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Re: Copyrights
(no name) ((no email))
Wed, 2 Dec 1998 22:40:26 -0600
Dan Wilson asked:
> A quick question, does anyone know if "scout" is copyrighted,
> trademarked or otherwise owned by BSA? My GS Cadette troop is
> contemplating a fund-raiser that will involve using that word. Is
> there a list of owned words that someone can send along?
Under the BSA's Congressional Charter, the Corporation (the Boy Scouts of
America) owns the rights and usage of the words "Boy Scouts of America",
"Boy Scout", "Scout", "Scouting", and words associated with those terms (for
instance, the communicative name Scouting/USA which was the BSA's until last
year officially).
The BSA has given the Girl Scouts of the USA and other organizations which are
consistant with and supportive of the BSA's national program permission to
use those words.
The source is the BSA's Charter and Bylaws as well as the Congressional Charter.
The problem with using the word "Scout" is that is associates the effort
with the BSA by implication, if not outright. People know the word "Scout"
or "Scouting" and quickly associates it with Boy or Girl Scouting
immediately (kinda like the word "Xerox" was used for years to mean
"photocopy", as in "I'll Xerox you a copy of the pamphlet and send it to
you"). It has forced that corporation to "retool itself" as a "Document
processing corporation" but people will forever associate Xerox with copier
machines and "Scout" with the BSA or the GSUSA.
I can remember when Scouters' Journal started that the Publisher had to get
implied "permission" from the BSA to use the word "Scouters", even though
officially the BSA doesn't "own" that word; it was a word that we Scouters
came up with to generically describe ourselves, it stuck and the BSA liked
it and used it. However, using that word goes back to that "Xerox" (sorry,
that's the only one I can think up off the top of my head; someone else
please give me and us all some other examples!! *smiling*).
Do you HAVE to use the word "Scout" in your description of the product
you're selling?? Can you substitute another word for the word "Scout" (like
"pathfinder", "guide", "trailblazer", "leader"....etc.)??
Settummanque!
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