters, Coffee Mugs, etc. all while Martin's Parents don't get a Dime.

However, I understand that there's another Trayvon Martin out there who's getting tired of the Phone Calls coming into his home, so he might have something to say about this issue.

Anonymous said...

A statement from Trayvon Martin's mom that she was taking this action to forestall opportunistic scumbags from making money off of a family's grief would go a long way to get me to take her seriously.

And did he really lie in the morgue as a John Doe for three days, until the police contacted his dad, who hadn't been looking for him?

I've been thinking about all the stuff I've read, such as the 'lay on the slab for three days' thing, and I think the reason so many superficially effed up sounding justifications for the shooting can be heard from one side of the issue is that a whole lot of people have had it with engaging the Left on a serious basis. Too many decades of bad faith arguments, too many decades of being characterized as villains merely by virtue of having been born white and middle class.

It seems, on the surface, to be plainly indecent to exert oneself to determine if Trayvon was a good boy or a quasi-thug. I think a significant percentage of white people figure that if they are going to be spoken or written about as if they are an enemy anyway, no matter what their position on the matter, that they might as well be hung for a sheep, as a lamb.

Mike James

John A said...

A statement from Trayvon Martin's mom that she was taking this action to forestall opportunistic scumbags from making money off of a family's grief would go a long way to get me to take her seriously

Heck, while it may seem noxious, someone WILL sell Tshirts and mugs and bobbleheads etc. - why not the family?

Roberta X said...

Like I wrote, I don't know how to take it. This is the world we have made.

Anonymous said...

Nice to see the priorities are straight.

Call in the race-hustlers - check

Make some money of the death off the death of your child - check

Riot when/if the result isn't to your liking - pending


"I don't know how to take it. This is the world we have made."

I couldn't agree more! But please stop the world as I want to get off now! I'm not sure I can take much more.

Sabra said...

From what I gather, she did this on the advice of her lawyer, and it is more to prevent his name and image from being used for others' purposes than to use it for her own. Honestly, I cannot blame her.