Wikipedia talk:Requests for comment/User names/Ghostbusters

"TM and &copy;"
I posted this reply to Thor Malmjursson regarding his comment of 12:26, 6 April 2007 (UTC):

Thank you for posting the UK site alleging not only a trademark but a copyright (1984, 2004) on the word "Ghostbusters", following the discovery that in the US the trademark covers only the logo (with art) and not the word alone, while titles can't be copyrighted at all. UK and US laws may indeed have diverged more than I had hitherto imagined.

In the UK list, I see the entry just above also asserts a "TM" and "&copy;" (undated) on the name "JASON", while further below the same claim is made for "ROBOTS" ("TM" and "&copy; 2005"). The legal implications are fascinating.

However, I retain some trenchant doubt that these long-pre-existing words have actually been taken out of the public domain, and that UK robot-builders, or UK citizens named "Jason", are subject to lawsuit for violation of trademark or copyright. -- Ben &ensp; TALK/HIST 15:25, 6 April 2007 (UTC)