The book MySpace want to ban

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The book MySpace want to ban

Associate Programs Newsletter #309

This stinks.

I was planning to write about a MySpace book next week, but I've just learned that - because of MySpace's heavy-handed action - it will probably be too late then. The book I was going to tell you about is called "MySpace Marketing Tips" - and MySpace wants to ban it.

As you probably know, MySpace now has more than 100 million registered members and is an incredibly popular site. Lots of marketers have been trying to figure out how to get publicity and promote stuff on MySpace.

Debbie Cohen has figured out how to do it. She's spent a lot of time on this and has found many ways you CAN market on MySpace - legitimately - in sections where you won't be accused of spam.

The problem is that now MySpace has demanded that Debbie stop promoting her book.

A few minutes ago, I got an email from Debbie alerting me that she's going to have to remove the page on which she promotes her book.

"I can't believe this but today I received a call from MySpace! Basically they said there is a trademark violation and I cannot sell the product.

"I'm not going to fight a multi-million-dollar company since I have no company name or protection etc. ... They do not want anyone to profit from the use of their name."

Good grief! All Debbie did was use "MySpace" in the book's title. She didn't even use it in her domain name. This seems terribly unfair to me.

Is that REALLY a trademark violation? Surely all she needed to do was add a disclaimer saying that her site was not owned by MySpace and she was not connected with it in any way. In the land of the free, that should have been enough to satisfy anyone.

I wondered if it could be a hoax. It's not. She checked the phone number and called back.

As you can imagine, Debbie is pretty upset by this setback.

She already has other challenges in her life. Her sister died from lung cancer and so Debbie helps out by caring for her nephews nine days a month, out of state, providing such things as rides from school, homework and cooking.

That's the sort of person MySpace is picking on. She really didn't need this.

"They gave me a week to remove the page because the person who helps me with my website is out of town till next Thursday," Debbie told me.

So if you want to grab good MySpace marketing tips for a very modest price, you'll need to be quick before the website disappears.

I like the idea of helping the underdog here.

If you want to help Debbie AND get the book MySpace wants to ban, find out more here...

[UPDATE: This book is no longer available.]

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Coming soon... more tapping into traffic
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In the next newsletter, I'll have another tip in the "Tapping into other people's traffic" series. The tip is suitable for affiliate merchants and affiliates.

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Thought for today: Injustice
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"You just need to be a flea against injustice. Enough committed fleas biting strategically can make even the biggest dog uncomfortable and transform even the biggest nation." - Marian Wright Edelman.

All the best

Allan Gardyne

October 27, 2006

Comments (5)

Russell Portwood

Said this on October 27, 2006 At 10:11 am

Hi Allan:
Thanks for the heads up. I am sure MySpace loves it when publications mention them in a "non'comercial" way! They want to keep all the $ for themselves I'm sure. I can see both sides though. But here's the point of the reply... There are eight ebooks on PayDotCom that come up when you do a search on "MySpace". Each apparently shows how to capitalize on the social networking phenomenon. Five of them mention MySpace in the title. I wonder if these folks have been contacted by the powers that be at MySpace? Looks like this is no fad; especially in light of Google paying over a billion (with a B) for YouTube. Lots of marketing opportunities. Thanks for keeping us informed!
Russell Portwood
http://www.internetmarketingtoolz.com

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Joe Batson

Said this on October 27, 2006 At 01:33 pm

Allan
MySpace can threaten all they want to, but there is absolutely nothing they can do. A trademark cannot bar use of a term as a title if the term is used in a non-confusing way. This is the precedent in both US and UK law. So long as Debbie differentiates herself and puts a disclaimer in there, MySpace can't do a thing. As long as it can be distinguished that this book was not published by or endorsed by MySpace, Debbie wil be fine. And from what I can tell she should be ok. IANAL, and she should consult one, however I am a writer and deal a bit with trademark and copyright issues.
Hope this helps.

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Brad

Said this on October 28, 2006 At 12:23 am

There was just an article in yesterday's Wall Street Journal (26 Oct) about how many users were quitting myspace (4% or 2 million in August alone) and facebook (12% or 1.1 million in August.) One of the primary reasons cited for people leaving was "an ever-growing cacophony of advertising and in some cases spam." So it could be because of the WSJ article bringing the issue to the forefront, or more likely that myspace recognizes that advertising is exactly NOT what their users want. I'm a marketer and I certainly hate that advertising is everywhere (quite ironic I know.) You can't even use the urinal at a restaurant any more without seeing ads in your face and that's just pathetic IMHO. There have to be some places where you can be free from advertising. I guess that myspace users are putting their foot down and myspace is listening.

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John Walters

Said this on October 28, 2006 At 08:12 pm

Like you Allan, I think it is appalling that a big company exercises its muscle in this way. I am not a lawyer but I am positive what they are saying is CRAP. If they were right then you would be violating a trademark every time you mentioned it in speech or in print. In other words the trade mark owner would achieve the surprising result of censoring it out of existence. Not what people who register trademarks want, I think! Allan, do you realise that you violated (by their definition) MySpace's trademark 16 times in your email? The awful thing is that powerful companies stoop to this type of scurrilous behaviour. Debbie and all the people like her are essentially powerless against these corporate scam merchants. But here's a thought. Why doesn't she just rename her book? Say, "Secrets of M*Sp*ce - the book they tried to ban!" and triple the price! (I had difficulty getting through to your site when checking the price. Maybe your server is melting down with all the people trying to buy her book before it gets taken down.) Incidentally, MySpace will probably threaten her with hell and damnation because she didn't take her site down immediately, but I hope that she tells them to take a hike. It is all bluster. I am sure that they have no legal justification for their action. Indeed, in Australia if they tried those tactics they could be prosecuted under the Trade Practices legislation. Anyway, good luck to her, I hope she is very successful in her own marketing.

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deb parks

Said this on October 29, 2006 At 12:01 pm

In one way I find it odd that MySpace would have a problem with you promoting your book on "their site"" HOWEVER, many other services, web sites and SCAMS are saturating the pages. One in particular... Impactww now known as Too Spoiled...claim to recruit talent in the fields of modeling, acting and musicians. I naively scouted for them from April 2006 until August 2006 and Still Have Not Received my pay. I've found over 30 of their scouts (so far) that also have not received their pay. Something hoaky in MySpace World ?

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