boycottfaleenahopkins

What is a Trademark?. | American Bar Association

Just because you can trademark something, doesn‘t mean you should. Also, just because you got a trademark doesn‘t mean it‘ll hold up. Based on what I‘ve read on #cockygate the office that issues trademarks is likely not well-staffed, & hasn‘t been for some time. It sounds like trademarks are awarded & the expectation is the courts will sort it out. I think if someone big enough pushes back this will stop. It just won‘t help anyone already harmed.

Bookzombie I wonder if there could be any kind of restitution ordered if this went to court or if they would have to go to civil court individually. For example, the author of Arrogant Fiancé might have lost money having to change the title of her book due to things like merchandising. I have no idea if that‘s the case, just pondering. 7y

ReadingOver50 #boycottfaleenahopkins you can‘t trademark a commenly used word 7y

LibrarianRyan @Bookzombie if it's like copyright cases if the judge/jury sides with the defendant the plaintiff usually has to pay court costs for both sides. And sometimes legal council fees as well 7y

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LibrarianRyan @ReadingOver50 they need to write a better computer system. Patent and trademarks are almost exclusively done online. Nothing in the application was tagged by the computer apparently. 7y

jpmcwisemorgan @Bookzombie & @LibrarianRyan I think it wouldn‘t hold up if it did go to court but she‘s going after self-published authors who don‘t have the money to risk it and/or don‘t know how to fight it. 7y

LibrarianRyan @jpmcwisemorgan I don't think it will hold up either. But as you said it will take someone with $$ to challenge and I bet she ignores a big name author who uses it. 7y

jpmcwisemorgan @LibrarianRyan From what I‘ve seen Romance Writers of America is getting involved. I‘ve seen a mention or two of some publishers but I don‘t if that‘s the case it wishful thinking. Tessa Dare and E.L. James have tweeted, they‘re keeping it mild but you can tell what side they‘re on. Gail Carriger threw out a book idea/title. And now I see people saying hey this isn‘t my genre but we need to pay attention. 7y

LibrarianRyan We do need to pay attention. What bugs me the most is all the people who do not know the rules around copyright, patents, and trademarks, screaming from the rooftops. I have seen so many people saying you can't trademark a word. That is untrue. You can trademark a word. Drug companies do it all the time. Allegra, Zynax, Claritin, etc. they can not trade mark the chemical name because those are common scientific words so they make up a brand nam 7y

LibrarianRyan Paris Hilton could not trademark "that's hot" nor Donald trump "you're fired" because they are common words/expressions. But they tried. Heck trump tried to trademark Make America Great Again. Also didn't pass. Somehow this woman's trade mark was passed through the system. Probably because she's a nobody. Not very well known. Etc. but now with all the hoopla the courts will jump in and I bet it gets canceled. 7y

LibrarianRyan I'm glad RWA are getting involved. A big name will make this go quicker and probably make the process easier because the big name can get the case seen sooner. Where an indie label or SP author could be waiting for court for years. 7y

jpmcwisemorgan @LibrarianRyan Quite a few people have pointed out you can trademark a word but not necessarily has she‘s done it - the exceptions would be things like you‘ve mentioned. The examples I‘ve seen have been things like Apple or Target. That‘s why some people have said she could trademark the series, but the word itself might not hold up. 7y

OrangeMooseReads From what I read the trademark was for the title of her specific series and then she and her lawyer(s) too it to mean every instance of cocky in any title of a romance novel ... she is bat shit fucking crazy 7y

jpmcwisemorgan @OrangeMooseReads And what I saw it was for ebooks but one of the authors has said Amazon took down her paperback before she even had a chance to respond. I think there might be some overstepping on the part of Amazon and Hopkins. 7y

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jpmcwisemorgan

Why Fonts Matter | Sarah Hyndman

And...apparently Faleena Hopkins has another trademark that‘s a word mark but it‘s using a font that she cannot legally trademark and the creator of said font is on vacation but has said he‘d look into it upon his return so someone else might be changing their covers soon if it‘s determined she‘s violating her licensing agreement for the font. Someone might have gotten a little too cocky. #cockygate

jpmcwisemorgan That was a really long sentence but I‘m high on caffeine and going to crash from that soon so I have is long sentences. Apparently. For the record, this is how I speak. Mostly no punctuation with all my thoughts just spilling out and sometimes topics change and y‘all are just gonna have to follow along because I forget you‘re not inside my brain and don‘t understand how things are connected because I didn‘t give you the entire thought process. 😊 7y

tpixie Lol it‘s like reading one of my favorite books- no punctuation!

Eloise: with audio recording

JacqMac 😂 My husband talks like this when he has a brain burst. So I‘m still with you. I have practice. 7y

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jpmcwisemorgan @tpixie & @JacqMac 😊 7y

ReadingOver50 #boycottfaleenahopkins you can‘t trademark a commenly used word 7y

OrangeMooseReads I talk like that too. I cannot wait for Hopkins to get her ass handed to her on a silver platter 7y

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jpmcwisemorgan

Editing Digital Photos For Dummies | Mark Justice Hinton, Barbara Obermeier, Doug Sahlin

Ok, I‘m not done with my thoughts on #cockygate. As readers I think we all know certain genres use certain words in their titles and have certain types of covers. I know I‘ve seen some comments on covers - I think it was YA fantasy but it still applies. Cocky is a word that could reasonably be expected to be in the title of a romance book. Just like we might see sword in a fantasy book‘s title. These are cues that let us know what we‘re getting.

jpmcwisemorgan I‘m ok with protecting a series name or aspects of your book that are highly specific to your book, like, oh, naming your character Harry Potter. If JKR wanted to strongly encourage people to not name a character after her very well-known character that makes sense. One could argue that another person was trying to ride her coattails, especially if it was in the same genre. 7y

jpmcwisemorgan I could see JKR letting it slide if I‘ve named a side character Harry Potter and said no, not THAT Harry Potter, it‘s so annoying that people always think that, for goodness sake I‘m not even a wizard, I‘m an ACCOUNTANT. Both names are pretty common. I could reasonably make a character Harry or them have a last name of Potter. It‘s when they‘re together it‘s potentially a problem, which is why I can understand trademarking a SERIES title. 7y

jpmcwisemorgan But, in general, readers aren‘t stupid and they‘re not going to think my accountant named Harry Potter is THE Harry Potter. Just like readers are probably not mistaking a standalone book with cocky in the title for series with something like 17 books in it. If you‘ve read that many books in a series you likely know what you‘re clicking on. 7y

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Chrissyreadit Just read through your posts- this sounds crazy and power triply. I do not believe independent words should ever be held hostage. 7y

jpmcwisemorgan @Chrissyreadit Same. That‘s really the vibe I‘ve gotten from her own posts. 7y

ReadingOver50 #boycottfaleenahopkins you can‘t trademark a commenly used word 7y

LibrarianRyan @jpmcwisemorgan while I agree with everything you said, did you know JKR was sued for copyright infringement. One of the supporting statements was Harry Potter. An orphan boy with magical abilities. The other book was out 3 years before HP1. It sucked and I could see why she lost future contracts. I used to have to talk to kids about copyright and always used this case as an example 7y

jpmcwisemorgan @LibrarianRyan Yes, I did know JKR was sued but I don‘t recall it being the same name, but that there were some similar ideas, etc. 7y

LibrarianRyan @jpmcwisemorgan yep. Same name. There were multiple other similarities but having read the book it was small things that could be common. In fact the kids name in the original Trolls (80s b horror movie ) is Harry Potter. I'd have to dig for my notes for all the other similarities. 7y

Chrissyreadit @LibrarianRyan I did not know about JKR. I do know MNShylamon made a movie almost identical to a book I had read with no repercussions and I thought that odd. I‘m bummed it cost JKR contracts- is that why she does not have new HP books? 7y

LibrarianRyan @Chrissyreadit it didn't cost JKR anything. She won and the plaintiff had to pay all court costs for both sides. It was found there was not enough similarities for there to be copyright violations. Plus the judge had written that this case seemed a money grab because the plaintiff has a book that no one bought but she waited until the 3D movie to make a complaint. If she had truely thought it was infringement she would have aired earlier since the 7y

LibrarianRyan Books had already been out and popular. JKR won. Big time. Plus the book she was accused of plagerizing was only in print I. The us and JKR could prove that she had been working on her story for years before the other lady was published. 7y

jpmcwisemorgan @LibrarianRyan & @Chrissyreadit That sounds more familiar now. As for not having anymore HP she has said multiple times she was done and wanted to explore other things, which could include the HP universe and we‘re seeing that with Fantastic Beasts. Also, she has a mystery series that‘s three books in now. 7y

Chrissyreadit @LibrarianRyan @jpmcwisemorgan thanks for the info! 7y

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jpmcwisemorgan

Reading, Grade 3 | Spectrum

Faleena Hopkins, instigator of #cockygate, has tried to say she‘s trademarked cocky because her readers have lost money by buying the wrong book because they were confused. Y‘all. I can‘t. I mean, come on. First, Amazon WILL refund on ebook purchases. I have seen the message myself- something like if you bought this in error click here. I don‘t pay that much attention because I don‘t actually buy books by mistake, even if I say I did. 😉

jpmcwisemorgan I‘m guessing Barnes & Noble and other ebook sellers will likely do the same. Second, I‘m having trouble believing large numbers of readers bought the wrong book because that means they weren‘t checking for HER NAME. If there are lots of readers who don‘t recognize her name that just might say something about her series. I can see that if you‘ve only read one or two books but if you‘re committed to a series you know the author. 7y

Bookzombie I agree with all of this! 7y

ReadingOver50 #boycottfaleenahopkins you can‘t trademark a commenly used word 7y

OrangeMooseReads Yeah how are they not able to read the name of the author? That suggestion made me laugh out loud and I got a dirty look from the cat 7y

jpmcwisemorgan @OrangeMooseReads I know, she basically called her readers stupid. 7y

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jpmcwisemorgan

Harlequin Romance | Sue Peters

So, Faleena Hopkins has trademarked cocky as it relates to ebooks in the romance genre. It‘s supposedly to protect her brand, which is a series with cocky in it. She personally, not her lawyer, is sending cease and desist emails to authors who use the word cocky in a book TITLE. There‘s some debate on whether this will stand because a series title and book title are different. (More in comments) #cockygate

jpmcwisemorgan Many now suspect this is a ploy to raise her search rankings. So far she‘s not gone after more established authors or anyone backed by a publisher, that I know of. I‘ve seen a few arguments that this is because if she can get people to change their titles she‘s making her case stronger to go after other people because there won‘t be other books with cocky AND because of precedence. 7y

jpmcwisemorgan She‘s bullying other authors and I don‘t like her tactics so she‘s someone I won‘t read (tbh, I probably wasn‘t gonna read her anyway but she‘s definitely a big nope now). 7y

Seekingtardis I don‘t like it. It‘s a word. You can‘t keep people, especially writers, from using a friggin word!! I think we should all write some ridiculous short stories and name the book The Cocky Book of Cocky Cocks! 7y

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jpmcwisemorgan @Seekingtardis And that‘s going around Twitter too. I posted about one such book already. It‘s about 5 minutes of reading and the snark level is high. There‘s at least one other person actively spite-writing something. 7y

sprainedbrain I read a little about this earlier, but just fell into the twitter hole following the hashtag. I doubt I would have gotten around to reading this author, but now I know for sure I won‘t. What a horrible way to treat your fellow indie authors. 🤬 7y

jpmcwisemorgan @sprainedbrain I‘ve been following since last night so the rabbit hole that is #cockygate is easier for me to follow. I‘m just sort of summing up all the bits I‘ve learned. Like you, I probably wouldn‘t have read her but now I definitely won‘t. 7y

JacqMac It‘s a word. This is crazy! And what a horrible way to treat fellow writers. I don‘t think she‘s doing herself any favors. 7y

jpmcwisemorgan @JacqMac I think her behavior is what‘s going to hurt her in the long run because other authors aren‘t going to have a thing to do with her and romance is a genre where there‘s a lot of collaboration and cross-promotion. 7y

ReadingOver50 #boycottfaleenahopkins you can‘t trademark a commenly used word 7y

CoverToCoverGirl There will always be people with issues #boycottfaleenahopkins . I have not nor will I give the author the time of day .. ever 😡 7y

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