Last spring, my kids went to a 'swim party' at a local YMCA. It was a school trip; I don' t have a pool; I wanted to see the new construction project there, so my wife and I volunteered to chaperone.
I arrived late. The kids were bouncing on trampolines. My wife steered me away from the viewing window to see a giant mural on the wall behind us. "Read it." she said.
The mural honored the daughter of two YMCA members who had died of cancer. She was a CrossFitter. The mural was a blown-up version of an essay written by Sarah - and me - about her fight. 'She just started CrossFit' was still in the opening text. Here's the original article, which was passed out at her funeral (when they handed me a copy, I became a mess.)
I didn't raise a fuss. The dedication was beautiful, and her parents surely treasured the mural. It was clearly taken from our website, but likely with their permission. Any action would dishonour Sarah. I resolved that they'd find no quarrel from me.
Last week, when a local public University advertised 'Crossfit' classes, I calmly sent an email advising that the term "CrossFit" is trademark-protected. I made some calls, and extracted some promises to correct their advertising. The instructor had attended an "introduction to Cross Fit" - her term - class at a local Can-Fit-Pro conference. She'd paid for the class. It wasn't a Level 1, but she left believing that she was qualified to teach "beginner Crossfit," whatever that is.
I was irate, but stayed calm.
Yesterday, a competing Globogym used a picture from our website to promote one of their events. The picture was taken at our Midnight 5k, a fundraiser for playground equipment that we held in July. It was taken by one of our members. Our other members are furious. Whether the picture was stolen by Globo or by the site designer is still up for debate, but it doesn't matter: it's their responsibility.
"It makes me want to puke," posted one member. Others wrote comments about how much they hated the Globo in question - who, of course, couldn't find a picture of their members doing anything as a group, despite a 15-year head start.
That was enough for me. I ran up the black flag. I started to think about lawyers and infringements and facebook counterterrorism. I went for a hike, and came back more worked up than before. Clearly, action had to be taken....
...and then, one of our wise members changed to facebook profile to "Education > Condescension." Damn.
Ironically, I had written a post that morning about the rising threat of saturation and knock-offs (it will be on 321GoProject.com by the end of the week.) I pulled down the Jolly Roger and raised the green Catalyst arrow again. Positive action - and a potential piece of the solution - hit me.
More to follow.
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