On a few occasions, I have received email from shop owners or club leadership asking that their information be removed from StagingTracks. I understand this and I am more than willing to accommodate these organizations. In fact, most of the time the shop, club, or show finds out about StagingTracks because of the email that is sent immediately after the entry is approved by me.
Hello,Your shop, ..., has recently been added to the StagingTracks website (http://www.stagingtracks.com). StagingTracks is attempting to bring model railroaders together by connecting them with local shops, area clubs, and upcoming shows. There are other sites on the Internet that have this type of information, but I believe StagingTracks simplifies the task of locating other groups of model railroaders.
Your shop can be found at: http://www.stagingtracks.com/shops/... If there is anything that is incorrect, please let me know. I want to make sure that StagingTracks provides the most accurate information possible in order to best serve you and other model railroaders. If you do not want your shop listed, do not hesitate to let me know and I will remove it.
I am excited that someone felt it important to add your shop to this little experiment. Please feel free to add to StagingTracks yourself. The more local model train shops, clubs, and shows that are listed, the better the chances that someone can find your shop.
Geof http://www.stagingtracks.com
Occasionally, People Are Not So Nice
On even rarer occasions, I get more hostile email. As usual, I respond and try to set the situation right. I recently received the following email regarding an entry added to StagingTracks.
You have used our copywrited name and information without our permission. Please cease and discest.
So, I replied:
My apologies. All of the information on StagingTracks is entered by local model railroaders who want to help out others in their area. I did not add your club to StagingTracks. Please see http://www.stagingtracks.com/clubs/new for the form used by model railroaders to add their local club to StagingTracks.I built StagingTracks a couple of years ago as a way to help model railroaders connect with local shops, area clubs, and upcoming train shows. I used to travel a lot and had no way to easily find local shops and clubs in the areas I would be. StagingTracks was my attempt to let other model railroaders tell others about the shops, clubs, and shows in their area.
I am not sure what you mean by cease and desist. I can remove the entry for your club, if that is your desire. If you would like to correct any information for the club, I can do that as well. Again, please accept my sincerest apologies.
The response was:
We have a forum for what you suggest….it is the National Model Railroad Association. They ASK before publishing unfounded information about modellers and their clubs. You have no standing or credentials to do your project. You do have a right to publish what you will as I have a right to file a lawsuit if you use incorrectly our name and reputation. Your incorrect information cannot be changed any more that you can put the smoke back in the fire. “Local Model Railroaders” as you call them have no more standing to use our COPYWRITED name than you do. It is a matter of ASKING first.
And my response:
Wow! In only your second email to me, you are threatening a lawsuit? I will remove your club from the StagingTracks website.I have, on multiple occasions, contacted the NMRA to see if there is a way that I could work with them to provide club information. I have never received a response.
Please accept my apologies.
I would like to point out that a name cannot be copyrighted. Taken from http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-protect.html:
How do I copyright a name, title, slogan or logo?
Copyright does not protect names, titles, slogans, or short phrases. In some cases, these things may be protected as trademarks. Contact the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, 800-786-9199, for further information. However, copyright protection may be available for logo artwork that contains sufficient authorship. In some circumstances, an artistic logo may also be protected as a trademark.
Should I Continue?
This is a hobby for me, as is model railroading. With small children, I do not have as much time to spend with others in the model railroading community, so I feel like this is one way that I can give back. I have been doing this for two years now, and model railroaders seem to find it useful. According to Google Analytics, StagingTracks gets 150 to 200 visits a day.
I make little to no money off of this site. The little that has been made barely covers the hosting, domain registration, and CafePress shop each year.
I wanted to get some feedback from others out there to find out if I should continue supporting StagingTracks or start to wrap things up.
