<nettime> Re: www.bigmissmoviola.com

[RTMark admin <admin@rtmark.com>]

     [orig To: Dana Newman <milesdana@earthlink.net>, CC:
      Miranda July <mjuly@bigmissmoviola.com>, Dana Newman 
      <dnewman@moviola.com>, "Randy Paskal, President" 
      <rpaskal@moviola.com>, hostmaster@moviola.com]

Dear Ms. Newman,

You apparently didn't read our letter. This decision to undertake a
campaign against your company is NOT Ms. July's. It is ours. 

Our campaign against eToys was also ours. etoy in fact wanted no part of
it, and even tried to dissuade us. They distanced themselves from our
tactics on several occasion, as you can see if you read the press.

We of course hope that Ms. July agrees with our plans, but this decision
to undertake a campaign against you is 100% our decision. If you wish to
stop it from happening, further threats against Ms. July will not help;
rather, you will have to threaten us.

Sincerely,
Ernest Lucha

http://rtmark.com/
Turning information resources into emotional capital.

On Tue, 13 Jun 2000, Dana Newman wrote:

> Dear Ms. July:
> 
> Seeing as we are still carefully considering your letter sent yesterday, and
> have not yet reached a determination, we were extremely disappointed to learn
> that you have decided to embark on an unwarranted, potentially illegal smear
> campaign without our even having had a chance to work together amicably to come
> to a mutually agreeable solution.
> 
> Please note that we are not a "huge" corporation, nor a public firm like E-Toys;
> rather, we are a small, privately-held, family owned and operated business that
> has been actively involved in the filmmaking and editing community for over 40
> years.
> 
> We will be responding to your letter shortly.  In the meantime, we sincerely
> hope you will reconsider your strategy in this matter, and caution you that in
> the event you choose to proceed with your "campaign" against J&R Film Co., Inc.
> for its legitimate efforts to protect its trademark, we will have no choice but
> to pursue our legal remedies against you, including without limitation seeking
> all available injunctive relief, compensatory and punitive damages, costs and
> attorneys fees.
> 
> Very truly yours,
> 
> Dana M. Newman
> General Counsel
> 
> RTMark admin wrote:
> 
> > Dear Miranda,
> >
> > This is OUTRAGEOUS.
> >
> > I have spoken with my associates here at RTMark and we unanimously agree
> > Moviola merits the kind of attention we poured on eToys after they sued
> > etoy.com, another essentially non-commercial website. Our campaign caused
> > eToys to suffer the public relations nightmare of e-commerce history, a
> > disaster that has been widely credited with contributing to a 90% drop in
> > their stock price (beginning the very day our campaign did).
> >
> > We will be assembling the necessary components for a wide-ranging campaign
> > against the J&R Film Co. and Magnasync/Moviola Corporation in the next
> > days. Several of these components should be identical to those we deployed
> > against eToys. A Virtual Sit-in is of course de rigueur, and likely to
> > cripple the Moviola servers even better than it did those of eToys, which
> > was prepared for comparatively enormous traffic. (CNN reported it was
> > "impossible to log on" days before christmas.) Of course, we are also
> > working out other strategies more specific to this company's interests. It
> > won't be any trouble getting support for your case: the community that
> > fought for etoy will be even more outraged at this attack, since your
> > website can only be perceived as a public service--and for an
> > under-represented group at that.
> >
> > While many people, including activists, object to our tactics, which may
> > sometimes border on the illegal, we believe you understand well why these
> > measures may be necessary under the circumstances, and we hope you take an
> > active part in their development, insofar as you are legally able. If your
> > lawyers object to your direct participation, of course we will understand.
> >
> > We will send you more information as the campaign gathers steam.
> >
> > Sincerely,
> > Ernest Lucha
> >
> > http://rtmark.com/
> > Bringing IT to YOU.
> >
> > ps: If you wish to read more about the way we operate, you can check out
> > press about RTMark's campaign against eToys at some of these sources:
> >
> >  CNN:
> > http://www.cnn.com/1999/TECH/computing/12/21/etoys.attack.idg/index.html
> >  ZDNet: http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2408451,00.html
> >  New York Times:
> > http://www.nytimes.com/library/financial/columns/123099internet-adcol.html
> >  NPR: http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/wesat/19991218.wesat.12.ram
> >  Bloomberg: http://rtmark.com/more/articles/etoybloomberg19991230.html
> >  Wall St. Journal: http://rtmark.com/more/articles/etoywsj20000127.html
> >  A.P.: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20000126/tc/etoys_settles_1.html
> >  ABC TV: http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Business/ap20000126_1183.html
> >
> > On Mon, 12 Jun 2000, Miranda July wrote:
> >
> > >Dear rtmark,
> > >         I operate a small, non-profit, network for women and girls making
> > >movies, called Big Miss Moviola. My primary focus is not distribution in
> > >the traditional sense, but an exchange of tapes between women who value
> > >each other's viewer-ship.  I have been operating this project since 1995; I
> > >started it when I was 21. Over the years Big Miss Moviola has been
> > >discovered by thousands of young women across the country as a forum where
> > >they can create their own audience of peers and educate each other.
> > >         Just this year I put together a website, www.bigmissmoviola.com.
> > >         This month I received a letter from General Counsel for J&R Film
> > >Co., Inc. and its subsidiary, Magnasync/Moviola Corporation. They are
> > >threatening to sue me unless I change the name of my operation. They are
> > >worried that people will get our websites confused.
> > >         I have worked very very hard over the last five years to create a
> > >resource that is now a part of women's culture. And I have not done it
> > >alone, I have received many grants, significant press, countless interns,
> > >and support from the all levels of the independent film community and art
> > >world and academia.
> > >         Please let me know if you have any ideas for how I can save my
> > >name. I obviously have no money for a legal battle with an huge
> > >corporation, and so I will have to comply if it comes to that.
> > >Thank you for your consideration.
> > >
> > >Miranda July
> > >
> > >
> > >X-POP3-Rcpt: mjuly@host2.4ua.com
> > >Date: Mon, 22 May 2000 15:39:55 -0700
> > >From: "Dana Newman" <dnewman@moviola.com>
> > >Subject: Moviola Trademark
> > >To: <mjuly@bigmissmoviola.com>
> > >Organization: Magnasync
> > >X-Mailer: GoldMine [4.00.9922]
> > >X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by host2.4ua.com id
> > >TAA25519
> > >
> > >Miranda July
> > >Big Miss Moviola
> > >P.O. Box 14284
> > >Portland, OR 97293
> > >mjuly@bigmissmoviola.com
> > >Re: "Moviola" Trademark
> > >U.S. Registration Numbers 790,351; 176,030
> > >Dear Ms. July:
> > >I am General Counsel for J&R Film Co., Inc. and its subsidiary,
> > >Magnasync/Moviola Corporation. Magnasync/Moviola Corporation owns all
> > >right, title and interest in and to the MoviolaŽ film editing machines and
> > >accessories, including trademark rights to MoviolaŽ.
> > >The MoviolaŽ trademark and tradename have been in continuous use by
> > >Magnasync/Moviola Corporation and/or its affiliates and predecessors in
> > >connection with motion picture editing and sound equipment since 1922. The
> > >MoviolaŽ trademark has been federally registered in the U.S. since 1965.
> > >The MoviolaŽ trademark and tradename specifically connote motion picture
> > >technology and equipment, and have a rich history throughout the
> > >entertainment industry, both in the U.S. and internationally. We are
> > >extremely proud of the reputation for high quality that has become
> > >associated with our MoviolaŽ trademark, and we protect it scrupulously.
> > >Magnasync/Moviola Corporation's parent corporation, J&R Film Co., Inc.,
> > >operates a division called "Moviola Digital" and has a website located
> > >http://www.moviola.com. The importance of the MoviolaŽ trademark to
> > >Magnasync/Moviola Corporation and J&R Film Co., Inc. cannot be overstated.
> > >We recently became aware that you created and currently maintain a website
> > >at http://www.bigmissmoviola.com that serves as a movie distribution
> > >network. We are not aware of any registration covering the "Big Miss
> > >Moviola" name, and thus can reach only one conclusion: such unauthorized
> > >use of a confusingly similar trademark constitutes an infringement and
> > >dilution of Magnasync's trademark rights in the "MoviolaŽ" name.
> > >We would appreciate being advised no later than Friday, June 2, 2000
> > >regarding your position in this matter.
> > >Very truly yours,
> > >Dana M. Newman
> > >General Counsel

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