I just got sued by Ken Burns

This morning i received the most strange email that i could have ever received.. I don’t think that it’s a joke, because it contains signed paper and all the stuff..

It’s from a laywer who says that my file “Slideshow with Ken Burns Effect” is in direct violation with some New York City laws.. Apparently i made bad use of the guy’s name in advertising my product..what?! Well…there are dozens of files on AD with the exact same name so i have to remove any associations with it’s name and make a public statement that i am not affiliated with KB by the end of next week, to avoid a lawsuit..

Anyway .. i just wanted to share this with you guys because i think that it can be something that we all can learn about from.. The funny thing is that i wanted to remove that file sometime soon, since it doesn’t produce any revenue anymore..

yeah you should becareful it could be a scam email .. ive seen plenty of those

if genuine, I think this can be won in court. But this means money spent on lawyers, if you are not in US is getting really complicated. For some reason, as non us citizen, we need to respect US laws but US doesn’t need to respect the law of the country where we live.

In my opinion it can be ignored. If is not a DMCA takedown notice then ignore it. But is not, else envato would had removed the file.

On the other hand flash files don’t sell anymore so why bother

I will say you should contact support to check this with them.

doru said
if genuine, I think this can be won in court. But this means money spent on lawyers, if you are not in US is getting really complicated. For some reason, as non us citizen, we need to respect US laws but US doesn’t need to respect the law of the country where we live.

In my opinion it can be ignored. If is not a DMCA takedown notice then ignore it. But is not, else envato would had removed the file.

On the other hand flash files don’t sell anymore so why bother

I will say you should contact support to check this with them.

+1 deffently contact support and good luck

Don’t ignore it. Not everything in this world, in relation to intellectual property is served by means of DMCA

Speak to Envato. However the fact you have used the term “ken burns effect” I wouldnt have construed as infringing on IP.

But best get advice, we have been in this situ a cpl of times.

from what i know, if that name isn’t a trademark in your country, then you don’t have reasons to worry. and i doubt a common name can be a trademark. otherwise i register the “theme” or “template” word and suit you all.

readactor said
from what i know, if that name isn’t a trademark in your country, then you don’t have reasons to worry

+1, and I doubt Ken Burns is a worldwide trademark. That’s really expensive

RubenBristian said
It’s from a laywer who says that my file “Slideshow with Ken Burns Effect” is in direct violation with some New York City laws..

Do you live in New York?

- Chris

readactor said
from what i know, if that name isn’t a trademark in your country, then you don’t have reasons to worry. and i doubt a common name can be a trademark. otherwise i register the “theme” or “template” word and suit you all.

I concur with his affirmation. Ruben, there’s no reason to worry, if he’s not registered to OSIM (the institution intended for copyright here in Romania). Ken Burns will have to come to Romania and sue you, if he really wants to .

maybe you should hire a lawyer though

wiseguys said
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Burns maybe you should hire a lawyer though

actually his name is Kenneth Lauren Burns.

you should be more afraid of Barbie friend . this is a real Ken.