kotaku.com — Last month someone created a genius T-shirt that put a gamer's spin on the age old "yo mamma" bag. The shirt read "Your Mom's Rated E for Everyone." Who wouldn't think that's friggin hilarious. The ESA, that's who.
Nov 10, 2006 View in Crawl 4
thedezNov 10, 2006
you go, Kotaku! Stick it to the man.
afrotronicsNov 10, 2006
You have to register trademarks on a per item basis. Clothing is definitely one of those items that you have to register as a good you would like to carry a trademark. The ESA provides a service, therefore the letter they sent to kotaku is a lie. The ESA would have registered the "letter in a box" as a service mark (SM) as opposed to a trademark (TM).
yokaiNov 10, 2006
ESA isn't really attacking freedom of speech, they wouldn't care if it just said "Your mom is rated E for Everyone" but it has their trademarked logo on it, meaning its rightfuly theirs. However, it is also true that our legal system is screwed up to the point that any thing is justifiable (Such as Micheal Jackson molesting little boys). Freedom of speech is over used and really doesn't exist when it comes to trademarked material... thats hot... (don't sue me Paris Hilton)
bennyboy371Nov 10, 2006
Seems to me like doing this was the best course of action.Forget the trademark for a bit, look at it from the perspective that the video game industry has been attacked for things lately. Now, I know its not their work, but regular people that don't know any better will assume its made by someone in the industry and it can only lead to more people being unhappy with the industry.I really do want one of those shirts, though.
bassguyNov 10, 2006
schroeder: TOO FUNNY! Thanks for the laugh, man. Please remember that it could have been a lot worse.
asianwasteNov 10, 2006
You need to pull that rod off your ass and smile.
eonblueNov 10, 2006
Because it looks like a blatant trademark violation? If a parent see's that they may be likly to think less of the rating system.The reality of it is a gamer could care less what the esa rates something and its all about the parents, and why have any asscosiation with anything that is not part of an adult "culture."That and probably an easy law suit. It also means if somone else tries to copy it they can't be tried for not trying to protect their trademark's. But meh IANAL.May be a case, probably settle out of court or win in favor of the t-shirt. Looks like parody to me, which should be protected.