[Lnc-business] protecting party assets

[Caryn Ann Harlos]

In light of this announcement, and I want to get this on the record before
I speak, I notified the Libertarian Party Radical Caucus that I resign from
my Board position in that group effective immediately  as this issue could
cause an appearance of a conflict of interest as they may need to vote on
any issue regarding this.  So my voting position in my disclosed conflicts
in that group can be removed, I remain an active dues-paying member but
have no vote in the governance. I remain the "owner" (as much as Facebook
groups can be owned) of the discussion group Libertarian Party USA
(Unofficial).  There are various inactive groups and pages I may "own" that
also contain the name, but they are dormant.

Now that that is out of the way.

IMHO this is a complete waste of our time and unenforceable.  I will not
vote to spend member money on this.  Here are some reasons:

While we are stuck in the statist system we have, claiming ownership over
"words" - words that existed in a political context way before we were even
formed is an unethical use of state force.

There are records of groups doing this for decades - scattered all over the
internet.  Selective enforcement waives that right and can raise the
suspicion, rightly or wrongly, that this is a politically motivated move.
And if we don't ferret out every single use and are selectively doing so
(such as the nudist group above) it definitely will be seen as political
and nannying.

I will have to do research on this, but I remember a kerfuffle a while ago
about the "trade mark" not being registered until after the horse was way
out of the barn.  This came up in Colorado when we were discussing the
implication of the Oregon issue and interference in the autonomy of
affiliates of whether the LPCO had an independent right to its name.

So we go after candidates now too?  Which are using the logo before even
being an official nominee?  Really?  That's a great way to keep our logo
from being spread.

No bueno.




On Sun, Aug 6, 2017 at 2:13 AM, Alicia Mattson <agmattson at gmail.com> wrote:

> Oliver Hall's attention is requested for this email:
>
> LP Bylaws, Article 5.1, "No person, group or organization may use the
> name "Libertarian Party" or any confusingly similar designation except the
> Party or an organization to which the Party grants affiliate party status
> or as otherwise provided in these bylaws."
>
> This provides a very narrow scope for use of our party name.  Yet one only
> has to search on Facebook for the name "Libertarian Party", and you will
> find many groups that are not the national party, and are not an affiliate
> of the national party, but they use our party name to increase their
> profile in search results, build their own following, and use the group for
> their own purposes.
>
> One such example can be found here:  (fair warning - this page contains
> varying degrees of nudity)
> https://www.facebook.com/groups/233590827023815/
>
> We also have a trademark on the name "Libertarian Party".  My
> understanding of intellectual property law is that we need to actively
> defend our right to the name or else over time we diminish our ability to
> successfully defend it.
>
> Our bylaws don't mention the logo, but am I correct to presume that we
> have also staked out a legal claim to our past and present logos?
>
> I also see other groups (not our affiliates) using our logo in their
> memes, incorporated into their own logos, etc.
>
> Some of these could potentially be rectified by merely asking the groups
> to cease using our name and/or logo.  Others might need to receive
> cease-and-desist letters from our attorney.
>
> I'd like to discuss this at our upcoming LNC meeting.  Perhaps it makes
> sense to just make it part of the Special Counsel agenda item, since we'll
> likely want to chat with Mr. Hall about it.
>
> -Alicia
>
>
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>
>


-- 
*In Liberty,*
*Caryn Ann Harlos*
Region 1 Representative, Libertarian National Committee (Alaska, Arizona,
Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Washington) - Caryn.Ann.
Harlos at LP.org <Caryn.Ann.Harlos at LP.org>
Communications Director, Libertarian Party of Colorado
<http://www.lpcolorado.org>
Colorado State Coordinator, Libertarian Party Radical Caucus
<http://www.lpradicalcaucus.org>
Chair, LP Historical Preservation Committee

A haiku to the Statement of Principles:
*We defend your rights*
*And oppose the use of force*
*Taxation is theft*
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