Wouldn't it be fun if some DU'er came out of the woodwork with the copyright to the word "FREEPER"

[Vinnie From Indy]

While I have not searched for the earliest use of the word "Freeper", I have to believe that the word was coined here on DU. Jim Robinson at Free Republic has taken the word as his own and judging by the amount of use of the word on his insanely hard to navigate site, he has spent some money using the word in his marketing efforts.

I believe that since the word has been used so much in the public domain that a copyright is impossible. Still, a nice thought to think that Ol' Jim would have to start paying somebody at DU for the use of the word Freeper.

[flvegan]

1. I'd rather patent "shitty fucking website"

That way, those douchebags would have to pay me per click.*





*I know that's not really how it works, but who can resist a backhand slap of that place?

[parasim]

2. Well, according to the Urban Dictionary...

the word "Freeper" was originally coined by Lucianne Goldberg in 1998 when she posted there under the posting name, "Trixie".

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=FReeper

on edit: Of course, that is not to say that it still wouldn't be incredibly hilarious if a DUer tradmarketed the word.

[begin_within]

7. I think it would be extremely difficult

for a DUer to trademark "Freeper" because there is a long process before the U.S.P.T.O. actually grants a trademark. There is a public comment period and there can be challenges to the granting of a trademark. The office places a lot of weight on who used the mark first in commerce. Free Republic could hire a lawyer to easily prove that they were using that name way before anyone at DU tried to trademark it, and I would bet they would win, and the USPTO would probably deny the trademark to the DUer. The DUer would not get their filing fee back. Free Republic could file for a trademark on it, and it would go through the same process, a DUer could challenge it, but again I think Free Republic would win, because they were actually using it in commerce long beforehand. The office places heavy emphasis on "who used it first" and documentation to back that up.

[parasim]

8. Well, yeah, of course.

But still, it would be funny.

[Rhiannon12866]

3. Well, the FReepers on Free Republic use the word, themselves.

They tell each other to "FReep" polls, or protests, just as we ask each other to "DU" them... :shrug:

[Dennis Donovan]

6. I believe you're correct...

I've been here since early 2002 and the term was already in use here...:hi:

[Rhiannon12866]

9. I know I'm correct...

Since I'm a FReeper too... :evilgrin:

Since early 2003. Last I knew, anyway... :shrug:

Rhiannon ;) :hi:

[Atman]

4. You can't copyright a word.

I always find it amusing when I see the copyright © symbol next to the name of the cave-dwelling freepers' site.

OTOH, if you want to TRADEMARK the word "Freeper," go for it. But you'd better have a good IP lawyer on hand. Robinson truly is a fool if he didn't try to tie that word to his site and trademark it. Oh, wait...Robinson is a fool. Nevermind.

.

[begin_within]

5. You can't copyright a single word.

You can't copyright a title either. You could think of the best title in the world, and someone else could use the same title, and you can't stop them. In fact you can't even copyright an idea. All you can copyright is your unique expression of an idea in a fixed, tangible format. Something that the copyright office of the Library of Congress can store in its archives.

As far as a single word, you could get it trademarked. Someone could trademark "Free Republic" or even "Freeper" as a trademark, in relation to a particular product or service. Then nobody else could offer that same product or service with that same name, or in the same category of products or services as defined by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. However the trademark owner would not be able to prevent other people from editorial use of the word, such as writing an article about Free Republic or an article about Freepers or posting a message on this forum about Freepers. If the trademark owner had enough attorneys they could conceivably force you to put the registered trademark symbol after it (the circle with the R in it) but that's about all.