guest post by Doctor Popular
photos by Plug1 (WHAT IM SEEING DOT COM)
Pez Candy Inc. is suing the Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia over copyright infringement. The suit, filed last week, claims that the museum deceives the public into believing they are operating under the authority of Pez and asks that the museum’s 7 foot tall replica of Pez dispenser be destroyed. The lawsuit also takes issue with the museum’s sales of toy truck Pez dispensers which had been modified with Obama and McCain logos during last years elections. The museum has been opened since 1995 and is said to be the only place in the world were you can see every Pez dispenser ever made.
WHAT IM SEEING DOT COM has a great write-up on the Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia from last December.
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
I will never understand why a large corporation that makes such a fun product would ever want to shut down such a great source of free advertising and good will. What are they thinking?
Well, they aren’t trying to “shut them down”, but I can see how they would take issue with the political stuff and the giant replica dispenser that isn’t an authorized repro. Trademark protection is a real pain in the arse.
That said, I’m curious to find out if they tried approaching the museum directly first and politely ask if they would be willing to make some concessions, or if their lawyers simply shot out the letters. One denotes a willingness to be fair and nice, while the other lumps them into “blind corporate attrition” mode.
Pez seeks court-ordered destruction of fun.
Screw Pez. Their candy was always crap, anyway.
agree, PEZ has been a childhood favorite for every generation. When i was down and out thinking out committing suicide, PEZ’s sugar high saved me.
Just stupid, on the part of Pez. The museum is a tiny place, but really cool and promotes Pez in a great way. No one could mistake it for something run by Pez. Pez should have offered to sponsor it instead, and they would have created great good will from collectors, who are some of their major buyers. Now they’re going to make the collectors unhappy, and do away with a great free source of publicity.
I’m not entirely surprised. They’re starting make a trend of this – they sent a letter demanding the takedown of a parody Hitler pez despenser to YTMND.com (Details – http://wiki.ytmnd.com/Pez)
YTMND.com responded by a “Get sued by Pez!” contest asking participants to raise their game. According to the contest page at http://ytmnd.com/contests/?contest_id=6 there were 111 entries…
People really don’t care for Pez. Wonder if they’re going to sue Less Than Jake next?
They better not sue LTJ next. LTJ is responsible for my PEZ habit. I was never allowed PEZ as a kid and when I was in college and a fan of LTJ I picked up PEZ collecting as my hobby and now between my kids and I we’ve got 100-200 dispensers (plus accessories and books and such).
I imagine (if I understand the law correctly, which isn’t exactly a slam dunk certainty) part of the problem is that because of the way the law is set up for copyright protection they legally have to pursue this sort of thing or risk losing their copyright entirely. A competitor trying to make their own POZ would be able to claim Burlingame as precedence that it was an unprotected copyright and hence PEZ would have no legal recourse.
We went to the museum in 2001 and enjoyedf it immensley.
I bought an Oakland Raiders dispenser there-does Pez want me to destroy it? They can kiss my Silver and Black a**.
Agreed, this does appear to be a stupid action on PEZ, Inc’s part. Why destroy someone who is actively promoting your product? Very strange mentality. Definitely makes me less inclined to bother with Pez any more.
Here’s an irony: Suing the museum seems to make a bit of news, and therefore advertising/awareness of Pex again; whereas partnering with the museum might not make many news-ripples. Tragic reality of the bad-news-travels-three-times-faster-than-good tendancy of humans? Or casuality of the news cycle?
Either way, Boo for Pez, Inc.
I am an avid Pez collector and when I first heard of this story, I was truly disheartened. My friend went to the museum a couple years ago and she was never under the impression that it was operated by the Pez Corp. She said it was obvious that it was a display of the collection of the man that ran the museum. As a fellow Pez lover, she made an effort to go there, to enjoy the man’s collection and walked away with a couple Pez souvenirs. I just don’t get why the Pez Corp would sue someone who is enjoying, supporting and promoting their products. Pez is something fun to make people smile, and the company’s actions are ruining the very nature of what their product is suppose to stand for. I am saddened that they would take legal action against anyone who loves Pez. Copyrights, trademarks, whatever….the bottom line is they are suing someone who loves their product and that’s just wrong.
THIS IS REALLY SAD, ON PEZ’S PART. THE MUSEUM HAS BEEN A SOURCE OF REFERENCE FOR ME SINCE I STARTED COLLECTING. AND I NEVER THOUGHT IT WAS PART OF PEZ CORP. (I THINK IT EVEN STATES SO) OTHER THAN THEY COLLECT PEZ AND INFORM YOU OF WHAT PEZ ARE OUT THERE. BECAUSE PEZ ITSELF ONLY TELLS YOU ABOUT THE NEW PEZS AND ANY OLDER PEZ YOUR ON YOUR OWN TO FIGURE OUT.. THAT’S WHY THE MUSEUM WAS SO HELPFUL AND INSPIRED YOUR DESIRE TO COLLECT. AND IT DIDN’T COST ANYTHING. SORRY PEZ COULDN’T BACK THEM. I DIDN’T KNOW PEZ HAD SUCH A MEAN STREAK!!