March 20, 2005

Recipient Information:
[Private]
Motion Picture Association of America, Inc.
Encino, CA, 91436, USA

Sent via: VIA U.S. MAIL and
Re: Timeturner.net

Dear [Private]:

I am sorry to have received such a letter from you and the Motion Picture Association of America, as I consider it extremely petty. Yes, it is true that my site uses ratings based on those used to rate movies, but until I received your letter, I was unaware that doing so violated any trademark rights or copyrights. This is especially true since many larger sites, such as fanfiction.net and fictionalley.org also employ these ratings; therefore, when creating my site, I was simply following their example.

However, I would like it noted that I did research the matter myself, and since no mention is made on the official Motion Picture Association of America website (mpaa.org) of either trademarks or copyright, except in reference to the symbols, I had no way of knowing that any trademarks were held, other than those on the actual symbols. I assumed that these phrases, G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17, were part of the common vernacular and free for use by anyone as part of the public domain. This is a point that your letter itself reinforces. By using phrases such as ?well-known system for rating movies?, ?widely known and famous?, etc, your letter effectively admits that these phrases are part of the general public?s vocabulary. In fact, I had to research the United States Patent and Trademark Office database in order to determine that any trademarks were held other than for the symbols. You could save yourself a considerable amount of work, not to mention website owners considerable painc, by mentioning on your site that, not only are the symbols owned, but also the phrases ?G,? ?PG,? ?PG-13,? ?R,? and ?NC-17.? This, I assure you, is not common knowledge. (Also, the fact that it is not common knowledge negates your later point that using the ratings on my site will ?dilute the distinctive quality of MPAA?s marks.? I assure you, the quality has already been diluted, since these phrases are now so common, as even you admit.)

The descriptions of the ratings I used on my site were credited appropriately, so no infringement exists there. (This would be copyright infringement, and not, as you say, trademark infringement, since the descriptions do not appear to be trademarked in the United States Patent and Trademark Office database.) As far as I know, quoting is not illegal when credit is given for the source. You, yourself acknowledge that a hyper link to your site from mine exists, therefore, you must also acknowledge that this link along with the phrase, ?These are the guidelines laid out by the MPAA?? constitutes sufficient credit. However, I will rewrite the descriptions to correspond with my new rating system, so you need not worry about any future infringement there.

The last point I would like to address is your accusation that my use of the rating system demonstrates a ?willful intent to unlawfully use? the ratings. This, I know, is a phrase you used so that if I did not comply with your letter or if you chose to sue me anyway, you?d be able to impose a larger fine. However, patent lawyers generally determine willful intent according to the following: whether the infringer, acting in good faith and upon due inquiry, had sound reason to believe that it had the right to act in the manner that was found to be infringing. As stated above, your website does not make mention of all the trademarks owned by the Motion Picture Association of America, and since these phrases are so common, I had no prior knowledge of any trademarks being owned, and no infringement was intended by my use of the phrases G, PG, PG-13, R, or NC-17.

Despite the tone and length of this letter, I do agree to comply with your request. All references to MPAA ratings have now been removed from my site, however, I would like it noted that even in using the ratings G, PG, PG-13 and R, in no way did I purport that the stories on my site were endorsed by the MPAA. The ratings were self-imposed by the author, and information on the rating procedure is readily and easily available on the site. No confusion could exist by the user in concluding that the stories were actually rated by the MPAA, especially considering the fact that they are written fiction, not motion pictures. I hope that this matter may now be consider closed, and I await your assurance via U.S. mail and email.

Sincerely,
[Private]