Anyone been emailed by intellectual property firm representing Oprah's producers?

Status
Not open for further replies.
opinijus

opinijus

New member
Oct 30, 2008
54
0
0
Lithuania (Eastern Europe)
Ive been emailed by The Entertainment & Intellectual Property Group, LLC which represents Harpo, Inc., producer of “The Oprah Winfrey Show”, as well as Ms. Winfrey and Dr. Mehmet Oz.

I have a landing page with images of Oprah and Dr.Oz and some texts that "refer" them. In my ads Oprah is mentioned also. But I don't bid on her name.

So this law firm want me to remove that content from my site and to reply them within 5 days. It's weird that they even noticed me because it's been only 5 days since I launched my campaign. There are so many ads and landings on the web that refer celebrities and trademarks. I don't get why that law firm chose my site...

Now I'm worrying of what to do. Should I remove that content and reply them? What can they do to me if simply do nothing (i think i'm too far to be caught cause i'm from EU)?

The copyright in and to the photograph of Ms. Winfrey is owned solely and exclusively by Harpo. You have used this photograph without Harpo’s prior authorization and consent; therefore, you have infringed Harpo’s rights in violation of the U.S. Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. Sec. 101 et seq.).

In addition, “Oprah” is a registered trademark of Harpo, Inc. (see, for example, US Trademark Registration No. 1726373). You have also used the logo/trademark for Harpo’s television series, “The Oprah Winfrey Show”, without Harpo’s prior authorization and consent; therefore, you have infringed Harpo’s rights in violation of the U.S. Trademark Act (15 U.S.C. Sec. 1101 et seq.).

You have also used Ms. Wifnrey’s and Dr. Oz’s names and likenesses without their permission in a commercial setting. This violates each of those individual’s right of publicity which prohibits the use of a person’s name and/or likeness for commercial purposes without that person’s prior permission.

Finally, you have used Mr. Winfrey and Dr. Oz in a way that falsely implies to the users of your web site that they each endorse, are affiliated with or somehow associated with the XXXX products promoted on the web site. This false implication violates their rights under the Section 43(a) of the U.S. Trademark Act which prohibits the use of a person’s name to imply a false association, endorsement, affiliation or sponsorship of your products.

Consequently, we demand that you immediately do each of the following:

(1) Remove Ms. Winfrey’s and Dr. Oz’s photographs from the web site;
(2) Remove any and all references to Ms. Winfrey and Dr. Oz from the web site;
(3) Refrain from using Ms. Winfrey’s and Dr. Oz’s names and likenesses for any commercial purpose in any media;
(4) Remove the OPRAH trademark from the web site.

Please reply within five (5) days following your receipt of this message that you have complied with these demands. If we do not receive a reply from you within that time period or if you indicate that you will not comply with these demands, my clients must reserve all rights, at law and in equity, they may have in this matter.
Click to expand...
 


Oprah and Harpo, Inc. are very protective of her, and won't allow her image/quotes to be used pretty much anywhere, even for products that she's explicitly talked about on her show. Rachael Ray's the same way. Our compliance department won't let any creative or LP through with them on there. Better safe than sued.
 
JandyStone said:
Oprah and Harpo, Inc. are very protective of her, and won't allow her image/quotes to be used pretty much anywhere, even for products that she's explicitly talked about on her show. Rachael Ray's the same way. Our compliance department won't let any creative or LP through with them on there. Better safe than sued.
Click to expand...

What network or company do you represent?
 
i would take it down.

On a side note posting the lawyers info wasnt smart. I am sure anyone who cant use Oprah will now email this firm when they see someone else using it.
 
ya id take down that lawfirm info. watch people start cloaking that law firms ip blocks... redirecting to a diff lp
 
LogicFlux said:
Do these types of fuckers look for "violations" on LPs by clicking ads?
Click to expand...
You'd be surprised how many affiliates with sketchy LPs/endorsements on LPs don't specify "no-index" in their robots.txt or meta tags. It's pretty easy to just search for similar sites, especially when so many sites just rip the same blog and use the same copy.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom