Gibson Suing Everything And Everyone...

[Nachobassman]

As many of you should know, since refloating the company, Gibson has started a very aggressive campain against all the companies that has been selling guitars with what they, Gibson, consider are they trademark body shapes.

The face of that campain is no other than former manager of world-famous Norman's Rare Guitars shop, Mark Agnesi, he's now their PR head.You may remember him from his funny/ironic guitar demos in Youtube.

Most of the controversy came from the infamous "Play Authentic" video that Gibson published and then deleted:
Gibson Threatens Guitar Builders in Controversial Video, Takes It Down After Public Outcry

Info on the sue against Dean:
Gibson sues Dean Guitars, according to reports | MusicRadar

And this is hot from the oven, EU courts dismissed Gibson's trademark claim on V shaped guitars, it mentions Framus&Warwick:
Gibson's Flying V Body Shape Trademark Appeal Dismissed in EU Court

Well , IMO, Agnesi and Gibson are in a power trip making enemies faster than good guitars.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Foal30]

What did they do to Steinberger and Gibson?

The track record of displayed fuckwittery places them as not to be taken seriously.

 

[Bassist4Eris]

Personally, I think they have the right to defend their intellectual property. Whether that's a smart business move or not is another question. They could possibly learn from the Metallica/Napster controversy in that regard. The whole thing is pretty interesting to me. We're seeing an erosion in the concept of intellectual property, driven not by the law, but by popular culture. Whether that's good for society or not remains to be seen. I tend to be in favor of intellectual property, but filing a bunch of lawsuits can be a boneheaded move from a PR standpoint. If Gibson really wants to salvage its brand, I think they need to figure out how to make quality guitars at a price point more comparable to Fender.

 

[jester]

Well thankfully they haven't sued me yet.

 

[Dave The Wraith]

Lets face it, some of the Dean Models are pretty much carbon copies of Gibson Models - so I can understand Gibson getting pissed off HOWEVER they should have done something about it 40 odd years. And I think they don't get the part where if a film company is using your guitar in a film with the logo taped over, it is NOT copyright infringement.. it means if you want the logo shown YOU have to pay THEM for a product placement. Agnesis comes across like Jason Statham's smaller, angrier brother having a passive agressive tantrum of epic proportions.

 

[DiMarco]

Rickenbacker has been doing these things for years now, even forbidding basschat to allow ads for used rics and copies or else threatening to have that forum taken down.
As a result the marketplace on basschat is free of any rickenbackers. What the RIC company is hoping to accomplish is unclear.

The thing is Gibson, Fender and Rickenbacker only had their headstock shapes copyrighted so building the exact same guitar with a slightly different headstock shape means there's no copyright infringement.
Now all the sudden they start to wake up realizing this was a mistake. Millions and millions of copies of strats, teles, sg's, les pauls etc etc already having flooded the planet.

I think this is a beautiful thing. It demands the quality and sound of these models stay superb or else it will be better to buy a copy from brand x.
You've seen what happens in the years where QC gets sub par - the brands immediately start to suffer.

Besides this the demands brands like Gibson and Fender are putting on resellers are so ludicrous they do not deserve to be seen as the good guys. All these big brands are evil. Any small reseller will know.

 

[Nachobassman]

... HOWEVER they should have done something about it 40 odd years...

Agree.

 

[Madmaskbass]

Cannot get over how silly this is. Gibson have everything they could ever want or need in their legacy to the history of music..why even bother with the negative tactics when the brand has been already tested severely of late. Just rediculous. Look at the Lawsuit era with the Japanese manufacturers all it did was cement those brands and kept the market strong. Instead of fighting through quality and listening to the market they have to fall to desperate tactics which is all they are.

 

[Nightmaresandconclusions]

Gibson loses Flying V trademark case in EU court
Ruling in EU General Court finds the Flying V body shape has “no demonstration of distinctive character”.

UPDATE:

Warwick boss Hans-Peter Wilfer has released a statement on the outcome of the Flying V case:

“We are very pleased with this decision and I would personally like to thank the work of our legal team in helping us reach this outcome,” remarked Mr. Wilfer. “Based on this landmark decision, Warwick will continue its longstanding tradition of providing its customers with well-crafted original and timeless guitars and basses.”

ORIGINAL STORY

Gibson may currently be taking legal action to protect its Flying V body shape in the US, but the company has lost the rights to trademark the shape in a judgement handed down by the Second Chamber of the EU General Court, which declared that, “there has been no demonstration of distinctive character acquired,” by the Flying V body shape and, “that when the application for registration of the challenged mark was filed, the V-shape did not depart significantly from the norms and customs of the sector.”

Full story here Gibson loses Flying V trademark case in EU court - Guitar.com | All Things Guitar

 

[jester]

Warwick boss Hans-Peter Wilfer has released a statement on the outcome of the Flying V case:

“We are very pleased with this decision and I would personally like to thank the work of our legal team in helping us reach this outcome,” remarked Mr. Wilfer. “Based on this landmark decision, Warwick will continue its longstanding tradition of providing its customers with well-crafted original and timeless guitars and basses.”

What if someone started copying the Thumb or Corvette shape though?

 

[DiMarco]

Like the Vester Clipper?

 

[Foal30]

Or the Hondo 3 Masted Schooner

 

[Stainless]

What if someone started copying the Thumb or Corvette shape though?

Or the Tanglewood Warrior I- III?
Well I actually don't know what it is HPW opinion about it... He also started with copying Spector...

 

[Foal30]

The NZ version of Tanglewood was MattedBush

Never really took off

 

[jester]

Hideosity. Nah, they don't look that bad, I'm just saying it because I'm a mod at the W forum.

 

[Hardy]

Hideosity. Nah, they don't look that bad, I'm just saying it because I'm a mod at the W forum.

You are watched, lil bro!

 

[Hector]

Well, the Dean lawsuit actually dates from a while back, it was initiated prior to the new management taking over.

Gibson is in a delicate position. Tronical is in the process (since 2017) of suing Gibson for USD 50 million Tronical Sues Gibson for $50 Million

So, some people theorise that the Dean lawsuit is simply a way of softening the blow should the Hamburg court rule in Tronical's favour.

 

[Hector]

PS: here is Gibson's "Play Authentic" video if you are interested:



And here is the backlash from some popular Guitar and Music Production Youtube channels:

 

[DiMarco]

Play authentic, but upgrade your pickups to Fralins or Lollars to sound authentic as well.
*BUUUURP*

 

[Hector]

Play authentic, but upgrade your pickups to Fralins or Lollars to sound authentic as well.
*BUUUURP*

I prefer Onamac Top Shelf: