Urban Homesteading trademarked, Dervaes Family gets Death Threats

[thezoo]

It kinda makes me sorry I never had one, so I could delete it now.

  i was thinking the same dang thing

[smuglydawg]

In addition, Dervaes Institute owns numerous trademarks which should be properly acknowledged if used. These protected names and images include the following registered trademarks:

These are common
URBAN HOMESTEAD®
URBAN HOMESTEADING®
PATH TO FREEDOM®

GROW THE FUTURE®

HOMEGROWN REVOLUTION®
Is that what happen when people raise up?

FREEDOM GARDENS®
 LITTLE HOMESTEAD IN THE CITY®

Now does anyone know the legal fee is you dont copyright when you use it?

Cause I could make up some words and make some monies.

[summer98]

I know lots of people are disappointed, but given what I know of them, I can't say that I'm surprised.

What a bunch of dumbasses.  The fact I helped these people makes me want to puke!  You know I would have a bigger claim on the term modern survivalism then they don on fricken urban homestead.  May be I should trademark that and publicly state anyone can use it any time they want before some other assclown tries to do so for greed purposes. 

Jack, I know you were joking, but you might want to seriously consider doing so. Someone is eventually going to do it now that it has taken off, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Dervaes' decide do it if they get mad enough at you.

[Amator]

Jack, I know you were joking, but you might want to seriously consider doing so. Someone is eventually going to do it now that it has taken off, and I wouldn't be surprised if the De®vaes' decide do it if they get mad enough at you.

Not a bad idea.  It wouldn't be a "you must credit us when you use the generic words" issues like with the De®vae$ family, but it would offer some protection if any other assclown does it and tries to come after you.

[Nicodemus]

I had a "good" night's sleep and time to think this situation over a little and I've come to the conclusion
I still don't get it...
This morning when I woke, or rather failed to sleep some more, I had decided to go over to their blog to pen a nice letter on why people are having a bad reaction to "The De®vaes Institute" copyrighting and enforcing usage of the term "Urban Homestead". However, they've closed down the comments on their blog at least where this particular topic is concerned and so I didn't pursue the idea of a letter any further.

At this point I've come to the conclusion that they just don't care to read about the issue. They'll write up their rights, but they don't want to read an opposing viewpoint. This may be due to hot tempers and abusive posts, this seems to be commonplace on the internet after all.

They did what they did and they're sticking to their guns.

For me it all comes down to this:
If you're out to make the world a better place you design something like the Rocket Stove (yes, Rocket Stoves tickle my fancy), provide designs and let the world in on it without copyrighting the whole shebang. If you're interested in something other than making the world a better place you take an old idea, say that your enhancements make it brand spankin' new, lawyer up and lock it all down. Their Path to Freesomosity impinges on your right to Freedomnisism and they neither care nor see that as a fact.

And they openly admit that the "Urban Homestead" is an old idea, but claim their way of doing things makes the pre-existing terminology new and therefore their own.

I'd post a pull quote from the blog post where the above is mentioned, but I don't want to get a "De®vaes Institute Not-A-Cease-and-Disist Letter©®™". They posted it for the world to see and now the admission is out there until the internet ceases to be (I pdf'ed it just in case).


On a side note, I love what the mods did when you include the De®vaes name in a post.  

[kevo]

According to trademarkia.com Dervaes Institute has 19 records.

http://www.trademarkia.com/company-dervaes-institute-33638-page-1-2

They include...
- Little Homestead In the City (2010)
- Barnyards and Backyards (2010)
- Homesteadville (2010)
- Free The Seeds (2008)
- Path To Freedom (2008)
- Revolution Solution (2008)
- My Other Supermarket Is My Garden (2008)
- One Trowel Revolution (2008)
- Reject Resist Revolt (2008)
- Freedom Seeds (2008 DEAD)
- Urban Homestead (2008)
- Freedom Gardens (2008)
- logo of hand holding trowel (2007)
- Peddler's Wagon (2007)
- Path to Freedom (2007)
- Urban Homesteading (2007)
- Grow The Future (2007)
- The Path To Change The World Begins At Your Door (2007)
- Homegrown Revolution (2007)

Maybe we should reject, resist and revolt.

[Mr. Bill]

http://www.trademarkia.com/company-De®vaes-institute-33638-page-1-2

Oh dear, there seems to be a spelling error in your link.

(My apologies -- that's my doing.  I'll look for a workaround.  In the meanwhile, if anyone needs that link, just replace "®" with "r" manually.)

[Serenity Gulch]

(My apologies -- that's my doing.  I'll look for a workaround.  In the meanwhile, if anyone needs that link, just replace "®" with "r" manually.)

I was wondering who set that up. +1 to you sir. 

[chrisdfw]

The trademarking thing is getting a little excessive everywhere, but it makes me sick that someone promoting homesteading of any kind would be a part of this blatant consumerism. I am so glad I have an empty stomach right now.

[spartan]

May be I should trademark that and publicly state anyone can use it any time they want before some other assclown tries to do so for greed purposes. 

I'd do it in a heartbeat if I were in your shoes Jack.  Once it's done release some simple rules to make it free/easy for others to use by others.

From my own experience as someone who practices Permaculture, I like the way Mollison did it: If you've taken a Permaculture Design Course and gained the Certificate, you can use the word as a way to earn money and teach the classes.  Yes, it's protected, but it's not difficult to be able to use it in a for-profit manner, nor is it enforced unless someone goes way off the rails.

http://www.permaculture.net/apd/permaculture_use_and_copyrights.htm

[endurance]

I'd do it in a heartbeat if I were in your shoes Jack.  Once it's done release some simple rules to make it free/easy for others to use by others.

Since there's others who've already started using it (i.e. ferfal), it might actually be a little tricky.  That said, to release it to the universe would be the right thing to do.  All this stuff is just silly.  I understand Coke copywriting "It's the real thing", for commercial reasons, but when your entire movement is about personal freedom and you play this game, it's self-defeating.

[Nicodemus]

Good commentary on this subject today during The Survival Podcast, Jack.

[summer98]

The Dervaes have now accused the authors of "The Urban Homesteading Book" of infringing their copyright, despite the fact that the book was published BEFORE the copyright was issued.
Gee, I think I'm going to copyright the word "shoes" and then sue every manufacturer in the world!

[Nicodemus]

The De®vaes have now accused the authors of "The Urban Homesteading Book" of infringing their copyright, despite the fact that the book was published BEFORE the copyright was issued.
Gee, I think I'm going to copyright the word "shoes" and then sue every manufacturer in the world!

Yeah, I couldn't believe when I heard Jack mention that on today's podcast. I'm going to pick up their book. Maybe we can rocket up the charts on Amazon. 

[archer]

The De®vaes have now accused the authors of "The Urban Homesteading Book" of infringing their copyright, despite the fact that the book was published BEFORE the copyright was issued.

I've ordered a copy of it.

[Nicodemus]

if anyone else is interested in ordering this book, the title is "The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-sufficient Living in the Heart of the City". It can be purchased in paper or electronic versions from Amazon.

[archer]

if anyone else is interested in ordering this book, the title is "The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-sufficient Living in the Heart of the City". It can be purchased in paper or electronic versions from Amazon.

Interesting. they are in LA. Wonder if there is more to why the De®vaes family are going after them.
---About---
We live in the heart of Los Angeles, in a little bungalow set on a 1/12 acre lot where almost all of our land is devoted to growing edible or otherwise useful plants and trees. We bought this house 1998, and we date our fascination with the old home arts to our sudden transformation into befuddled home owners. All of a sudden we had a yard--a yard full of weeds and dying trees--and had to start from scratch. What made sense for to plant for this climate, for wildlife, and for us? We learned that we lean toward the practical rather than the aesthetic, so we focused on feeding ourselves, and tangentially, all of the beneficial wildlife we can attract. Growing food led inevitably to learning about storing, preserving and cooking food. Add some hens to the mix, as well as good friends and neighbors with similar interests, Erik's bicycle obsession, Kelly's survivalist obsessions, and good deal of homemade beer. A lifestyle was born!

[OKGranny]

If it were just them I might wonder if there was another agenda but I've been looking at articles all day on people who have gotten these letters, even one about a woman in Oakland who got a cease and desist letter and is being blamed by the 'family in Pasadena' for starting all the backlash even though she says she was so shocked she never said or wrote a word about it.

I've decided if we ever move back into town I'm going to call my place an urban farmstead and I'll be on the "road to self suffiency". Then maybe I can stay out of trouble till another 'family from Pasadena' decides to copyright those words.

[amanadoo]

I used to feel like some sort of pariah because I didn't care for these people at all. Something about them just set my teeth on edge, they just didn't ring true for me at all. I'm sorry this has come down this way but I can't say I'm surprised.

Ditto, ditto, ditto! They gave me a weird vibe, and I JUST COULD NOT understand why they wouldn't come on the podcast. But of course, I swear by TSP, so I'm biased. What a bunch of dick-bruise faces.

[Nicodemus]

I wonder if they've drawn a lot of attention with this business. I just tried to go to their site to see if there was any more mention of this issue and got the following:

"Safari can’t connect to the server.
Safari can’t open the page “blahblahblah” because Safari can’t connect to the server “yaddayaddaya”.

Never mind, it came up.

[Mr. Bill]

"Safari can’t connect to the server.
Safari can’t open the page “blahblahblah” because Safari can’t connect to the server “yaddayaddaya”.

Their site is probably getting more traffic today from the bad publicity than they ever got from all their good work.

[Dan]

Is it me or does this remind anyone else of Jim Zumbo and his February 16th 2007 "Terrorist Rifles" blog entry in which Mr. Zumbo, a well known  hunting commentator, committed career suicide by  calling AR and AK rifles "Terrorist rifles" and writing "I say game departments should ban them from the prairies and woods."

How can people who work for so long within a community make such an error?

Btw, unsubscribed from their YouTube channel.

[CBP]

Ditto, ditto, ditto! They gave me a weird vibe, and I JUST COULD NOT understand why they wouldn't come on the podcast. But of course, I swear by TSP, so I'm biased. What a bunch of dick-bruise faces.

Add me to that list as well.  The whole set up was odd to me, really had me squinting a bit. 

And I do have the Urban Homesteading book already, but I will buy another and donate it to my local library --- excellent book. 

[OKGranny]

Add me to that list as well.  The whole set up was odd to me, really had me squinting a bit. 

And I do have the Urban Homesteading book already, but I will buy another and donate it to my local library --- excellent book. 

What a great idea! I didn't buy it because I own it already but I will now go buy one and donate it.

[archer]

Online petion to try to get them to cancel their trademarks:

http://www.change.org/petitions/cancel-trademarks-on-urban-homestead-and-urban-homesteading#updates

[Nicodemus]

Thanks for the link, Archer!

[Sister Wolf]

Online petion to try to get them to cancel their trademarks:

http://www.change.org/petitions/cancel-trademarks-on-urban-homestead-and-urban-homesteading#updates

Signed.

[donaldj]

Jack, I would not try to Copyright "Modern Survival".  To me this is becoming what you despise.

However, copyrighting "Ass clown" might have a lot of support...     

[Sister Wolf]

Donald, I think you misunderstand.  He wants to trademark it so that nobody else does.  And then his trademark rules will be "anybody can use this at any time for any reason."

[donaldj]

Donald, I think you misunderstand.  He wants to trademark it so that nobody else does.  And then his trademark rules will be "anybody can use this at any time for any reason."

Ah, then I did misunderstand.  This isn't a bad idea then.  =)