If you are a long-time visitor, you know that the Pharmacy has offered lava lamp™ movies to view on-line, as well as free link-ware lava lamp™ gif animations. On October 30, I received an e-mail from the vice president of marketing for "the" lava lamp™ company, telling me that there is a problem with trademark infringement using "their" image. Well, perhaps vice presidents are the uncreative sort, and don't realize that I created the graphics myself. I did not copy them from their site, neither did I even photograph or video tape their product. The animations are created pixel by pixel, frame by frame, from sketches I made of my lava lamps™, then translated them digitally into vector shapes and then used raster filters like KPT's Texture Explorer and Spheroid Designer.
As Dave Barry would say, "I am not making this up."
I'd appreciate it if you sign my guestbook and show your support.
Let's keep artistic license alive.
Read the e-mail he wrote me, followed by my response.
Aaargh!
What is this world coming to when I cannot even put images *I create myself* that are not obscene or hateful on *my own webpage*?
There is something wrong here, something dreadfully wrong with this rotten world.
Does it matter, as an artist, if I draw an image of a Macintosh computer, an Ethan Allen dresser, a Waring blender, a bag of Lay's potato chips, a Ford Aerostar van, etc. etc.? What's the difference? We are surrounded by products. Practically *everything* is a product, and although I generally do not do representational art, if and when I choose to, I represent items that are in my life. And isn't the term "lava lamp" such a generic term, as opposed to being product-specific? Yes, Lava Lite® Lamp is definitely a product name, but just the term lava lamp?
Why not just make all representational art illegal to prevent an image being portrayed of a product that is trademarked?
- View the Lava Lamp™ Support Book
- View my original lava lamp™ movies I created with Fractal Painter and KPT Texture Explorer
- View my original lava lamp™ gifs I created in Adobe Illustrator with KPT Spheroid Designer with GIFBuilder
I steal from no one! I make my own. How dare they!
Update #1: Many of you who have signed my guestbook (and I thank you for all your kind words) have questioned the legitimacy of this guy's letter. Believe me, this is the first thing I wondered myself, but I did check it out and he does appear to be for real, as we played telephone tag the afternoon of October 30. I have the unpleasant task of trying to contact him again on Monday morning.
Update #2: Wednesday, November 5. I contacted Dr. Lava first thing Monday morning. I explained my case, and he said I made a good point about Warhol and artistic freedom. He told me his intent was not to shut down my lamp page, but that it had to be made clear that they are the holder to all trademarks of the image. I told him if it meant putting a link to his site, that was fine with me. He also said that the shape of the lava lamp™ base is a trademarked symbol, and that he'd have to re-examine my page to see just what the problem is, or if it can be easily remedied. He said he'd contact me by e-mail. I still haven't heard from him.
Update #3: November 5. As my mind wandered late this evening, I was thinking about their claim of trademarking the shape of the base of the lava lamp™. The shape of the lava lamp™ base is like the shape of the Pharmacist's mortar in the often used icon. And who's the Aesthetic Pharmacist? Dr. Lava? I think not.
Update #4: November 6. Found out that the domain www.lavaworld.com was registered in October 1996. I've had this site since August of 1996. Lavaworld™ has now removed all the entries of protest from their guestbook. Don't want to look bad to the public, hmm?
Update #5: Why don't they go after the domain holders, www.lavalamp.com, who have nothing to do with that product. Certainly they are diluting the trademark more than I am.
Update #6: November 25. I have not heard any more from them, and it's been almost 4 weeks. I am hopefully assuming that they have decided that my page is not worth pursuing by their legal department. Ya won't get a dime, fellas. I'm broke. Go after deeper pockets.
Visit Faith's Former Q-Tip Site
(er, excuse me, Cotton Swab Site)
which unfortunately met a sad end due to greedy corporate types.
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