Bad News: You can't have one ... read below
So, I just got back from my 2 day camping trip up to Binna Burra, and I was thrilled to find the express mail soft envelope which could only mean one thing. My shirt has arrived. I ordered a couple to beta test while we are still getting the store going. I tried it on, and it fits well, the shirt is good quality and the silk screened logo looks great.
Next stop was my pile of email (no laptop on the camp trip). I was dissapointed to get this mail from our PrintMojo rep: (PrintMojo is the printing and fulfillment house that we are using for the new tees.)
Your online store was just flagged by our legal staff. We understand that you have the intellectual rights to VideoSift because you own it J.
YouTube however is owned by Google and we can’t in good conscience let the store go live any more than we could if Google was trying to use Videosift on a T-shirt in a Mojo store.
http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=78802261
I have to apologize that we didn’t catch it in the process. We catch 99.9% of them in the art phase of the cycle. You are in fact only the 3rd to slip through in 4 years.
We will of course waive the normal screen and film fees we charge when a merchant has all their products shipped to them when they close their account . We will also ship the garments to you on our dime because we missed it.
We can't give you legal advice, however once you have the printed t-shirts back, it's up to you as to whether you want to take the risk and try to sell them on your site.We simply can’t allow the store to sell them now that we know about the infringement.
So there we are. On the one hand I can totally understand their point of view- but I thought that since we are not actually using the YouTube logo, it would slide. (IANAL obviously)
So now that we have the process down, we will probably try another batch perhaps with "*promote VideoSift" for the logo.
What to do with this initial load of 100 tees then? Well, I'm thinking they will be "limited edition" collector items - and we might make them available as prizes for a series of contests?
Anyone have a good idea for some contests we could try?
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What if you wrote a letter to them asking for permission? At best, it's free advertising, and at worst, it's still free advertising!
[edit] hell, you could slap a tiiiiny "TM" on there if they really care.
"VideoSift killed the webcam star."
Doesn't that cover the intended target.
http://blog.videosift.com/dag/Lots-of-Good-Flash-Video-Sites-Out-There
Or, how about just using the slogan that appears in the top of the browser window:
"VideoSift: Online Video *Quality Control"
That is that motto that we haggled over.
We could modify it, replacing YouTube with webcam. I liked this concept too:
http://www.videosift.com/talk/VideoSift-in-Vegas
Or are you concerned about PrintMojos concern in general now?
Hmmmm, hard to say.
As for the first 100: contests seem like a good idea!
How about this one: A shirt for everyone with a rody in their avatar?
No but seriously: I will definitely join every contest this brings up just to get my hands on one of these!
any tshirt would do.
I'm jes' sayin'.
(read my mind)
Something like this would be okay too, but is it too verbose?
Regardless of slogan, I wonder if it should be VideoSift.com instead of just VideoSift to insure we spread the "Hey this is a website you should be checking out" idea to the public at large.
How about:
VideoSift.com
*quality MeTube
Oh and I second the TOP 15 user T-Shirt giveaway.
Wait, how many have you got again? 100? *cough*
I think it should be VideoSift.com with what-ever we end up with.
(I'd gladly pay also)
a trademark is not the same as a logo.
the TM symbol means nothing whatsoever.
anyway, i always preferred simplicity, and positivity, so i proposed *promote
here's a mockup (dunno if this is how to link to a flickr photo but anyway let me know)
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2316/1853997028_417e42951c.jpg?v=0