well that sucks.
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well that sucks. apparently the ALA/Freedom To Read Foundation have trademarks on the phrase "free people read freely", which i use in a lino print i made into stickers a few years ago.
i got the phrase from a 2023 speech by librarian and former ALA leader Tracie D. Hall. i didn't think to check if it was trademarked because, lol, what a wild thing to trademark. turns out the trademark had been granted two months before i made the print.
it's no big deal from a business perspective — i don't sell these stickers for much more than they cost, because i mostly just think it's an important message that i want to help people share. just a bummer.
anyway if you were wondering what happened to the stickers, now you know
(reposted this after realizing i had the chronology wrong in the OP. i originally thought all of the trademarks were filed after i made my print, but had missed the original one, which was in fact filed previously.)
@molly0xfff Did ALA complain about your stickers?
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workshopping a new sticker
@molly0xfff I would buy it.
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workshopping a new sticker
@molly0xfff I know that the point here is that ALA are kind of being jerkfaces about copyrighting a slogan like that, but if you wanted a replacement, I've always loved this panel from the comic Girl Genius and I'd hope the Foglios would be willing to work together on a product that used the phrasing or the art.
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@molly0xfff NOT COOL of them. I know that part of having a trademark is that you (could) lose it if you don't defend it but still, geez, ironic and, again, not cool.
@jessamyn @molly0xfff Seems like it was not cool of some marketplace making sure it covered its ass. I bet a license to make use of the phrase could be obtained for a small share of the profits.
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workshopping a new sticker
@molly0xfff
Read Freely, Free People -
well that sucks. apparently the ALA/Freedom To Read Foundation have trademarks on the phrase "free people read freely", which i use in a lino print i made into stickers a few years ago.
i got the phrase from a 2023 speech by librarian and former ALA leader Tracie D. Hall. i didn't think to check if it was trademarked because, lol, what a wild thing to trademark. turns out the trademark had been granted two months before i made the print.
it's no big deal from a business perspective — i don't sell these stickers for much more than they cost, because i mostly just think it's an important message that i want to help people share. just a bummer.
anyway if you were wondering what happened to the stickers, now you know
(reposted this after realizing i had the chronology wrong in the OP. i originally thought all of the trademarks were filed after i made my print, but had missed the original one, which was in fact filed previously.)
@molly0xfff or they could have just bought the stickers from you and sold them ...
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well that sucks. apparently the ALA/Freedom To Read Foundation have trademarks on the phrase "free people read freely", which i use in a lino print i made into stickers a few years ago.
i got the phrase from a 2023 speech by librarian and former ALA leader Tracie D. Hall. i didn't think to check if it was trademarked because, lol, what a wild thing to trademark. turns out the trademark had been granted two months before i made the print.
it's no big deal from a business perspective — i don't sell these stickers for much more than they cost, because i mostly just think it's an important message that i want to help people share. just a bummer.
anyway if you were wondering what happened to the stickers, now you know
(reposted this after realizing i had the chronology wrong in the OP. i originally thought all of the trademarks were filed after i made my print, but had missed the original one, which was in fact filed previously.)
@molly0xfff I'm wearing the shirt as I write this!
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workshopping a new sticker
"Anarchy Now!"?
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workshopping a new sticker
@molly0xfff “Peep Feeple, Freed Really”
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Freedom to Read Foundation can severely fuck off. Claiming 1st amendment importance in what they do they want to suppress other people's rights to express thoughts. What a bunch of tools.
And this whole thing smells like a crock of shit.
"free people read freely" is a statement of fact. It really should not in any universe be trademarkable.
The registration 7446426 application was filed on 2023-05-03. It claiming a first use in commerce/anywhere of January 01, 1999. A bullshit "we don't really know when" date.
And more recently on Mar. 12, 2026 the fucktard foundation filed a USPTO application 99697593. "Amusingly" it is a supplemental filing for a plain word mark for use including on stickers.
Oh could their legal weenies be out trying to suppress prior use on stickers?
There appears to be an office action open for the fucktard foundation to reply to the USPTO to show proper use of the mark in trade in this new application. The publishing for opposition should happen after that is resolved.
If this was me I'd have some fun filing an opposition to that when it is published.
There are some nice threads here to be pulled by somebody wanting/able to. If only there was a foundation that promoted free speech and first amendment rights that could go after the fucktard Freedom to Read Foundation for their 1st amendments suppression. Maybe the EFF or Public Citizen Litigation Group are worth having a chat with.
(non lawyer who has dealt with a good amount of trademark and other IP stuff. Edit to correct my missuse of trademark terminology)
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well that sucks. apparently the ALA/Freedom To Read Foundation have trademarks on the phrase "free people read freely", which i use in a lino print i made into stickers a few years ago.
i got the phrase from a 2023 speech by librarian and former ALA leader Tracie D. Hall. i didn't think to check if it was trademarked because, lol, what a wild thing to trademark. turns out the trademark had been granted two months before i made the print.
it's no big deal from a business perspective — i don't sell these stickers for much more than they cost, because i mostly just think it's an important message that i want to help people share. just a bummer.
anyway if you were wondering what happened to the stickers, now you know
(reposted this after realizing i had the chronology wrong in the OP. i originally thought all of the trademarks were filed after i made my print, but had missed the original one, which was in fact filed previously.)
Perhaps they trademarked it through a company that provides an infringement surveillance service for clients, and that company automatically sent the nastygram to the site.
(No idea if such services exist but it seems like a no-brainer to turn a one time fee-for-service into an ongoing subscription.)
If you could get in touch with the correct person (no idea how) perhaps you could get permission. Might need to add a citation or credit to the sticker.
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workshopping a new sticker
@molly0xfff heck yes
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workshopping a new sticker
@molly0xfff just transpose it
FREE READ
PEOPLE FREELYyou can't control the interpretation, we read freely after all
(this is not legal advice) -
well that sucks. apparently the ALA/Freedom To Read Foundation have trademarks on the phrase "free people read freely", which i use in a lino print i made into stickers a few years ago.
i got the phrase from a 2023 speech by librarian and former ALA leader Tracie D. Hall. i didn't think to check if it was trademarked because, lol, what a wild thing to trademark. turns out the trademark had been granted two months before i made the print.
it's no big deal from a business perspective — i don't sell these stickers for much more than they cost, because i mostly just think it's an important message that i want to help people share. just a bummer.
anyway if you were wondering what happened to the stickers, now you know
(reposted this after realizing i had the chronology wrong in the OP. i originally thought all of the trademarks were filed after i made my print, but had missed the original one, which was in fact filed previously.)
@molly0xfff As much as I love and appreciate the American Library Association (ALA)--they helped out extensively with my anti-Patriot Act campaign in Nevada--you'd think they would be open culture advocates given that the mission of libraries is to make books (culture) free for all to explore. "Free people read freely" is a silly thing to trademark and antithetical to the ALA's mission. 🫤
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@molly0xfff just transpose it
FREE READ
PEOPLE FREELYyou can't control the interpretation, we read freely after all
(this is not legal advice)@molly0xfff another approach: https://plush.city/@PsyChuan/117062772363772506
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well that sucks. apparently the ALA/Freedom To Read Foundation have trademarks on the phrase "free people read freely", which i use in a lino print i made into stickers a few years ago.
i got the phrase from a 2023 speech by librarian and former ALA leader Tracie D. Hall. i didn't think to check if it was trademarked because, lol, what a wild thing to trademark. turns out the trademark had been granted two months before i made the print.
it's no big deal from a business perspective — i don't sell these stickers for much more than they cost, because i mostly just think it's an important message that i want to help people share. just a bummer.
anyway if you were wondering what happened to the stickers, now you know
(reposted this after realizing i had the chronology wrong in the OP. i originally thought all of the trademarks were filed after i made my print, but had missed the original one, which was in fact filed previously.)
@molly0xfff REAL PEOPLE READ REALLY
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workshopping a new sticker
@molly0xfff Free Freely, Read People!
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well that sucks. apparently the ALA/Freedom To Read Foundation have trademarks on the phrase "free people read freely", which i use in a lino print i made into stickers a few years ago.
i got the phrase from a 2023 speech by librarian and former ALA leader Tracie D. Hall. i didn't think to check if it was trademarked because, lol, what a wild thing to trademark. turns out the trademark had been granted two months before i made the print.
it's no big deal from a business perspective — i don't sell these stickers for much more than they cost, because i mostly just think it's an important message that i want to help people share. just a bummer.
anyway if you were wondering what happened to the stickers, now you know
(reposted this after realizing i had the chronology wrong in the OP. i originally thought all of the trademarks were filed after i made my print, but had missed the original one, which was in fact filed previously.)
@molly0xfff So happy I grabbed a shirt and a sticker for @jaymeb when I had the chance.
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well that sucks. apparently the ALA/Freedom To Read Foundation have trademarks on the phrase "free people read freely", which i use in a lino print i made into stickers a few years ago.
i got the phrase from a 2023 speech by librarian and former ALA leader Tracie D. Hall. i didn't think to check if it was trademarked because, lol, what a wild thing to trademark. turns out the trademark had been granted two months before i made the print.
it's no big deal from a business perspective — i don't sell these stickers for much more than they cost, because i mostly just think it's an important message that i want to help people share. just a bummer.
anyway if you were wondering what happened to the stickers, now you know
(reposted this after realizing i had the chronology wrong in the OP. i originally thought all of the trademarks were filed after i made my print, but had missed the original one, which was in fact filed previously.)
@molly0xfff Someone should trademark the trademark symbol, then everybody would agree it’s a stupid idea
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