I just heard on twitter (thanks @muskrat_john) that the company Games Workshop (Warhammer) is killing all Space Marines! Okay, not all, just every single version of space marines throughout all of space and time except the ones in their games and their own books.
There is a little scifi book that was once on Amazon.com called Spots the Space Marine. Then along came Games Workshop with their trademark for Space Marines and they tell Amazon.com to remove it. Which Amazon does without so much as a look at what the trademark is for…
video computer games; computer software for playing games
board games, parlor games, war games, hobby games, toy models and miniatures of buildings, scenery, figures, automobiles, vehicles, planes, trains and card games and paint, sold therewith.
As you can see the trademark is NOT for books or ebooks and how could it be since the term has been in use in books since the dawn of science fiction!
What can you do?
Support the author by buying the paperback version of this book.
Email the folks at Games Workshop and politely tell them you will no longer support them or their games if they continue to bully folks over a trademark they don’t even have (and could never get with the rich history of space marines in print and ebooks). I can’t do this as I have never and will never buy any of their products. Shame I may have to stop buying comics from my local comic shop though, as they carry these products.
Help spread the word and keep space marines free from villainy by posting about this and using the term space marines in your posts, tweets, ebooks and other writings.
Related posts across the universe: (they all have much better information than me I just wanted to share this with you all since I think what this company is doing is down right WRONG)
- In the Future, All Space Marines Will Be Warhammer 40K Space Marines
- The Popehat Signal: Help An Author Against A Bogus Trademark Claim
- Space Marines and the Battle of Tradem Ark
- Games Workshop trademark bullying goes thermonuclear: now they say you can’t use “space marine” in science fiction