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Is Color a new limited resource?

 I was reading this article recently about the ownership of the color spectrum.  I really think that this discussion topic really brings to bear the fear that culture can be owned.  I can imagine a day when an artist is given a takedown notice, or a public display license requirement, for using something that is owned.  It is interesting to see how far this is going and even more interesting to imagine possible enforcement in the future.

 

Calm down for a moment

Trademarks on specific colors are a misinterpretation. T-Mobile, for example, doesn't have a trademark on magenta. They have a trademark on their exact hue of magenta being used in a similar style to their branding by companies in the telecom industry. The only thing wrong with the law is that it makes these situations too vague, thus allowing T-Mobile to throw their legal department's money around for cases they'd never be able to win if someone could afford to fight them.

  • By Zacqary Adam Green at 2009-11-24 21:30
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Well

They've still come up with the idea of a color as the sole property of one company or brand, even if the scope is limited to one industry.  Within that microcosm, that specific hue of magenta is unavailable to anyone other than T-Mobile, and has been taken from the public.  The combined idea of telephones and magenta is artificially scarce.

  • By no_control at 2009-11-25 04:12
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Scary as hell

Colors now... that's already apocalyptic, but what next?  Corporate sound frequencies?  Corporate widths of signs?
 
Actually, I'll stop giving them ideas.

  • By no_control at 2009-11-24 18:56
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