This is not to bash Blizzard or anything of the sorts. However, it’s simply an observation that I have made. Copyright infringement can be tricky at times because while there made be certain differences in the material in question, it can still infringe on the intellectual property of material that has been copy written by another entity.
When I was in college, one of my business courses touched on copyrights. I remember the example that was used to discuss copyright infringement, it was the Coca-Cola Co. v. Gemini Rising,.case. Coca-cola won their case which prevented Gemini Rising from using the text style that was used by Coca-cola because they argued that it would remind consumers of Coca-cola and thus infringed on their intellectual property.
Sooo…, where am I going with this you ask? Well, when I saw Climatic Neurotic Explosion, The first thing that came to my mind was band Metallica, why? Because Metallica uses the exact same Script style in their Band Name.
So I decided to look up other Heavy metal band titles, none looked like Metallica, they all looked uniquely different.
And given the theme of this expansion, related to music, and the depiction of heavy metal, I firmly belive that they infringed on Metallica’s band script.
Any decent designer or artist would have thought of this issue even before pitching. Product placements, revenue, brand image, similarity issues are not specific enough to hold up. I just googled the card, seems more like a pun-ny tribute if ya asked me.
I’m not Metallica so I would’nt know. If I were, I’d think it’s kind cute.
There can still be slight differences in the script, however, the elongated letters of the first and last letters resembles that of Metallica.
“A famous trademark is one that has an immediate connection in the minds of the consumers with a specific product or service as to the source of its goods or services.”
The first thing that came to my mind when I saw this card, was Metallica. It doesn’t say Metallica, and it it slightly different, but not different enough for me not to think of Metallica every time I see this card.
And if you look at the A in Metallica and compare it to the last letter in this card, there is also a has the same resemblance at the upper right corner of the letter with the added hook.
I"m not a fan of Metallica, I’m not into heavy metal, however, I’ve had plenty of friends who were, who had shirts and memorabilia. If my life depended on naming a title of a song from Metallica, my time on earth would be over, lol. I wouldn’t be able to answer that question.
Not saying that Heavy metal is bad, just not my style of music.
But again, I think of Metallica every time I see this card.
You are reaching and reaching hard – If you believe what you stated then many many hard metal bands would also have infringed on Metallica.
ALso there are such things called tribute bands and just outright giving high priases to bands/people with artwork or other things.
I would say that ANYTHING in this world could be considered infringment anymore. However ask me this…
How is it Youtube rockers like Violete Orandi and Halocen can make money off singing their songs and not get in trouble for it? They even do tours singing these songs btw.
