I think we are at times confusing getting licensed to make a certain piece with finding an image in the public domain and laying claim to it. I think what most people are concerned with is the fact that someone could conceivably trademark every desireable oil co logo in the public domain thus limiting the marketplace to just those oil company logos that are available for licensing. I don't think it's likely unless someone was just rich and mean and that still hinges on whether this particular case turns out to have merit.

I for one, am in an entirely different boat, in that my biggest selling logos are used under license to major oil companies. I haven't gotten overly excited about this because the logos that move in mass are the ones under license to the big-boy oil companies. Take Polly for example. It is one of the most aesthetically pleasing lenses I carry, but plain old Texaco Star outsells it 50 to 1. My favorite globes are Hudson & Frontier, but I bet I don't sell 10 globes of each in a year! Just for fun, I ran a sales history for the 2005 year on my globe lenses. I carry roughly 85 different logos. The Top 10 sellers (all licensed to oil companies & GM) accounted for roughly 70% of my sales and the other 75 globes accounted for the other 30%. Now, I realize, my situation is different but I am still an enthusiast at my core and I for one like the idea of guys being able to make short-runs of some of the old public domain globes without fear of a backlash. I think it is healthy for the hobby for their to be creative alternatives. There is an evolution of a pump builder that takes place. When they do their first 5-10, Texaco & Mobil & Shell are just fine, but after that some of them want something different. Now, it's not feasible for me to go make 200 PDQ lenses, because I'll probably take 180 of them to my grave. That's where these short-run limited edition guys come in. Even though I don't get the globe sale, that pump builder now has a reason to do another pump (becaues they bought this cool new globe) and that in turn helps me sell parts. Whatever happens in these cases, I hope common-sense wins out before the attorneys do! (sorry if I offended any attorneys on this board).

[This message has been edited by Seth Robbins (edited 01-11-2006).]