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Sued [rp with [info]claire_simms ]

  • Mar. 5th, 2009 at 10:38 PM
piano hands, piano

Schroeder couldn't believe it. Seven years of harassing people from behind a counter never landed him in this position. Neither did making his opinion a little too well known at times. No, it was his passion for music, something he never thought would land him in trouble that lead him to this position. He frowned as he read the letter in front of him.

Dear Mr. Shroeder,
It has come to my attention that you are using a certain ancestor's likeness and popularity to gain notoriety for your band. At present, the band is called The Ludwigs, prints t-shirts with a portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven in the center, and have a number of songs alluding to his compositions, most notably, one entitled "The Fourth Movement". While there is no copyright for music published before 1923, what you have done is go far beyond copyright infringement. You are using someone else's name and work for you own benefit and it must stop. You are hereby being sued. I am leaving the contact information of my lawyer for yours.
Sincerely,
Mariella Beethoven


This was completely ridiculous. She may not even be an heir. The only child Beethoven had was a nephew he gained custody of. He knew the copyright law mentioned as well and was certain to look it up before proceeding to write his songs. He had assumed that it extended to the name and pictures as well, but he couldn't be sure.

What he did know was that he needed a lawyer. He wasn't familiar with any of the local firms, but he did know of one that was supposed to be very good. Of course, they were most likely well out of his price range, but it didn't hurt to try. Besides, he deserved the best.

After looking up the number online, he dialed Chang, Poole, and Schmidt and waited.

Comments

( 17 comments — Leave a comment )
[info]claire_simms wrote:
Mar. 6th, 2009 05:54 am (UTC)
Claire looked at the phone on her desk as it rang. She was beginning to think the secretary pool forgot she worked there. Could this mean she finally had a new case?

Claire picked up the phone, "This is Claire Simms....how can I help you?"
[info]neo_beethoven wrote:
Mar. 6th, 2009 06:02 am (UTC)
Claire Simms... that wasn't a Chang, Poole, or a Schmidt, but he didn't think he would have gotten that lucky. She had to be good if she worked there, right?

"I am being sued. In my opinion the claims made are absolutely insane, but I'm no lawyer. I need legal advice at the very least, can you help me?"
[info]claire_simms wrote:
Mar. 6th, 2009 06:20 am (UTC)
"I'm sure I can" she paused briefly "I am an attorney."
[info]neo_beethoven wrote:
Mar. 6th, 2009 07:19 am (UTC)
"Good to know you aren't a receptionist. I'm certain that they are competent at transferring phone calls and make excellent coffee, but that's not quite what I'm looking for."

He wasn't sure how much to say or even where to begin. "A woman is claiming that I am using Beethoven for personal gain. She says it isn't about the music copyright, but because of the name of my band and use of his image on shirts."
[info]claire_simms wrote:
Mar. 7th, 2009 04:31 am (UTC)
Claire thought about what he said before responding,

"I thought everyone used Beethoven for personal gain. I guess according to her those little plastic busts of him they sell at concert halls have the same problem?"

"Who is she? And why does she feel she has authority to file a complaint Mr.---?" She could tell she was out of practice with new clients, she forgot to ask this one's name.
[info]neo_beethoven wrote:
Mar. 7th, 2009 06:36 am (UTC)
"I think she is just trying to scare me into giving her money because I must be some desperate musician. Please tell me that she is full of it."

He stopped to address her hanging question. He hadn't thought about introductions. "Schroeder. I don't have a first name so I assume I would still be a Mr. Schroeder."
[info]claire_simms wrote:
Mar. 7th, 2009 06:40 pm (UTC)
"It sounds like she is. I mean, using Ludwig is easy enough to get around. There are other Ludwigs. I don't think she has any authority over his image either considering painting and photograph copyright is usually held by the person that painted the portrait or took the photo. As long as they're dead at least seventy years, you should be ok."
[info]neo_beethoven wrote:
Mar. 7th, 2009 09:10 pm (UTC)
"We all know that he has been dead for well over seventy years. I doubt there's anything left of him to decompose."

He drummed his hands on the table in front of him, thinking. "She keeps threatening with the suit, how do I make her go away other than telling her to stuff it?"
[info]claire_simms wrote:
Mar. 8th, 2009 06:22 am (UTC)
"I could send her and her attorney a letter. Though that would cost money."
[info]neo_beethoven wrote:
Mar. 12th, 2009 10:50 pm (UTC)
"If you sent the letter would she pretty much be guaranteed to stop?"

OOC: Sorry for the late tag! RL has been nuts lately!
[info]claire_simms wrote:
Mar. 16th, 2009 01:40 am (UTC)
"No, it wouldn't guarantee much of anything really. Though, it might scare her into stopping. We aren't exactly a little known firm."
[info]neo_beethoven wrote:
Mar. 18th, 2009 07:33 pm (UTC)
"That would be sufficient. How would I pay you? Do you ah, take checks?"
[info]claire_simms wrote:
Mar. 23rd, 2009 01:26 pm (UTC)
Claire remembered a few of the musicians that she knew growing up in New York, no one had money, even the slightly successful ones.

"Only ones that aren't rubber." She paused, "I'll write the letter, and send it off. If I get a response from her attorney, that says they're going forward with the suit, then we'll talk money. If she's going to drop the suit, let me into one of your shows free."

[info]neo_beethoven wrote:
Mar. 23rd, 2009 11:23 pm (UTC)
Schroder felt himself exhale, not realizing how loud it was until he took a few moments to process.

"Done. That's easy." He lifted a hand to his glasses, adjusting them against his nose. "...you're certain about this?"
[info]claire_simms wrote:
Mar. 24th, 2009 05:37 pm (UTC)
"Yeah" Claire said simply enough. "Just hope she drops everything."
[info]neo_beethoven wrote:
Mar. 29th, 2009 10:28 pm (UTC)
"Cool. Thanks, Claire Simms. I'll look you up and send a gig schedule your way." Feeling like things were settled, Schroeder hung up the phone and grinned. Everything was going to be ok.

OOC: End here?
[info]claire_simms wrote:
Mar. 29th, 2009 11:58 pm (UTC)
OOC: Sure
( 17 comments — Leave a comment )

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