----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, April 21, 2007 8:27
AM
Subject: [FWDLK] Ropro part
"licensing"
As I recall it was about 1984-85 that my partner and I
received a letter from a law firm representing Chrysler Corporation stating
that they knew we were reproducing emblems and other parts for
Chrysler-predecessor car companies. We were selling reproductions for
Hudson and Terraplane autos. This was an incredible, saber-rattling, "we
know who you are and we're coming to GET YOU" letter which demanded in no
uncertain terms that we comply immediately or face the wrath of the legal
department of Chrysler and we were going to go to jail. The
Repro-Police were coming!!! I'm not kidding - the letter was
worded so forcefully that my face went pale and my knees weak. I called
my partner (we worked out of our homes) and said I'm coming over; we've got a
helluva problem! Amongst the offensive language was the additional
demand that we pay some exorbitant licensing fee PER PART, keep very extensive
sales records (due quarterly to Chrysler) and pay them 10% of our gross
sales. I can't begin to tell you how offended we were by this,
especially as an extremely tiny company working in an extremely tiny
niche of the hobby where it was as much or more about keeping our own and
a few other old cars presentable and useable as it was making a
profit. Before their DEADLINE for compliance I wrote the law
firm a SCATHING reply as to how we felt we were promoting their corporate
history, nothing to do with current trademark infringement, etc. etc.
They did not reply. About nine months went by and we got a
somewhat milder letter requiring the same thing. To this day, our
company, and its successor ownership, has done nothing about complying to
their legal rant. I believe they decided to go after the big name
companies where the real money was being made and realized that even
reviewing our paperwork was going to cost them more to pay their filing
clerks than they were going to receive in checks from us.
There were some articles in Old Cars newspaper in that
era about corporate licensing of parts and also of scale model cars. If
you recall this is the era when model car kits doubled and tripled in
price over 2-3 years.
I do not know what the licensing requirements are today
or at what level of gross sales they start coming down on companies. But
I can tell you I will go to my grave remembering that Detroit behemoth
Chrysler Corporation was poised and ready to unleash their total wrath upon
K-Gap Hudson operating out of my spare bedroom and my buddy's
garage.
Is that a knock on the door? Is that the click of
a service revolver?
Wayne
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