The Mark Of NASFIC?
ENTRY #27
0804.13
[NOTE: This is being crossposted to worldcons, so there is a slim chance that some of you may be reading this in stereo.]
If I were to hazard a guess, I would suspect that this has been rolling around in my subconscious for some time now. I'm guessing that it was the recent Progress Reports from both Denvention and Anticipation that finally dragged it forth from the subconscious to the conscious.
It all has to do with WSFS's marks, and that obligatory notice that appears in all Worldcon publications, as mandated by Section 2.2 of the WSFS Constitution:
Marks. Every Worldcon and NASFIC committee shall include the following notice in each of its publications: "World Science Fiction Society," "WSFS," "World Science Fiction Convention," "Worldcon," "NASFIC," and "Hugo Award" are service marks of the World Science Fiction Society, an unincorporated literary society.
I realized something, and I'm a little surprised that it hasn't occurred to anyone else before this. Or at the very least, if it has occurred to someone before now, I'm surprised that no one has apparently mentioned it until now.
There should be one more mark on the list.
Section 1.2 refers to NASFIC as "the occasional North American Science Fiction Convention," and that is the only place the phrase is mentioned in the Constitution. My point is this: "World Science Fiction Convention" and "Worldcon" both refer to the same annual event. The former term is the formal name, while the latter is the commonly-used (and equally acceptable) short form. By the same token, shouldn't WSFS hold both "North American Science Fiction Convention" and "NASFIC" as service marks?
Yes, I know that there are some SMOFs who are violently opposed to the very existence of the concept of the NASFIC. At the moment, though, it is a valid service mark of WSFS. Still, until and unless WSFS decides to either abandon the mark altogether, or relinquish the mark to another organization, would it not be in the Society's best interests to add "North American Science Fiction Convention" to its list of service marks?
I'm posting this in this manner because I know that it will appear on the radar of at least one member of the Mark Protection Committee (Hi, Kevin!), and I figure that it is the quickest way to bring this to the attention of the entire MPC. And, I suppose, to ask if this is indeed something that should be added as an item to the agenda of Denvention's business meeting.
-30-
0804.13
[NOTE: This is being crossposted to worldcons, so there is a slim chance that some of you may be reading this in stereo.]
If I were to hazard a guess, I would suspect that this has been rolling around in my subconscious for some time now. I'm guessing that it was the recent Progress Reports from both Denvention and Anticipation that finally dragged it forth from the subconscious to the conscious.
It all has to do with WSFS's marks, and that obligatory notice that appears in all Worldcon publications, as mandated by Section 2.2 of the WSFS Constitution:
Marks. Every Worldcon and NASFIC committee shall include the following notice in each of its publications: "World Science Fiction Society," "WSFS," "World Science Fiction Convention," "Worldcon," "NASFIC," and "Hugo Award" are service marks of the World Science Fiction Society, an unincorporated literary society.
I realized something, and I'm a little surprised that it hasn't occurred to anyone else before this. Or at the very least, if it has occurred to someone before now, I'm surprised that no one has apparently mentioned it until now.
There should be one more mark on the list.
Section 1.2 refers to NASFIC as "the occasional North American Science Fiction Convention," and that is the only place the phrase is mentioned in the Constitution. My point is this: "World Science Fiction Convention" and "Worldcon" both refer to the same annual event. The former term is the formal name, while the latter is the commonly-used (and equally acceptable) short form. By the same token, shouldn't WSFS hold both "North American Science Fiction Convention" and "NASFIC" as service marks?
Yes, I know that there are some SMOFs who are violently opposed to the very existence of the concept of the NASFIC. At the moment, though, it is a valid service mark of WSFS. Still, until and unless WSFS decides to either abandon the mark altogether, or relinquish the mark to another organization, would it not be in the Society's best interests to add "North American Science Fiction Convention" to its list of service marks?
I'm posting this in this manner because I know that it will appear on the radar of at least one member of the Mark Protection Committee (Hi, Kevin!), and I figure that it is the quickest way to bring this to the attention of the entire MPC. And, I suppose, to ask if this is indeed something that should be added as an item to the agenda of Denvention's business meeting.
-30-