Guild Wars 2

Apparantly, miss Taylor Swift has set copyright on some txt from her lyrics:
‘This Sick Beat’ , ‘Party Like It’s 1989’ and ‘Cause We Never Go Out of Style’ amongst them . Apparently, brands who are using this need to get permission to use this
We are talking about quite normal use of language which suddenly becomes subject to permission of use ?

Why is this relevant for GW2 you ask? Well:

In one lyric of one of her songs, there is this line “Shake it off” ..she could not copyright this however, since this was already done by a diet company..so…

I wonder if ANet has gotten permission for the use of this in the Warrior skill XD XD XD

Well, when it comes to copyrights on words or phrases, it’s quite easy to fight it if it happens to actually be something that was already commonly used. I’m kind of surprised the copyright “Shake it off” was even approved in the first place.

Same here..all on all I think it’s friggin’ ridiculous to use ordinary day to day life sentences as a copyright…

Shake it off is a WARRIOR skill you heretic!

metaldude.4132:

Apparantly,

Always best to check your source first

Who the hell is taylor smith? Lemme guess, some pop idol karaoke trash or reality tv fame vampire?

Ps. Does the artists formerly known as Prince know about this because…“Tonight we’re gonna party like it’s 1999” he should get on that copyright bandwagon :P

penelopehannibal.8947:

metaldude.4132:

Apparantly,

Always best to check your source first

It’s in the formal news
http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/6451179/taylor-swift-copyrights-album-lyrics
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/taylor-swift-trademarks-1989-song-lyrics-including-this-sick-beat-10010296.html
http://www.nu.nl/muziek/3982050/taylor-swift-voegt-teksten-eigen-liedjes-toe-handelsmerk.html (dutch)

Good enough for ya? XD

Tom Gore.4035:

Shake it off is a WARRIOR skill you heretic!

Ow reaaaaaly…(edited..now burn! LMAO)

metaldude.4132:

Same here..all on all I think it’s friggin’ ridiculous to use ordinary day to day life sentences as a copyright…

Which is why that’s not what happened here. Swift had trademarked those phrases, and in several cases also specific likenesses/visual representations.

Trademarks apply to specific product categories, too, so I’m not at all sure that GW2 would be affected at all.

Lazaar.9123:

Well, when it comes to copyrights on words or phrases, it’s quite easy to fight it if it happens to actually be something that was already commonly used. I’m kind of surprised the copyright “Shake it off” was even approved in the first place.

It wasn’t. They’re trademarks. Which is different from copyrights. Besides, what you’re thinking of with respect to prior art are patents and not copyrights.

But by any means, people, don’t let get facts in the way of a good rant. :-P

Trademark!! that was the word I looked for. (not a native english speaker) you are right, copyright is smt else!
But still ridiculous IMO

LMAO thinking about smt funny here:
you know what would be hilarious? If Anet decides to invent a new condition called " grow big" . You would grow enormously and became slow and have no endurance…

THEN I would like to see what happens if you use “Shake it off” since it is used to get back to normal size..a law suit by forementioned diet firm? XD XD

As Gudy mentioned above, trademarks are really to stop people making money off of her and her products likeness (like making “Shake it off” T-Shirts in her songs likeness)

But even if she had Copyrighted the term, which is almost impossible to do considering it’s a fairly used term, the guild wars skill was created before her song came out so they’d be clear of any danger on that front.

psizone.8437:

As Gudy mentioned above, trademarks are really to stop people making money off of her and her products likeness (like making “Shake it off” T-Shirts in her songs likeness)

But even if she had Copyrighted the term, which is almost impossible to do considering it’s a fairly used term, the guild wars skill was created before her song came out so they’d be clear of any danger on that front.

So..actually ANet should have been paid by her then ? :P LOL

metaldude.4132:

Trademark!! that was the word I looked for. (not a native english speaker) you are right, copyright is smt else!
But still ridiculous IMO

Get used to this madness, it’s only going to get worse. You can trademark almost everything. A German communication company trademarked the color Magenta.

metaldude.4132:

psizone.8437:

As Gudy mentioned above, trademarks are really to stop people making money off of her and her products likeness (like making “Shake it off” T-Shirts in her songs likeness)

But even if she had Copyrighted the term, which is almost impossible to do considering it’s a fairly used term, the guild wars skill was created before her song came out so they’d be clear of any danger on that front.

So..actually ANet should have been paid by her then ? :P LOL

No, they didn’t copyright the term since it’s almost impossible to do so, it would also be expensive and hard to enforce.

Naqaj.6219:

Get used to this madness, it’s only going to get worse. You can trademark almost everything. A German communication company trademarked the color Magenta.

You do realize that it is one particular shade of the colour magenta and that the trademark only applies in the country/countries they made the application in? Also, it only concerns the businesses in the same branch, so if you happen to have a grocery store in Germany, feel free to decorate your windows in magenta.

Same with those phrases. They can only be denied from businesses using them for the same purpose as the one who has the trademark. I presume this young singer is selling paraphernalia that has her catch phrases on the and wants to prevent others from making money on her expense.

The full lyrics of the songs are, naturally, copyrighted to whomever wrote them in the first place or those they give them to.

Copyright on lyrics I do however support..fully! (as a musician I alays copyright my stuff).

P.S. isn’t Magenta actually one of the the base colours of which other colour codes are originating from (CMYK) ?

Who kitten is Taylor Swift? Another muppet from the music industry?

It really comes down to whether or not it is being used to make money (i.e. taking money that she could have made). Games, movies, etc. simply saying “Shake it Off” does not require permission unless it is designed to be used as a catch phrase. Because as we all know, “Shaking it off” is not a phrase she invented, so in order to infringe on that copyright, you have to be really specific in how you are using it. Namely it has to be obvious to a court that your intent was to try and profit off of her successful use of it.

Guild Wars is not doing that.

This isn’t a new thing and isn’t unique to Taylor Swift.

For example, the studio that made School of Rock had to pay AC/DC for permission for Jack Black to say “We roll tonight, to the guitar bite, and for those about to rock we salute you.”

Garambola.2461:

You do realize that …

Yes, I realize all of that. Still the idea that a company can claim some sort of, if not ownership, than at least exclusivity, on something as universal as a colour, is kind of crazy.
Not to mention said company also tried (don’t remember if they succeded) to do the same with the letter ‘T’.

Danikat.8537:

This isn’t a new thing and isn’t unique to Taylor Swift.

For example, the studio that made School of Rock had to pay AC/DC for permission for Jack Black to say “We roll tonight, to the guitar bite, and for those about to rock we salute you.”

I can only assume that AC/DC actually came up with this quote as it is very unique and original. Unlike Taytay’s which is a phrase that is commonly used.

If AC/DC didn’t copyright it, the studio asked permission just in case, but legally could have said it anyway. I mean, why risk a lawsuit that could be dragged out for years when a simple request will suffice. But for all I know they did copyright that little rock chant.

Naqaj.6219:

metaldude.4132:

Trademark!! that was the word I looked for. (not a native english speaker) you are right, copyright is smt else!
But still ridiculous IMO

Get used to this madness, it’s only going to get worse. You can trademark almost everything. A German communication company trademarked the color Magenta.

Telekom did not “trademark” magenta. They did so for their general corporate design consisting of said color. You cannot “trademark” colors, at least not in Germany (and I doubt that would work in most places of the world). Even if one of their competitors would chose to use the same color in his design it would be up to a judge to decide whether a sufficient likeness was given or not.

To paraphrase something that has been said already in this thread: It helps a darn lot to know what the heck one is talking about before doing so.

Trademark laws only apply to specific service or industry used within the context of the phrase. Taylor Swift’s legal team is likely only able to trademark those phrases in the context of “music” and/or related “entertainment” (like TV/radio). I would be very surprised if you could construe in court that the trademark applies to online gaming unless used as part of an audio clip to music.

And I’m pretty certain (without reading the story) that the intention is similar to her issues with Spotify when Taylor Swift and her infamous quote “music should not be free” to fight international channels distributing her music. The problem is she is inherently setting up legal barriers where everyday TV/radio/internet groups and her fans will stop even playing/listening to her music for fear of Corporate legal issues. ie. Read, she has all the money she’ll ever need so it’ll only harm her career/music in the end. History tells us that every artist that has done this in the past has only set themselves up for a long hiatus of stonewalling.

Draknar.5748:

Danikat.8537:

This isn’t a new thing and isn’t unique to Taylor Swift.

For example, the studio that made School of Rock had to pay AC/DC for permission for Jack Black to say “We roll tonight, to the guitar bite, and for those about to rock we salute you.”

I can only assume that AC/DC actually came up with this quote as it is very unique and original. Unlike Taytay’s which is a phrase that is commonly used.

If AC/DC didn’t copyright it, the studio asked permission just in case, but legally could have said it anyway. I mean, why risk a lawsuit that could be dragged out for years when a simple request will suffice. But for all I know they did copyright that little rock chant.

They did. It’s in the lyrics from the song “For those about to rock” from the album “For those about to rock” (from the early 1980’es).

Funny little tidbit of information, the song was (is?) often used during concerts as encore. Pretty amazing experience with cannons and all
I don’t know if they still use it, but I hope they do.

Lazaar.9123:

I’m kind of surprised the copyright “Shake it off” was even approved in the first place.

If I’m not mistaken, the US Patent and Trademark Office tends to take a rubber stamp approach; they approve just about anything and let the courts work settle any subsequent disputes.