Borg sues Steam Scenes

Was at the hobby shop yesterday, and the owner told me he may not be able to get the SP Steam Scenes calendar for me anymore, because UP is sueing Steam Scenes ! Did a Google search and here is what I found.

http://www.modelrailroadnews.com/pages/Steamscenes.html
Man, I hate that railroad.

Thom

 

UP is obviously still extremely jealous of Southern Pacific and all its accomplishments. While UP has had their share, all I can see is a glutinous greedy wanna-be company. Or perhaps they are the Ying in this ying-yang scenario: modelers are a cool tempered, friendly bunch so UP has to be the cancerous canker sore to balance the equation??? They certainly live up to the "borg" moniker they so rightfully deserve! Amazing how much bad "karma" this company has heaped upon itself.

 

Go ahead and order it. Nils Huxtable will continue to sell them, probably until they show up to throw him in jail. I ordered his UP one just to keep as a souvenir, as they are suing him. Haven't received it yet.
Oh, and just to show you what kind of guy Nils is, he has produced a great (and his most pricey) book on the SP Daylights. He showed up at the Brooklyn roundhouse at the NRHS convention and DONATED a case of these books to the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation for their fund raising efforts. Go, Nils!

[ November 02, 2005, 03:48 PM: Message edited by: fitz ]

 

Maybe they should just add 'not an official product of the Union Pacific Railroad Company' under the titles next year?

Given the strength of feeling that should improve their sales as well...

 

Didn't realize that the corporate null-brains at
that road don't realize that after the first four or five cars are re-routed BNSF because of their idiocy, it'll be strictly a loss for them regardless of whatever fee they charge.

Hard to believe that the old Santa Fe gave Lionel money up front for those F-whatevers.

 

My momma always told me, "Evil is as Evil does."

 

I totally am ashamed of the UP as a whole! Until all this bullying I thought highly of UP, but now I refuse to buy anything UP, and will never ship anything on the UP again!

I agree with: John Sipple

" Frankly, it would have been cheaper and more effective if UP had simply purchased the entire run, sold them as railfan memorabilia, and turned a tidy profit on a dandy product. "

I can not put into words how throughly disgusted I am with the Management at UP! When I run out of words, you guys know I am really frosted!

 

Watash - That has got to be one of your shortest posts! you really are pissed.

So am I. Time to continue my "retro Patch jobs" from PU to GN EB.

 

Maybe there should be a special thread on patching UP to other roads.

 

On my layout, UP went bankrupt and we bought the Challanger and Big Boy steam engines, so had to re-letter them to our private business. They will still look like they do, but now they are ours!

R.I.P. UP! (That's Rest In Purgatory)

 

Its a shame that S.P. didn't buy the U.P.I like the S.P. paint scame better than the U.P.!!I worked for the S.P. for a few years!!
Jim

 

I guess I have mixed feelings about all this. I am taking some contracts classes that relate to intellectual property.

On one hand, UP does own these marks. They should have the right to protect them.

P.s. Ever hear of the guy who sat around and waited for a mark to become available then trademarked it and sued the previous owners of the mark. I believe that was an exxon error. They bought the mark back for about a million. he he he

On the other hand, It seems like UP could assign a reasonable licensing fee for these calendars. It's not like they won't get their cut, but to supress something just because you are The Borg seems pretty outrageous.

Are any of these pictures old pictures? I do not know if they can grandfather in anything that is and old photo from before the eighties. I.e. It is now intellectual property to have a picture of a newer building, since 1987 I believe. Taking pictures and publishing them without permission is considered unlawful reproduction of intellectual property because someone owns the designs of the building. I wonder about diesel designs, perhaps GE needs to sue UP whenever they print a picture of a diesel.

Seriously though, company logos are very much a protected item these days. I can see both sides of this. UP is being very evil about all this though, especially in regard to older trademarks they purchased through buy outs such as SP,D&RGW, MP etc.

There is a lot to be said for modelling freelance lines these days.

If I made the calendar I would simply put stickers over every UP logo and sell them as is. LOL Then the buyer could try to figure out how to remove the sticker.

 

Oh yeah, Mikcey mouse is about to become public domain. Walt owned the rights because he designed him. As a copyright you get lifetime+ 70 years. Disney is about to have a huge problem. I wonder when the snow white movie will become PD.

 

Gosh, Now you have me thinking about all this even more.

The thing is this guy has been making these calendars for how long? How long has UP had to tell him to Cease and desist? Seems like they are coming at this kind of late.

 

Well, I went ahead and ordered one of these fine calendars because of the litigation. The reviews and sample images that I've seen are enough to convince me of its quality, and my purchase supports the little guy trying to make an honest living.

 

Most have seen this but it just seems right:



Done by Hemi.