Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 3]

[glazbagun]

Halmyre said:

glazbagun said:

Can you trademark/copyright quotes/works by other people in relation to your work?

Audi managed to trademark Vorsprung Durch Technik and Nestle/KitKat have trademarked the phrase "Have a Break", so if I made lifejackets or posh chopsticks or whatever could I trademark, say "I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul" from Invictus? or could Omega trademark "We choose to go to the Moon" by Kennedy?

I think anyone trying that could expect an extremely snippy letter from the original author's legal representatives. Don't know who "owns" the JFK quote, though.

And Invictus was published in 1888. What if you used an Aristotle quote or something attributed to Boudica. Even JFK (or his scriptwriter) can't have been the first person to use the phrase.

[grumbledoak]

Vipers said:

Is there a definitive explanation of what constitutes being "English"

Say your parents come from overseas, settle in England, get citizenship passports etc etc etc, and your born here, are you English, disregarding your family origins.

I am not sure about the definitive explanation, but "which cricket team do you support?" would give a pretty conclusive answer.

[AstonZagato]

grumbledoak said:

Vipers said:

Is there a definitive explanation of what constitutes being "English"

Say your parents come from overseas, settle in England, get citizenship passports etc etc etc, and your born here, are you English, disregarding your family origins.

I am not sure about the definitive explanation, but "which cricket team do you support?" would give a pretty conclusive answer.

Citizenship is "British" rather than "English".

I'm of mixed parentage - my father was English but my mother is the British-born daughter of two Mediterranean immigrants. I still often refer to myself as half-English even though both my parents were born here and they and I have lived all of our lives here (well I lived in Europe for a couple of years).

[grumbledoak]

AstonZagato said:

Citizenship is "British" rather than "English".

Citizenship is piece of paper. The question was "English". I have a soft spot for Wales in the rugby for similar reasons(*). But I always support England.

---

* Not enough to worry sheep, mind.

[Rickyy]

Why do you always see transporters full of old cars with tape over the number plates? They look like end of life cars, scrappage scheme victims?

[talksthetorque]

It's most likely pxes or write-offs going to or from the salvage auctions.
They put the tape over so they don't trigger cameras for having no MOT/VED/insurance.

[Vipers]

grumbledoak said:

Vipers said:

Is there a definitive explanation of what constitutes being "English"

Say your parents come from overseas, settle in England, get citizenship passports etc etc etc, and your born here, are you English, disregarding your family origins.

I am not sure about the definitive explanation, but "which cricket team do you support?" would give a pretty conclusive answer.

I was asking because on another site, someone said you must be white to be English, If your not, then you can only be British, seems odd to me.

[Sheets Tabuer]

Depends who you support in the cricket

[Halmyre]

glazbagun said:

Halmyre said:

glazbagun said:

Can you trademark/copyright quotes/works by other people in relation to your work?

Audi managed to trademark Vorsprung Durch Technik and Nestle/KitKat have trademarked the phrase "Have a Break", so if I made lifejackets or posh chopsticks or whatever could I trademark, say "I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul" from Invictus? or could Omega trademark "We choose to go to the Moon" by Kennedy?

I think anyone trying that could expect an extremely snippy letter from the original author's legal representatives. Don't know who "owns" the JFK quote, though.

And Invictus was published in 1888. What if you used an Aristotle quote or something attributed to Boudica. Even JFK (or his scriptwriter) can't have been the first person to use the phrase.

I suppose if it's in the public domain it's fair game for use in your ad, but I still don't think you'd be able to copyright the quotation as such.

Given the narrow window of opportunity for JFK or anyone else to talk about going to the moon, I would say it is original, unless it's based on a similar quotation.

[marshalla]

You don't actively "copyright" anything. Copyright (i.e. the right to copy) exists at the point/time of creation of the work and lies with the creator unless there is a contract which says something different.

[Vipers]

Sheets Tabuer said:

Depends who you support in the cricket

Balls

[Vipers]

Is there any easy to remove decking coating from decking.

A lot of mine seem to have lifted over the winter, running a screw driver along the groves removes most if, paint remover is time consuming and messy, any other good ideas, tried high pressure jetting, not much happens.

[FiF]

grumbledoak said:

Vipers said:

Is there a definitive explanation of what constitutes being "English"

Say your parents come from overseas, settle in England, get citizenship passports etc etc etc, and your born here, are you English, disregarding your family origins.

I am not sure about the definitive explanation, but "which cricket team do you support?" would give a pretty conclusive answer.

Yorkshire, paid up member. Is that sufficiently definitive?

[Laurel Green]

Vipers said:

Is there any easy to remove decking coating from decking.

A lot of mine seem to have lifted over the winter, running a screw driver along the groves removes most if, paint remover is time consuming and messy, any other good ideas, tried high pressure jetting, not much happens.

If the 'stuff' comes off relatively easy within the grooves, would suggest drawing a flat-bladed scraper (held at 90 degrees) towards you. Time consuming perhaps but, as you have already noted, less messy.

[StevieBee]

glazbagun said:

Can you trademark/copyright quotes/works by other people in relation to your work?

Audi managed to trademark Vorsprung Durch Technik and Nestle/KitKat have trademarked the phrase "Have a Break", so if I made lifejackets or posh chopsticks or whatever could I trademark, say "I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul" from Invictus? or could Omega trademark "We choose to go to the Moon" by Kennedy?

In very broad terms....

If you pay for a phrase to be authored, you as the commissioning party retain the copyright to that phrase but is not that easy to enforce.

If you want to enforce it fully, you need to trade mark it.

You can use and protect a generic (public domain) phrase but this is generally limited to examples where a competing product or company might also want to use it/ So in the case of Kit Kat, 'Take a Break' is protected from use by the likes of Cadbury but Moto Services can (and I believe have) use(d) it freely as the context is different and non-competiting.

Quotations from famous people is a bit more tricky. Technically, they (or their estate if they're dead) own the rights and can give or refuse permission to use it.

[BristolRich]

What do hire car companies use to clean their cars?

Every car I have had delivered through work it looks spangly and shiny, but Jesus the first use of the windscreen wipers in rain its like looking through cling film whilst wiping the screen with a hair comb.

[Vipers]

Is there any easy to remove decking coating from decking.

A lot of mine seem to have lifted over the winter, running a screw driver along the groves removes most if, paint remover is time consuming and messy, any other good ideas, tried high pressure jetting, not much happens.

[Laurel Green]

Vipers said:

Is there any easy to remove decking coating from decking.

A lot of mine seem to have lifted over the winter, running a screw driver along the groves removes most if, paint remover is time consuming and messy, any other good ideas, tried high pressure jetting, not much happens.

In answer to your echo; one could hire a floor sander - just don't take too much off.

[Vipers]

Laurel Green said:

Vipers said:

Is there any easy to remove decking coating from decking.

A lot of mine seem to have lifted over the winter, running a screw driver along the groves removes most if, paint remover is time consuming and messy, any other good ideas, tried high pressure jetting, not much happens.

In answer to your echo; one could hire a floor sander - just don't take too much off.

Most odd those echo's, think I will stick to the screwdriver, thanks anyway.

[andym1603]

Vipers said:

Is there any easy to remove decking coating from decking.

A lot of mine seem to have lifted over the winter, running a screw driver along the groves removes most if, paint remover is time consuming and messy, any other good ideas, tried high pressure jetting, not much happens.

If it is coming off that easy, would a power washer not remove the coating.