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Rangers Promotion Idea

G

gkarfan

Beyond the rim
I was wondering how we could promote Rangers ourselves. One day recently, I was in our local Wal-Mart & noticed that there are some things that allow you to make T-Shirt transfers, stickers, magnets (yes, you read that right), & bumper-stickers with a printer & a computer. Maybe we could use these to promote the Rangers movie. Just a thought.

Tammy

PS--I saw these items next to the printer-paper in Wal-Mart, if you want to get some.

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"We're in here! Can anyone hear us?"
"I hear you." [giggle, laugh]
"In here!"
"We are here." [giggle, laugh]
-- Londo and G'Kar in Babylon 5:"Convictions"

Tammy's Station
http://community.webtv.net/gkarfan/TammysStation
 
Word of mouth seems to be working, they need prime time advertising, give some CGI out in it. B5 sold time for 'Enterprise', can LOTR buy, (or have they traded,) time during 'Enterprise'?

Also, pick a strategic time to tell people to watch b5, (FX fans, Shadow war and EA civil war,) (Pacifists, (Ugh!!!!,) Byron shows)

"Choose well", for we are fast running out of shows... before the LOTR airs.



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You have to be careful about reproducing anything that has been copyrighted, trademarked, etc.

Some companies are touchier about it than others...

For instance, I know Disney goes after day care centers, etc., that paint Disney characters on the walls, etc.

Odds are AOL Time Warner won't come after you if you make the things to use in your own house, since they'd never know about it.

However, that does defeat the purpose of advertising the TV Movie...

I know all this sounds silly, but you never know...


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"What's up, Drakh?"

Michael Garibaldi
 
You can't do much with copyright restrictions being what they are.

Think of it this way - the marketing people work on a unified ad campaign for a reason.

However, if you want to really do it, make sure you aren't breaking copyright rules, and go for it. In the back window of my car are two B5-related stickers I made myself (taped to the back window - I'm cheap!).

Just don't use copyrighted graphics or slogans.

It's an excuse to be more creative, is the way I see it...

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Channe, Freelance Writer Extraordinaire, the next JMS, neo-academic, President of the Unofficial Society For The Appreciation Of Captain Martel, and keeper of the Sacred Flame Of The Madrecasa.
 
All good advice to think before you act because you could end up in trouble
frown.gif


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Disney does more than just go after Day Care centers. Their lawyers will send a nastygram to Anyone they suspect of "misappropriating" Mikey the Rat.

For instance, a Con I worked on a few years back (I live in Orlando) had a Bob Eggleton T-Shirt that featured Godzilla flaming a cityscape. With a nice Crispy Mickey
laugh.gif
cool.gif
tongue.gif
wink.gif
in the foreground.

A few weeks After the con, someone wore one of the shirts out to the Magic Kingdom. We got a Cease & Desist letter from The Rat's lawyers.

The story that went round was that Disney security (The MouseStappo) spotted the shirt and demanded that the person wearing it remove it and replace it with another shirt that Disney provided. Right Then.

Whether or not Disney Kept the shirt was the major place where the story changed every time it got retold.
laugh.gif


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Yes, I like cats too.
Shall we exchange Recipes?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Disney does more than just go after Day Care centers. Their lawyers will send a nastygram to Anyone they suspect of "misappropriating" Mikey the Rat.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's because Mickey Mouse, his image, etc. are registered trademarks. Trademark law, unlike copyright law, requires that you defend your intellectual property. If you don't go after someone who is using it without permission, you can lose your rights to it and it will pass into the public domain.

Disney doesn't requie daycare centers to remove its characters from outside walls because it is peopled by evil trolls who get off on crushing the powerless. The company is smart enough not to want that kind of bad publicity. They do it because if they don't they run the risk of not being able to go after the pirates who are making millions ripping off the public by selling cheap imitation "Disney" merchandise.

Regards,

Joe

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Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
joseph-demartino@att.net
 
I'm all for promoting B5:lr...anything that'll make it into a show...but just having die-hard B5 fans sticking bumper stickers to their car isn't going to help much (but it will show the world you're educated and watch good tv). I think we need to leave this in Sci-fi's hands. Hopefully they'll put up billboards, ads in subways on bus stops and on busses (like they did for Farscape...cool ads by the way). Please play the right cards sci-fi...please.

Phil

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"When I was a kid, every Sunday dad would take us out for a drive. We never knew where we were going, that was half the fun. We just go. He'd say, pick a direction and one of us would point, off we'd go."
-John Sheridan
"Sleeping in Light"
 
Look, stick to word of mouth, added another b5 fan, (an fx nut like myself) just by explaining what was coming. He watched, and is hooked. It does not take much, the show will speak for itself!!! Promote b5, add in the upcoming movie, and the 'possible' series. Blockbuster carries "In the Beginning" in my area. Any sci fi watcher of any calibur will not be able to resist good writing. I bet with enough of us out there we can beat the 4.1 rating that "In the Beginning" was given.

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by gkarfan:

I was wondering how we could promote Rangers ourselves. One day recently, I was in our local Wal-Mart & noticed that there are some things that allow you to make T-Shirt transfers, stickers, magnets (yes, you read that right), & bumper-stickers with a printer & a computer. Maybe we could use these to promote the Rangers movie. Just a thought.

Tammy

PS--I saw these items next to the printer-paper in Wal-Mart, if you want to get some.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Bumperstickers? Hmm. Got any more info? Is this software, hardware, or print media? What brand? I'll go look today.



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KoshN
----------------
Vorlon Empire

Babylon 5 - Crusade marathon 10/8/2001 7AM-8PM on Sci-Fi

"To Live and Die in Starlight"
pilot movie for "Babylon 5 - The Legend of the Rangers"
January 2002 on The Sci-Fi Channel.
http://www.scifi.com/b5rangers/
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Joseph DeMartino:
That's because Mickey Mouse, his image, etc. are registered trademarks. Trademark law, unlike copyright law, requires that you defend your intellectual property. If you don't go after someone who is using it without permission, you can lose your rights to it and it will pass into the public domain.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, the Mickey Mouse example could be construed as a derrogatory use of the image. We're trying to HELP B5:LotR.

If whoever's in charge of the advertising would make a specific graphic or group of graphics available specifically for fan use, they could get around the issue. It could be like a license agreement for software (If you download this image, you agree to ...blah, blah, blah. If not, you can't download. If they made bumperstickers available for fans to buy, they could have their standard copyright stuff on them.

If Warner Brothers sees a homemade B5:LotR ad. or bumpersticker on my car, what are they going to do, get my license plate and trace me through the DMV?

------------------
KoshN
----------------
Vorlon Empire

Babylon 5 - Crusade marathon 10/8/2001 7AM-8PM on Sci-Fi

"To Live and Die in Starlight"
pilot movie for "Babylon 5 - The Legend of the Rangers"
January 2002 on The Sci-Fi Channel.
http://www.scifi.com/b5rangers/
 
I could see WB doing something along those lines.


------------------
"When I was a kid, every Sunday dad would take us out for a drive. We never knew where we were going, that was half the fun. We just go. He'd say, pick a direction and one of us would point, off we'd go."
-John Sheridan
"Sleeping in Light"
 
People, people-

There's a reason for a unified marketing campaign...

------------------
Channe, Freelance Writer Extraordinaire, the next JMS, neo-academic, President of the Unofficial Society For The Appreciation Of Captain Martel, and keeper of the Sacred Flame Of The Madrecasa.
 
I think the "word of mouth thing" is the best way to go. Others here have mentioned copyright infringement, and I agree with them about being careful what you copy. But along those lines, I think that if you have B5 hats and T-shirts and etc. already you should wear those. Or B5 fans could go to sites that sell B5 merchandise and buy stuuf, then wear it around or show it to their friends.

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**Watches the purple wombats do showtunes around his salad bar.** Visit my salad bar forum at www.b5rangers.net
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by channe:
People, people-

There's a reason for a unified marketing campaign...

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

What's to prevent Sci-Fi from offering some stuff to us fans so we can help advertise the show? They can have their copyright notice on the stuff. In the mean time, I plan on making some stuff to put on my car. However, if we strictly go by the rules of no graphics and no slogans, we also probably cannot use the name of the show or the title of the movie.

I wish Sci-Fi would get off it's dead a** and offer some stuff to the fans. As it is, the only advertising they'll probably do is on Sci-Fi, and that won't increase the audience much. To me, that's a half-hearted effort.

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KoshN
----------------
Vorlon Empire

Babylon 5 - Crusade marathon 10/8/2001 7AM-8PM on Sci-Fi

"To Live and Die in Starlight"
pilot movie for "Babylon 5 - The Legend of the Rangers"
January 2002 on The Sci-Fi Channel.
http://www.scifi.com/b5rangers/
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Well, the Mickey Mouse example could be construed as a derrogatory use of the image.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

There is nothing "derrogatory" about painting Mickey Mouse on the side of a daycare center. There is something illegal about it, and a positive requirement in trademark law that the owners defend the trademark. It doesn't matter how the trademarked material is used. If it is done without prior permission, it has to go, and a company that demands this isn't being "evil" as some would have us believe.

Regards,

Joe

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Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
joseph-demartino@att.net
 
Joe, I think the Mickey Mouse comment was referring to the T-Shirt I mentioned with Godzilla Flaming Mickey.

That, BTW, Was legal. Parody is always legal. You can make Fun of the Mouse all you want, so long as you don't copy actual Disney Art. Bob didn't. He painted a blackened, burnt-to-charcoal Mickey shaped figure in the foreground of the scene.

It's a great T-Shirt. Usually cracked people up. Except the Disney lawyers.
wink.gif


They knew it wasn't a violation, but sent the letter anyway. As you said, they always err on the side of Caution.

As an Aside, Disney gets more lawsuits filed against them every year than any other corporation in the world. At least One per Day last time anyone looked. The Deep Pockets syndrome. 99% of them are nuisance suits and get settled out of court for trivial amounts.

Some of the local ambulance chasers make a nice living off the Mouse.

OTOH, they recently Lost a MultiMillion copyright infringement suit of their own.
They forgot to Pay the people who designed their "sports world" attraction.
In fact, they told them it was a lousy idea.
Then, they went ahead and built it.
With some parts of it Identical to the Rejected plans.

OOPS.
shocked.gif


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Yes, I like cats too.
Shall we exchange Recipes?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Joe, I think the Mickey Mouse comment was referring to the T-Shirt I mentioned with Godzilla Flaming Mickey.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

True, but I was responding to your post about the day care centers. Not my fault someone decided to jump in and reply without paying attention to the conversation.
smile.gif


And you're right, of course, parody can't be touched unless it exactly reproduces the trademarked item, or isn't a parody of the item itself, but merely another use of it. (I'm thinking of all those obnoxious "Piss on Ford" or "Chevy" window stickers with unauthorized pictures of Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes on them. Whoever is making them can't claim "parody" because they are merely using Calvin to make fun of an automaker, not the character/comic strip itself. Come to think of it, they do use the actual Ford and Chevy logos. Do they have a leg to stand on with regard to those, or are they just crooks plain and simple? I hope the cartoon syndicate is tracking the a**holes repsonsible down and suing them all. And that's only partly because my cats are named Calvin and Hobbes.
smile.gif
)

Regards,

Joe

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Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
joseph-demartino@att.net
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Joseph DeMartino:
There is nothing "derrogatory" about painting Mickey Mouse on the side of a daycare center.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I was referring to the t-shirt of Mickey getting toasted by Godzilla, that somebody wore to Disneyland.

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KoshN
----------------
Vorlon Empire

Babylon 5 - Crusade marathon 10/8/2001 7AM-8PM on Sci-Fi

"To Live and Die in Starlight"
pilot movie for "Babylon 5 - The Legend of the Rangers"
January 2002 on The Sci-Fi Channel.
http://www.scifi.com/b5rangers/
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Joseph DeMartino:
True, but I was responding to your post about the day care centers. Not my fault someone decided to jump in and reply without paying attention to the conversation.
smile.gif


<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It's possible for somebody to be replying to part of a conversation, and not all of it. Quit being such an a**.
smile.gif


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KoshN
----------------
Vorlon Empire

Babylon 5 - Crusade marathon 10/8/2001 7AM-8PM on Sci-Fi

"To Live and Die in Starlight"
pilot movie for "Babylon 5 - The Legend of the Rangers"
January 2002 on The Sci-Fi Channel.
http://www.scifi.com/b5rangers/
 
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