Becker Knife & Tool Co Facebook

maethor said:
That's what the first entry on the facebook page says. It doesn't exactly scream "official", does it?

Oh and BluesStringer, please don't be angry at me about that ignorance thing, I wasn't trying to piss you off. Sorry if you felt like I was. I just tried to make a joke, stupid language and cultural barriers...

meat

Edit: Moose, I just warned/informed the owner/creator of the page. He'll drop in here shortly, at least I hope so.
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Now, I certainly don't mean to derail this thread, but everyone needs to see this: meat has fully accepted his new name. Wooo! :D

-Nadz
 
GoNadz said:
Now, I certainly don't mean to derail this thread, but everyone needs to see this: meat has fully accepted his new name. Wooo! :D

-Nadz
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LMAO, Thanks Meat, and Nadz.

Moose
 
maethor said:
This is a Fan Site for admirers of the designs of Ethan Becker. After a Facebook search for a related group or fan page came up with nothing, I decided to create the page because one should exist. Have fun with it..
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That's what the first entry on the facebook page says. It doesn't exactly scream "official", does it?
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No, but the problem is, it just barely whispers that it's unofficial. The post to which you refer is already at the bottom of the page, soon to be at least an extra click away, buried in the "Older Posts" archives. It's the title of the page that makes or breaks the legal issues, not a post that gets harder and harder to find as more people visit and post on the page.

Also, there's a "disclaimer" in the "Info" section of the page that clearly states that it's a fan page, but just like that first post, someone visiting (like me) would look at the title of the page and think they are dealing with someone or a group of people legally authorized to speak for BK&T, unless and until they went searching for legal disclaimers. That puts the onus on the visitor to determine whether or not the name is being used properly. When it comes to the illegal use of Trademarks, you should scream that it's unofficial, or expect to have both feet landed upon you by the rightful owner of the Trademark. It's a fairly elementary application of plain ol' common sense.

maethor said:
Oh and BluesStringer, please don't be angry at me about that ignorance thing, I wasn't trying to piss you off. Sorry if you felt like I was. I just tried to make a joke, stupid language and cultural barriers...
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Who's angry? Not me. Honestly, I thought that you were the creator of that FB page because you answered the question about the Remora there, and got called on it here. That's no big deal, I'm not commenting on that mistake, I'm just explaining why I thought maybe it was your page. If it's not, my apologies for jumping to conclusions. Still, whether it was your answer to the Remora question or it was your page that was put up without permission, it would be legitimate to say that ignorance ruled, right? I am not angry at all. I'm just given to returning unjustified digs with justified ones.
_shrug__or__dunno__by_crula.gif


Blues
 
moosez45 said:
Now, we have gotten into something. I went and checked it out. I don't think Ethan or Kabar has sanctioned that site. I could be wrong. Could one of you facebookers check into that for me, and if its not official, you might want to warn him/her before they get landed on with both feet.

Moose
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Ooh...I was presumed it was...silly me for not checking. It will be good to hear from Ethan on this.

@Bluestringer, good point. Thanks.
 
meat. thor. mmm. meat good! more ale!

oh, FB sucks. it exists to do nothing more than steal your identity, and monies, while making you feel good about it.
 
FWIW...I went and checked out the page. The main profile picture says "Becker Fans" on it, and there is the disclaimer under the Info tab. I really don't see this as malicious. YMMV...

I'd love the owner of the page to chime in and see exactly what their motivation is... anyone? anyone? Bueller?
 
My biggest thing is Becker Knife and Tool, Co. If you knew how hard E had to work to get that back after Camillus, you wouldn't want anyone stepping on it. Imagine having to fight tooth and nail to get your name back. He bought it at an auction. No joke.

Moose
 
MikeyJ said:
FWIW...I went and checked out the page. The main profile picture says "Becker Fans" on it, and there is the disclaimer under the Info tab. I really don't see this as malicious. YMMV...
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The owner must have changed it, When I was there before it looked official.
 
slapper said:
The owner must have changed it, When I was there before it looked official.
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I had no idea it was different. It would probably be a good idea for them to change a lot of stuff...just to keep everyone happy!

moosez45 said:
My biggest thing is Becker Knife and Tool, Co. If you knew how hard E had to work to get that back after Camillus, you wouldn't want anyone stepping on it. Imagine having to fight tooth and nail to get your name back. He bought it at an auction. No joke.

Moose
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You're absolutely right, Moose! The only point I was trying to make is that I don't feel that it is malicious in any way. Perhaps a little ignorant in the ways of trademarking, but otherwise innocent...IMO
 
It will be good for the creator of the page to clearly state that it is a fan page. Disclaimers dont justify using the company name. The Becker Knife & Tool Co name gave me the impression that Ethan is behind this. :o
 
bullosa said:
It will be good for the creator of the page to clearly state that it is a fan page. Disclaimers dont justify using the company name. The Becker Knife & Tool Co name gave me the impression that Ethan is behind this. :o
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That's a perfectly reasonable assumption to make bullosa, which is exactly why it's perfectly unreasonable to use the name that way.
 
BluesStringer said:
Absence of malice is no defense for illegally using a name/trademark/copyright/patent.
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No argument here. Hopefully the creator of the page will read these posts and correct his title page accordingly. Seems like a simple fix to keep themselves out of hot water. As you've stated earlier in the thread, "ignorance ruled" on this one. I still don't believe the page meant to step on any toes, but certainly seems to have crossed a line. It appears that the profile photo has already been changed (thanks Slapper for pointing that out), so maybe the title page will also soon change.

Personally, I like the fan page idea (for those that are FB inclined), but it should certainly be handled appropriately.
 
Mrwhitetailfanatic said:
Im pretty sure they can do w/e they want with a trademark or copyright stuff as long as they dont profit from it
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The biggest issue here, is misrepresentation. Facebook is a giant entity, and someone may get the impression they are dealing with the real BKT/Kabar. Thus creating an issue of bad PR, or misinformation. The main thing with trademarking something, is it gives the owners the right to allow use as they see fit, or decline use as they see fit, its thier identity.

Moose
 
Hello all, haven't been on for a while, nor have I really lurked much-- work work work... Someone contacted me about the Becker page on Facebook. I created the page as a fan page, and the page has absolutely no ties to the company whatsoever. I really just put it up because there wasn't a page on there for Becker's products, and I thought there should be because there are enough fans out there who use facebook. I did not seek permission from Ethan Becker, Ka-Bar, Camillus or whoever mainly because I wrote a pretty lengthy disclaimer in several places which states no affiliation. I really thought it would be okay to do so because it is intended to be a fan page for people to share pictures and postings related to their favorite products. If Becker or Ka-Bar would like to take the page over and make it "Official official" they are more than welcome to do so and I would gladly make whatever changes are necessary to make that happen. I also would not mind changing the title of the page so it appears to be more of a fan page (again, I thought the disclaimer and my words on creation of the page were enough). I really did not intend to step on any toes in the community, and if it pissed anyone off then I apoglogize for any misunderstanding. Sooooooo... if anyone still would like to take issue with the page please feel free to contact me so we can talk about it. I believe Ethan himself is a Mod here: horrible way to make an introduction here, but Ethan if you or a company of your choosing would like to take ownership of the page please let me know and I will do my best to get it done. Either way I just asked for a couple of Admins because I am not really on that often and I didn't want to neglect the page or miss adding any new info on Becker designs in a timely manner. Once again, sorry for any misunderstanding but I made the page based on what I thought was a good intentioned need for a page to exist. Thanks and I hope this clears everything up.

Cheers,

-Mike
 
Welcome to the becker subforum(I see this is your first post here)! I heard there was a facebook page and we didn't know the owner. I thought to myself he should be here with us hanging out and talking about Beckers. Hang out her a while, I think you'll like it.
 
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