Monster: M-80 - Credit: The Master Shake Signal on Flickr (CC BY-SA)
Hansen Beverage Company has sent a takedown notice to Desktop Nexus. However, it is concerning trademark, not copyright.
They are asserting a trademark claim? They also said very clearly this was not a copyright claim. I suddenly regretted deleting those wallpapers, because I have a feeling what they’re doing is illegal. I did a little research on Continental Enterprises and turned up a number of horror stories involving their operation. To quote tabberone.com:
In our opinion, Continental Enterprises qualifies as the personification of a Trademark Extortionist. This Indianapolis-based company has taken trademark extortion to a new level.
They even went as far as filing a trademark infringement lawsuit against Tippman Sports a few days ago.
Desktop Nexus has over 600 new wallpapers being uploaded every day, making it impractical for us to manually moderate all the uploads. For this reason, sites like ours are protected under DMCA law, which requires us to take down content that violates copyrights in the event the copyright holder (or authorized agent) contacts us and makes a formal request. No problem. This however, is not a copyright issue. Continental Enterprises clearly stated they were not making a copyright claim. So I ask, does DMCA cover trademark issues as well, or are they trying to bully a smaller company into yielding to their whims? Did they have legal grounds to request we remove the wallpapers, and if so, did they approach it in a proper, legal way? Do we have any recourse in a situation like this? I want to remain legal in all of our actions of course, however I also feel large companies who abuse the legal system should be called out and have their ways exposed.
So I’d like to see these wallpapers. I’m not sure how much it would affect the case here, but I wonder if they are actually portraying the drink.