Gratuitous Cuteness – Pregnant Goats |
I’m actually out of things to write about. Not because I don’t have things to share, but because now there’s always going to be fear that I’ll be sent a letter that tells me that if I don’t change my blog I’ll be sued. What’s to say that what I write, even if it was based off of my own personal experiences, won’t be accused of being someone else’s intellectual property because they “thought of it first.”
OK, I’m being overdramatic. But this isn’t far from the truth with what the Dervaes family has rained down upon a whole community they once said they lead. By saying that these terms are their sole property aren’t they also claiming that they own all of the ideas behind it? And what exactly are those ideas? Will getting ducks or raising fish in my backyard now be claimed as their idea first? Will having raised beds be trademark infringement? I mean, where does it stop?
Well if you try to ask them (good luck with that since they are cowards and closed down all their comments on media channels) they will claim they are the victims and never did anything wrong. WRONG. They are saying they are innocent. They say they never meant to keep people from using the terms. Oh wait, yes, yes they did. In fact they were very explicit about that in their letter. No, that’s not right. You could use the terms they trademarked but you had to write it a certain way and then mention that it’s their idea.
Then they pull an even bigger victim card. Death threats and hoaxes! Oh the humanity! But at this point, after all their self righteous posturing about plagiarism (I’m sorry but they did NOT invent the terms they trademarked or the ideas behind them – are they now going to claim solar power was their idea first too?) and truth and trademarks it’s hard to take anything they say seriously anymore. Actually, it was pretty difficult to take them seriously anyways considering they never really gave any info behind all of your claims – I mean really how does one know you harvested 3 tons of food when you don’t break the poundage down or even state what you’re growing specifically? Phew, it’s nice to get that out. I was always trying to be considerate of them and never really say how I felt about all their grandstanding, but they screwed a lot of really good people over and so the gloves had to come off. And this is from someone who doesn’t get riled up easily and here they have me writing not just one, but two posts about them. Not even Monsanto has done that!
But I do have to thank them for pulling together a community. And on a selfish note, this whole brouhaha gave me a bunch new awesome followers here, on Twitter and on Facebook.
Oh.My.God. Looks like the Dervaes family has had that moldy mildew – called Anal Confusion – take over their lives.
While there are so many reasons why I miss California – THIS is THE Prime Choice reason why I'm so happy to have relocated. The wine in the Napa/Sonoma Valley may be some of the very best. But the Whine nurtured by the people in that state is downright pitiful.
To the Dervaes family's stance I say – " Get over yourselves! "
Blow 'em off, Rachel. It only takes one simple different/added word in context to make it yours. Obviously – they're not all THAT versed on Copyright.
Well I say go on with your bad-self and ignore them. They would have a very hard time proving the lack of widespread use in court.
I just read their press release and I just don't understand why they think people will believe they have no malicious intent. If they were just "protecting" their trademark why did they send the equivalent of cease and desist orders to companies that share the same values?
Seriously, who spends that type of money on lawyers without some idea of gain? If they don't have malicious intent then they are, at best, criminally stupid.
Thanks again for your blog. I have been following for quite awhile, but haven't commented much. I enjoy all you do (especially the lovely companion planting chart)
Just remember your small blog gives so much more info than theirs ever does. So whatever you have to call yourself I'll keep following
The Dervaes started to believe their own press….hubris, pure and simple. In their arrogance they misjudged the independence and intelligence of their readership. For years now both my husband and I were wary of the constant parade of self-promotion and marketing we found on their blog, with very little helpful content. Because we felt we were in the minority, rather than confront them with our misgivings we stopped visiting their website.
This trademark fiasco and their complete mishandling of the situation has opened the floodgates for others who felt the same apprehension. Suddenly people feel free to express the misgivings they’ve been having and we find ourselves in very good company. It’s a sad situation but I think a lot of good has come out of it. (hey, it’s how I found your blog:)
Keep fighting the good fight!
I'm with you Rachel – haven't seen so much traffic since Daily Candy featured my "home"steading parties!! Thanks Dervaes family!
so sad to see them trying to take down groups like that. Urban homesteading (do I need to put a trademark to say that?) is about making a self-sufficient life and joining a community of people who does the same. Not about trying to own a term anything..