Celebrate Wrestling

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@shieldfan13 @21failbot He used this name on legitimately hundreds of nationally-marked DVD’s in dozens of states prior to WWE’s registration. You can still buy dozens and dozens of them on Smart Mark Video right now. His trademark is absurdly easy to defend if they didn’t buy it from him.

@BeKindToFans @21failbot a company’s filed trademark usually wins over an individual's common law rights, unless the individual can prove they used the mark in commerce before the company filed its application.Even if the individual wins, their victory is strictly limited to the specific city or region

I hope WWE paid Joe Gacy a good sum of money in exchange for the trademark on that name, because that absolutely sucks.

@shieldfan13 @21failbot He would absolutely win this case unless he sold those rights to them during contract negotiations (which is almost certainly what happened here.)

@BeKindToFans @21failbot The law is complicated when it comes to this I feel horrible for him but unfortunately there is strict guidelines in place when it comes to trademarks being involved and him getting a dime out of it would take time or possibly not work its sad but not surprising with companies

@shieldfan13 @21failbot Well yes but he wrestled for CZW and many other companies who regularly sold DVD’s on a national level. He has an abundance of proof he was using it before WWE, thus he’s the rightful owner under common-law trademark rights unless they specifically purchased the rights from him.

@BeKindToFans @21failbot The burden of proof is on the common law if he wanted to go after them actually Why Common Law is difficult to DefendThe Burden of Proof is Yours You must first prove to the judge that you actually own the mark if he wanted it etc yes if wwe fights him they would burden the proof

@shieldfan13 @21failbot The court would probably consider their argument to be egregious considering the person they registered it for use regarding is the *same person* who was already using it. They wouldn’t even be able to feign ignorance on the clearance search.

@shieldfan13 @21failbot Right, you then have to provide proof you were using the trademark before the registrant, but this particular person is on hundreds of DVD’s using the trademark in dozens of states prior to their registration. His trademark is uncommonly simple to assert if they didn’t buy it.

@shieldfan13 @21failbot That’s not how trademark works at all. The band Hot Water Music won their unregistered trademark back from Elektra records, as an example. Simply using the name first trademarks it in those states it was used without any requirement of federal registration.

@BeKindToFans @21failbot Even though he wrestled under the name "Joe Gacy" on the independent circuit for nearly 20 years before signing with WWE, he failed to trademark the name independently. Which means regardless it was under public domain and now wwe trademarking it takes it and they own the rights

@shieldfan13 @21failbot By operating commercially using the name in various states he established common-law trademark in every state he wrestled. Federal trademark registration never supersedes that. It’s the burden of the filing party to confirm it’s not already being used first.

@BeKindToFans @21failbot No Trademark Public Domain Risk: If a persona's name is completely untrademarked and not owned by a company, it may drift into the public domain. However, this does not mean wrestler$ automatically gets exclusive royalties. It often means anyone can legally use /sell merchandise

@21failbot @shieldfan13 It’s really beside the point if he’d filed a registration, as he’s able to demonstrate with numerous magazines and recordings he was using it commercially across numerous states since 2006. They still needed to purchase it from him to register it, else he has a good legal case.

@BeKindToFans @shieldfan13 Maybe... no he did not. If they filed to trademarknit it did not exist before hand.

@21failbot @shieldfan13 Maybe he did and they bought it from him as part of his contract. If not, plenty of people have had their unregistered common-law trademark upheld and asserted in federal court.

@BeKindToFans @shieldfan13 He should have trademarked it he had 15 years

@shieldfan13 They filed for the trademark 15 years into his using it commercially, so if they didn’t pay him for it as part of his contract terms before registering it then he can argue his ownership of the trademark in court regardless of their late registration of it.

@BeKindToFans They don't have to pay him for something they own the trademark rights to. Unfortunately whether it sucks or not that's the legality of it in the business aspect.

@Nyssgender Let’s hope!

@BeKindToFans Someday there may be an incredibly strange indie wrestler that did their tape study from your Hoodslam archives and I think that’s beautiful.

Now starting Dionysus Effect from 2016 The color palette doing dual Zangiefs is a cool shout. It’s not just the characters from video games, but they bring the logic of their medium with them to wrestling.

Day 1 Victory Warehouse Hoodslammer Otis The Gimp having a match is noteworthy on this one too.

They interjected themselves into the opening match as a third tag team, and the Hoodslam crowd chanted “Earth!” at the aliens in the same way people chant “USA!” at international heels.

The opening to Dionysus Effect is amazing, the footage is just real choppy on this one. Aliens have interrupted the opening tag bout to introduce Intergalactic Tag Team Championships and declare a tournament.

@TheCaptainCBass 😂

@BeKindToFans More Woo than Ric Flair on speed

Gonna finally start digging into these bad boys soon

@reidhcooper @darksheikftf I’m going to have a list of stuff for her before I’m done, I just don’t want to bother her much until I’ve gone through most of it. Then I’ll have a much better idea of what I can and can’t figure out.

@BeKindToFans I feel @darksheikftf can explain this all if you wanted. I'm not postive its along the fuck the fans and this is real conceits though but if it is/was. It isn't for the fans, it's for them, as silly as it gets always treat it as real and the birds (those flying above) will fall.

Hoodslam Band is playing under the name Twerk-cules (like Hercules). Audio is fine but imagine is freezing a good bit on the footage so far. “Rocking Oakland, Californiaaaaaa / Birds will fall!”

Shotzi’s technically feuding with these dudes at this point in 2016 and that’s just rad.

Stoner Brothers “weighing in at a combined 420” is a good bit.

My thesis about Hoodslam’s special sauce revolves around imagination and energy, and communing to focus large amounts into silly and uplifting things. Positivity as magic in our horrific real world.

Birds Will Fall is a recurring mantra through the promotion’s history as much as Fuck The Fans and This Is Real, but unlike those I don’t yet understand Birds Will Fall. I want to understand the full saga before I really dig into that one, I just enjoy the enigmatic tone of it.