What’s in a Name?

We also talked abut the term COMPUTERFEST. Gary Ganger pointed out that the term is owned by the Dayton Microcomputer Association, Inc. Owned and protected by copyright. Gary went on to announce that the Association would let other groups use the term occasionally. He did not say how often, or on what terms, but I would expect that foremost among the conditions of use would be the assurance that no-one would bring discredit to the name. I know that this thought is uppermost in the mind of Harvey Phillips, my tuba teacher, who owns the term OCTUBAFEST.

Gary also claimed that the copyright covered all permutations of the name–capitals and lower ease, hyphens, asterisks, whatever, Now, my knowledge of law comes from reading Perry Mason instead of Blackstone, and I don’t know how close to a generic term you can come and still claim a valid copyright. But I’ve always been a strong supporter of ethics and courtesy. Let’s not pirate the name. If the DMA is willing to give permission to use the name, let’s ask for permission, and give credit when it’s granted. If they’re not willing to give that permission, send me a prospectus of the event, and I’ll suggest between 3 and 100 names that you could use. Although you could probably think of a better name yourself.