contributing to the legal fund

[pluto]

Hey Stan, or anybody else-I'm just wondering with the whole trademark thing going on, and with Tom needing $$ for legal expenses, whether we can start a fund raising type of thing where we can donate cash to be used for the legal battle. I know the gearpage does fund raising for the site itself and people can just paypal money. I don't know how others feel about it, but even if we each contributed a small amount, at least it would help. What do you guys think?

[tom]

i am really sorry you guys, i was not whining about the money. it's just never fun to spend money on something you shouldn't have to. there are always better places to spend dollars, more maple, more mahogany since it will be harder to come by in the near future, ...and there's always more pedals.

[michaelomiya]

Originally posted by pluto
Hey Stan, or anybody else-I'm just wondering with the whole trademark thing going on, and with Tom needing $$ for legal expenses, whether we can start a fund raising type of thing where we can donate cash to be used for the legal battle. I know the gearpage does fund raising for the site itself and people can just paypal money. I don't know how others feel about it, but even if we each contributed a small amount, at least it would help. What do you guys think?

Mark, count me in.

[pluto]

Hmmm, I guess I'm not sure how this would work out. The gearpage fund is so cool because you can just paypal directly to the account (no checks!!) but I'm not sure if something like that could be worked out here. It also seems like Tom may not be too keen with the idea anyway from the tone of his post. Anybody have any other ideas on how to fight this madness?

[bbjonz]

It seems to me that many manufacturers are affected, not just Anderson. So I'm curious if fighting Fender has to be done on an individual or case-by-case basis, or if groups of builders (e.g., Anderson, G&L, Suhr, and many others) could pool their resources in this matter. I suspect that this option is already being looked into?

joe

[tom]

we are all banding together to fight under a single law firm. i am very sorry for my monetary comments earlier, they were not to solicit funds, just whining. i am sure between the group we can get this settled in a timely manor. please no more talk of chipping in. it's our battle. thank you so much for the supportive comment though.

[bbjonz]

Hi Tom,

Even though this might not be a financial issue for you or the company, it still has to be a major hassle in terms of time and effort, and must cause at least a modicum of psychological and emotional distress. So no problem here if you want to get that stuff off your chest!

Meanwhile, I suspect that one argument against the trademark is that it will unfairly suppress competition. And, obviously, that's not good for the industry. Remember when CBS had a lock on the market for Strats and Teles? We all know what happened to the quality of instruments made during that era. Fender became good again when other companies, Anderson included, raised the bar in terms of what S- and T-style guitars could be. Fender should really thank other folks whose designs rely on traditional styles, because without those folks Fender might well have gone down the tubes.

Joe

[michaelomiya]

Originally posted by tom
we are all banding together to fight under a single law firm. i am very sorry for my monetary comments earlier, they were not to solicit funds, just whining. i am sure between the group we can get this settled in a timely manor. please no more talk of chipping in. it's our battle. thank you so much for the supportive comment though.

anytime tom, and the offer's always there