...In what first appeared to be a reasonable effort to protect its trademarks, reports in August revealed that WWE was banning The Dudley Boyz from using their names and gimmicks outside of the company. When the scope of the ban grew to include Spike Dudley, Internet fans went into a frenzy discussing WWE's "flexing of its corporate muscles." Fans questioned what WWE had to lose by letting wrestlers continue to perform under the names and gimmicks they made famous.However, WWE's attempt to control former wrestlers does not appear to be over. The company recently informed both Justin Credible (Peter Polaco) and Billy Kidman (Pete Gruner) that they can no longer use their popular wrestling names on the independent circuit. WWE has also asked the webmaster of Spike Dudley's website to remove photos from his tenure with the company.And, it doesn't stop with wrestlers. WWE's legal department has turned its attention to Hardcore Homecoming, citing infringement of trademarks and intellectual property. WWE has asked the venues hosting the events for background information on the shows; the company also contacted the distributor of the first Hardcore Homecoming DVD under the similar notion of a breach.
However, WWE's attempt to control former wrestlers does not appear to be over. The company recently informed both Justin Credible (Peter Polaco) and Billy Kidman (Pete Gruner) that they can no longer use their popular wrestling names on the independent circuit. WWE has also asked the webmaster of Spike Dudley's website to remove photos from his tenure with the company.
And, it doesn't stop with wrestlers. WWE's legal department has turned its attention to Hardcore Homecoming, citing infringement of trademarks and intellectual property. WWE has asked the venues hosting the events for background information on the shows; the company also contacted the distributor of the first Hardcore Homecoming DVD under the similar notion of a breach.
― kingfish superman ice cream (kingfish 2.0), Friday, 9 September 2005 05:41 (seventeen years ago) link
problem solved.
― ken c (ken c), Friday, 9 September 2005 08:53 (seventeen years ago) link
― ken c (ken c), Friday, 9 September 2005 08:58 (seventeen years ago) link
― ken c (ken c), Friday, 9 September 2005 08:59 (seventeen years ago) link
― kingfish superman ice cream (kingfish 2.0), Friday, 9 September 2005 14:50 (seventeen years ago) link
― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Friday, 9 September 2005 15:25 (seventeen years ago) link
― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Friday, 9 September 2005 15:26 (seventeen years ago) link
― Stuh-du-du-du-du-du-du-denka (jingleberries), Friday, 9 September 2005 19:08 (seventeen years ago) link
― ken c (ken c), Friday, 9 September 2005 20:45 (seventeen years ago) link
Heyman fucked up by forgetting to transfer ownership of the name to the Dudleys, and Vince is merely protecting what he rightfully owns.
I really can't blame Vince for this one, particularly due to the money he's going to make through the various DVD and WWE 24/7 projects (i.e. he doesn't want to worry about liscensing the rights to use wrestler names every time he wants to put out a DVD).
― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Saturday, 10 September 2005 00:40 (seventeen years ago) link
― theodore (herbert hebert), Saturday, 10 September 2005 23:19 (seventeen years ago) link
Good.
― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Sunday, 11 September 2005 00:15 (seventeen years ago) link
― bb balls, Monday, 19 September 2005 17:09 (seventeen years ago) link
Completely off-topic, but this Eric dude's existance on planet earth is an enigma to me. I like his columns, even tho 1/10th of it is actual content.
― Stuh-du-du-du-du-du-du-denka (jingleberries), Monday, 19 September 2005 19:24 (seventeen years ago) link
― alex in montreal (alex in montreal), Tuesday, 20 September 2005 12:13 (seventeen years ago) link
― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Tuesday, 20 September 2005 12:20 (seventeen years ago) link
― Faintest Fusion, Tuesday, 25 April 2006 03:44 (sixteen years ago) link
When The Dudleys went from ECW to WWE, Paul Heyman never went all 'legal' on Vince when he used the Dudley name. Vince doesn’t have to hand over the legal rights to all these wrestlers, but what does he have to lose by letting them use the name they made famous. I think Spike, D-Von and Bubba should legally chance there names and sue Vince for complete legal rights to their names. If the Ultimate Warrior could do it so can The Dudleys, and with using the UW's case as a president they can win a lawsuit against the WWE.
― Allan Tucker, Monday, 7 January 2008 04:13 (fifteen years ago) link
Both Steve Austin and Chyna legally changed their names recently, too.
― marmotwolof, Monday, 7 January 2008 04:53 (fifteen years ago) link
i have no to very little memory of ever starting this thread. Shit, this was 2.5 years ago?!
― kingfish, Friday, 18 January 2008 07:23 (fifteen years ago) link
ILWWE was thriving back then
― ken c, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 23:13 (fifteen years ago) link
We didn't have Chris Benoit RIP to post on yet
― marmotwolof, Thursday, 24 January 2008 17:55 (fifteen years ago) link