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F Line Bagels, the new Smith Street bagel shop (see the nice exterior shot from Curbed) that has raised the ire of the MTA for using various subway memorabilia in the store, say they will propose a settlement to end the issues. The MTA issued a cease-and-desist to the shop, claiming that the shop used its trademarked items improperly and is infringing on the MTA's intellectual property. Okay, Gothamist gets that, but is making stupid decisions and running an agency into the ground also the MTA's intellectual property, 'cause we were just wondering. Anyway, now the brothers who own the joint will apply for a license and hope to pay a nominal fee for using the subway swag. Their lawyer also could not avoid a pun, saying, "We will sit with [the MTA], break bread and hopefully come up with a deal."
Our readers made some really interesting points in our post about the incident yesterday. Clearly, there's a fine line between copyright infringement and public agencies.
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If anything can be argued in this case: if the MTA has their transit symbols and names trademarked, then they should pursue licensing costs for uses of those trademarks. It's more money into the system, which is badly needed at this point. It would be foolish to not pursue licensing fees and ignore infringements - as a matter of fact, some corporations lose trademarks to the public domain because of lack of enforcement.
Licensing the symbols and memorabilia for use in a public place should be fair for everyone - including NY state taxpayers.
Now, if you want to talk about evil, let's beat on the record industry. If you play a radio in a public place of business, guess what? You owe royalties on the songs played! If you sing Happy Birthday to someone, guess what? You owe royalties! Kids singing songs at camp? Royalties! Run an Internet radio station? Double royalties! (twice what traditional radio stations are compelled to pay) I guess the MTA isn't that bad in comparison.
The MTA's intellectual property is the hole in the middle of the bagel. So much of what the MTA does seems devoid of substance!