"Jedi" Copyrighted?

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100823/10375210741.shtml

Take a look...

That's very interesting. A trademark is considerably different than a copyright but they're often confused. Here's the rest of the story http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Jedi-mind-Lucasfilm-george-Lucas-copyright,news-7905.html .

LucasFilm, according to the complaint, claims dominion over "all characteristics associated with the Jedi knights not memorialized in a registered trademark... [including] Jedi robes, the lightsaber weapon, the power to levitate objects, a telepathic oneness with other Jedi and the universe, and the ability to shoot energy beams called 'Force Lightning' from the fingertips."

http://smallbusiness.aol.com/2010/08/24/lucasfilm-files-5-million-lawsuit-against-jedi-mind/

The company made the mistake of agreeing to phase out the name ant then did not do it. So the lawsuit had much to do with breach of contract as well as trademark infringement. We'll never know what would have happened if this had gone to trail. I can see how the labeling of the products would make people think it was a Star Wars product. Nothing about this applies to us as a church so nobody should be concerned about it. There are First Amendment religious issues with us that the for profit company could not assert for one thing.

Out of curiosity I did a quick check just on Texas corporations.

Go to the Texas corporation lookup https://ourcpa.cpa.state.tx.us/coa/Index.html , put Jedi in the name and see what you get. Those are just the names that start with Jedi BTW so we won't be on that list.

The trademark applies to selling certain goods an services. Lucas has no trademark for the category we're in, though there could be a problem if we wanted to sell books or other things with Jedi written on it.

The term "Light Force Realist" is still available to you.

Does that mean the jedi order can produce media content including star wars movies that rival Disney's narrative?

Nectanebo wrote: Does that mean the jedi order can produce media content including star wars movies that rival Disney's narrative?

No. And the issue is Trademark / Servicemark, not copyright. We can write a book about the real Jedi religion and philosophy. We cannot write a fictional Star Wars story.

You can't copyright words. You can, however, trademark them for specific purposes. So, while Disney owns the word in regard to, say, merchandising, unless they've filed a separate trademark for the word in regards to religion, it should be okay.

Someone should ask.

steamboat28 wrote: You can't copyright words. You can, however, trademark them for specific purposes. So, while Disney owns the word in regard to, say, merchandising, unless they've filed a separate trademark for the word in regards to religion, it should be okay.

Someone should ask.

Anyone can check here https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks-application-process/search-trademark-database

The jedi order could make a jedi movie though, right? Like a Christian church making a film about jesus or the biblical world legends?

You would have to make sure it was Historically correct or stated what is the Interpretation of it is. As For anything Star Wars, Jedi and such, Lucas Film has a tight tight grip, Disney even more so and goes after anyone... Case in point, YouTube Channel Star Wars Theory... Made a Fan Film, This Channel got permission from Lucas Film, But after it was Filmed, edited and so forth, premiered on the Channel, Within a week Disney filed with YouTube to take any Monetary items. It took the Fan base to stand up and yell, Lucas Film did step in and shown where permission was given and eventually the Monetary issue was released.

So Just jumping in and making a film is not as easy as one would think, even if it said "Fan Film". Documentary is a whole different can of worms...

A jedi story film sponsored by the jedi temple could become jedi religion allegory. It could create an indie genre of religious jedi films that recruit and spread Jediism without Disney. Great potential?

We cannot make a film about a fictional Jedi. We can make one about a real person who is a Jedi and what led them to it. Making it interesting and something someone would watch is not that easy.

Nectanebo wrote: The jedi order could make a jedi movie though, right? Like a Christian church making a film about jesus or the biblical world legends?

Let me give you an example. Y'know Wiffle Ball bats? On them is printed a little note saying "The color YELLOW is a registered trademark of Wiffle Ball, Inc."

Yes. They trademarked a whole color. How?

In short: Intellectual property law in the US and in many Western countries allows for the trademarking of colors in specific commercial settings. In its 1995 decision on the case of Qualitex Co. v. Jacobson Products Co., Inc, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that if colors have a secondary meaning in the marketplace, if in themselves the colors have taken on the function of helping to “identify and distinguish [the seller’s] goods . . . from those manufactured or sold by others and to indicate [their] source,” in the language of the Lanham Act, then they can be registered as trademarks.

- Robert Quigley at the Mary Sue

So, in that case, maybe? Maybe not? Until they were acquired by Disney, they were ALL ABOUT fan films, and that might technically be considered one, but The Mouse in the Golden House is more protective of copyrights and trademarks.