In mijn favoriete onlinecommunity, Ravelry, is het al sinds 2008 de gewoonte om, parallel aan de Olympische Spelen, de Ravelympics te organiseren. Breiers en hakers verenigen zich in teams, en gaan uitdagingen aan gedurende de Olympische Spelen. Je kunt bijvoorbeeld proberen om een groot project, zoals een trui, te breien in die korte tijdsspanne. Haal je je doel, dan krijg je een virtuele medaille, maar belangrijker nog is het feit dat je dit met honderdduizenden mensen over de hele wereld deelt, dat je elkaar aanmoedigt, en inspireert. De echte Olympische gedachte. Veel van het breien zou gaan plaatsvinden voor de televisie, kijkend naar de atleten van de Olympische Spelen (en de eindeloze reclames van sponsoren). Ravelry verdient hier helemaal niets mee, het is puur een initiatief voor de lol.
Dat vond de USOC niet. De USOC is het Amerikaanse Olympisch Comité. Deze organisatie stuurde Ravelry een “cease and desist”-brief, waarin Ravelry werd gemaand om de naam Ravelympics niet te gebruiken. De suffix “-lympics” is blijkbaar getrademarked, en mag niet zomaar elders gebruikt worden. Tot zover is het nog redelijk vervelend, maar enigszins begrijpelijk. Wat niet uit te leggen is, is de toon van de brief, en de suggestie dat de breiende Ravleten afdoen aan de prestatie van de Amerikaanse sporters!
Hier volgt de brief, let vooral op de dikgedrukte zinnen:
Dear Mr. Forbes,
In March 14, 2011, my colleague, Carol Gross, corresponded with your attorney, Craig Selmach [sic], in regard to a pin listed as the “2010 Ravelympic Badge of Glory.” At that time, she explained that the use of RAVELYMPIC infringed upon the USOC’s intellectual property rights, and you kindly removed the pin from the website. I was hoping to close our file on this matter, but upon further review of your website, I found more infringing content.
By way of review, the USOC is a non-profit corporation chartered by Congress to coordinate, promote and govern all international amateur athletic activities in the United States. The USOC therefore is responsible for training, entering and underwriting U.S. Teams in the Olympic Games. Unlike the National Olympic Committees of many other countries, the USOC does not rely on federal funding to support all of its efforts. Therefore, in order to fulfill our responsibilities without the need for federal funding, Congress granted the USOC the exclusive right to use and control the commercial use of the word OLYMPIC a and any simulation or combination thereof in the United States, as well as the OLYMPIC SYMBOL. See the Olympic and Amateur Sports Act, 36 U.S.C. §220501 et seq. (the “Act”). (A copy of the relevant portion of the Act is enclosed for your convenience.) The Act prohibits the unauthorized use of the Olympic Symbol or the mark OLYMPIC and derivations thereof for any commercial purpose or for any competition, such as the one organized through your website. See 36 U.S.C. §220506(c). The USOC primarily relies on legitimate sponsorship fees and licensing revenues to support U.S. Olympic athletes and finance this country’s participation in the Olympic Games. Other companies, like Nike and Ralph Lauren, have paid substantial sums for the right to use Olympic-related marks, and through their sponsorships support the U.S. Olympic Team. Therefore, it is important that we restrict the use of Olympic marks and protect the rights of companies who financially support Team USA.
In addition to the protections of the Act discussed above, the USOC also owns numerous trademark registration that include the mark OLYMPIC. These marks therefore are protected under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. §1051 et seq. Thus, Ravelry.com’s unauthorized use of the mark OLYMPIC or derivations thereof, such as RAVELYMPICS, may constitute trademark infringement, unfair competition and dilution of our famous trademarks.
The USOC would like to settle this matter on an amicable basis. However, we must request the following actions be taken.
- Changing the name of the event, the “Ravelympics.”; The athletes of Team USA have usually spent the better part of their entire lives training for the opportunity to compete at the Olympic Games and represent their country in a sport that means everything to them. For many, the Olympics represent the pinnacle of their sporting career. Over more than a century, the Olympic Games have brought athletes around the world together to compete in an event that has come to mean much more than just a competition between the world’s best athletes. The Olympic Games represent ideals that go beyond sport to encompass culture and education, tolerance and respect, world peace and harmony.
The USOC is responsible for preserving the Olympic Movement and its ideals within the United States. Part of that responsibility is to ensure that Olympic trademarks, imagery and terminology are protected and given the appropriate respect. We believe using the name “Ravelympics” for a competition that involves an afghan marathon, scarf hockey and sweater triathlon, among others, tends to denigrate the true nature of the Olympic Games. In a sense, it is disrespectful to our country’s finest athletes and fails to recognize or appreciate their hard work.
It looks as if this is the third time that the Ravelympics have been organized, each coinciding with an Olympic year (2008, 2010, and 2012). The name Ravelympics is clearly derived from the terms “Ravelry” (the name of your website) and OLYMPICS, making RAVELYMPICS a simulation of the mark OLYMPIC tending to falsely suggest a connection to the Olympic Movement. Thus, the use of RAVELYMPICS is prohibited by the Act. Knowing this, we are sure that you can appreciate the need for you to re-name the event, to something like the Ravelry Games.
- Removal of Olympic Symbols in patterns, projects, etc. As stated before, the USOC receives no funding from the government to support this country’s Olympic athletes. The USOC relies upon official licensing and sponsorship fees to raise the funds necessary to fulfill its mission. Therefore, the USOC reserves use of Olympic terminology and trademarks to our official sponsors, suppliers and licensees. The patterns and projects featuring the Olympic Symbol on Ravelry.com’s website are not licensed and therefore unauthorized. The USOC respectfully asks that all such patterns and projects be removed from your site.
For your convenience, we have listed some of the patterns featuring Olympic trademarks. However, this list should be viewed as illustrative rather than exhaustive. The USOC requests that all patterns involving Olympic trademarks be removed from the website. We further request that you rename various patterns that may not feature Olympic trademarks in the design but improperly use Olympic in the pattern name.
Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. We would appreciate a written reply to this letter by no later than June 19, 2012. If you would like to discuss this matter directly, please feel free to contact me at the number above, or you may reach my colleague, Carol Gross.
Kindest Regards,
Brett Hirsch
Law Clerk
Office of the General Counsel
United States Olympic Committee
Niet echt een fijne toon. Op Ravelry was natuurlijk meteen een enorme buzz gaande. Er werden suggesties gedaan voor een andere naam, zoals de “Ravel ’em Pix”, de “Games that shall not be named”, de “Ravel****cs”, enzovoorts. Maar vooral was iedereen erg boos dat een onschuldig, niet-commercieel evenement opeens werd aangevallen, in plaats van dat de kern ervan, het delen, het verbroederen, het streven naar verbetering, werd herkend en gewaardeerd door de, hopelijk, gelijkgezinde mensen van het Olympisch Comité.
Het nieuws verspreidde zich als een lopend vuurtje op Twitter, Facebook en andere websites, en meer en meer mensen begonnen zich op te winden. Het USOC voelde nu wel aan dat het mogelijk een blunder had gemaakt. Uiteindelijk verscheen later vandaag deze “excuus”brief.
“Thanks to all of you who have posted, tweeted, emailed and called regarding the letter sent to the organizers of the Ravelympics.
Like you, we are extremely passionate about what we do. And, as you may know, the United States Olympic Committee is a non-profit entity, and our Olympic team receives no government funding. We are totally dependent on our sponsors, who pay for the right to associate with the Olympic Movement, as well as our generous donors to bring Team USA to the Games.
The letter sent to the organizers of the Ravelympics was a standard-form cease and desist letter that explained why we need to protect our trademarks in legal terms. Rest assured, as an organization that has many passionate knitters, we never intended to make this a personal attack on the knitting community or to suggest that knitters are not supportive of Team USA.
We apologize for any insult and appreciate your support. We embrace hand-crafted American goods as we currently have the Annin Flagmakers of New Jersey stitching a custom-made American flag to accompany our team to the Olympic Games in London. To show our support of the Ravelry community, we would welcome any handmade items that you would like to create to travel with, and motivate, our team at the 2012 Games.”
Een standaardbrief? Ammehoela! De brief zag er echt niet uit als een standaardbrief. En zien jullie dat ze hun eisen niet terugtrekken? In plaats daarvan bedelen ze ook nog eens om onze handgemaakte projecten! Ik ken wat mensen die het deze winter kouder zullen hebben dan gemiddeld.
Nog een interessant feit: in Much Wenlock woonde eens een man die William Penny Brookes heette. Hij was de lokale arts en wilde de “morele en fysieke voordelen van beweging” promoten. Vandaar dat hij internationaal begon aan te sturen op een herleving van de op dat moment nog bijna vergeten oude Olympische Spelen van de Grieken. Hij wilde de mannen in zijn dorp en elders een alternatief bieden voor hun grootste hobby: drinken. In 1850 begonnen de Wenlock Olympian classes waarin getraind werd, in 1860 werd dit de Wenlock Olympian Society, die trouwens nog steeds bestaat. In 1861 waren de eerste Wenlock Olympian Games. Daarin werd gewedijverd in zaken als cricket, springen, racefietsen en kruiwagenracen. Ook waren er speciale wedstrijden voor de kinderen in spelling, geschiedenis, lezen en… breien! Jammer genoeg overleed Penny Brookes vier maanden voor de eerste moderne Olympische Spelen, die hij zo fanatiek had gepromoot. Dus wat nou, breien geen Olympische Sport!