Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

jwr2 wrote:If I ever see a 5 string Sandberg Ric copy I would buy it in an instant ... It would be superior to any 5 string bass that came out of the Ric factory.

Blimey Jeff! you love to stir up the hornets don't you!

emac.

chefothefuture wrote:Whaddya think them four lil dots are for.....

Enough dots?
Dot's enough!

I beleive those are the self destruct buttons

That could get ugly!

Clearly an infringement on design, but can RIC enforce copyright in Europe?

I'm sure with the active electronics and dual umbuckers it'd a different sound altogether, although I've had folks tell me the 4004 I have has a bit of a Music Man growl in the mids. So this might sound a little like a Laredo or Cheyenne.

Trademark, not copyright. I hope it can be enforced.

Those pickups looked like G&L, I thought on first glance. Maybe if they just shave down the horns a bit, they wouldn't be infringing on the trademark. At least the bridge looks like a better design.

blueflamerick wrote:Trademark, not copyright. I hope it can be enforced.

I hope so too.

Gone!

deargdoom wrote:I fail to see the logic of that argument. A copy is a copy either way.

I agree, but I'm saying that the Japanese copies already exist, so there's only so much that can be done about them being resold. On the other hand, this bass was made recently and the company making them still exists and is producing infringing instruments. The manufacturer should be held responsible for ripping off RIC's signature body & headstock shapes.

edski wrote:Clearly an infringement on design, but can RIC enforce copyright in Europe?

I think JH said its harder because the rules are different there. In the end they all get sorted out.


As for the endless 'copying is ok' debate...


Are these companies making money?

Off designs that don't belong to them?

Then their products are illegal!

I know from patents and copyrights where I work that international patents and American patents are two different things. Since so many guitars are manufactured overseas, I am sure that Ric owns both. Although enforcing them is probably more of a pain in the butt.

And then there is China, which obeys nothing and ignores all patent laws. The patents are only enforceable where they try to sell them unfortunately from what I understand.

I fail to understand why people here hate copies of Rics, but don't hate copies of Fenders or Gibsons or Hofners ... etc. I understand why Rickenbacker enforces their trademark. But why do members here also jump on that bandwagon? Nobody gets upset if Sandberg makes a p-bass or if Lakland makes a jazz bass or if Sadowski makes a Fender style bass. After all ... it is all the same exact thing. If we are not hypocrites then those who hate Ric copies should also hate all copies. As for me I don't hate copies.

Darkhollow wrote:I know from patents and copyrights where I work that international patents and American patents are two different things. Since so many guitars are manufactured overseas, I am sure that Ric owns both. Although enforcing them is probably more of a pain in the butt.

And then there is China, which obeys nothing and ignores all patent laws. The patents are only enforceable where they try to sell them unfortunately from what I understand.

It is not a patent or a copyright ... it is a trademark.

I hate Fender copies. I hate Fender originals too.

jwr2 wrote:I fail to understand why people here hate copies of Rics, but don't hate copies of Fenders or Gibsons or Hofners ... etc. I understand why Rickenbacker enforces their trademark. But why do members here also jump on that bandwagon? Nobody gets upset if Sandberg makes a p-bass or if Lakland makes a jazz bass or if Sadowski makes a Fender style bass. After all ... it is all the same exact thing. If we are not hypocrites then those who hate Ric copies should also hate all copies. As for me I don't hate copies.

It's not the same thing, actually, if the trademark has been lost or otherwise not enforced.

Plus, since this is a Rickenbacker forum, that would explain why people here don't rant about copies of other makers' instruments. They may well feel as strongly about it, but not post it here.

I personally don't care about copies of anything. I do care about trademark infringement. I don't feel as strongly about it as maybe some others.