In another proud stride for copyright lawyers, the island of Lesbos (or technically, the island formerly known as Lesbos) is apparently filing official lawsuits against a gay rights organization calling for an injunction against using the word 'lesbian', and if successful plans on expanding their campaign to a global scale. Seriously. Check it out on BBC News.
Somebody please tell me that I'm not crazy for thinking this is ridiculous... the term 'lesbian' is traceable in English at least as far back as the 1800s. What next, Barry White and Lewis Black teaming up to file a class action suit against Crayola, the Census Bureau, and 1st grade classrooms across the nation for using their family names in their color palette? France suing McDonalds and OreIda over their manufacture of 'french fries'? Egypt filing copyright infringement claims against pyramids? (Check that last one; they're working on it.)
What if the city of Austin, Texas, suddenly decided to assess a fee against everyone named 'Austin'? What if I decided to file a class-action suit on behalf of all people named 'Austin', requiring the city of Austin, Texas, to pay royalties from its tourism income to us? What if the Catholic Church decided to file an injunction prohibiting people from naming their babies 'Jesus' and forcing those who were already named 'Jesus' to change their names?
Is there any wonder why it's so hard to take the world seriously when at any moment, someone might decide that the words we use, the history we know, and the development of science, art, and culture might be stunted or censored because someone, somewhere, decided there was a lawsuit to be had in it?
Argh!
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Version 18247, "Zach"; Copyright © 2013 Gather Inc. All rights reserved.
Comments: 40
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Q. What is the origin of the word lesbian?
The word lesbian means a female homosexual or woman who is primarily attracted to other women. Where did this word come from?
The word lesbian comes from the Greek Island of Lesbos, where the poet Sappho lived in 600 B.C. Sappho was an intellectual and poet who wrote many love poems to other women. Although much of her poetry has been destroyed by religious fundamentalists, the few poems of Sappho that remain speak clearly to her love and infatuation with women.
It is unclear when the word "lesbian" was first used to describe women who love other women, but the first usage can be traced back to the 1800s. It came into popular use in the lesbian feminist era of the 1960s and 1970s.
Sorry but you can not claim copyright infringement on word. Others have tried and failed. They can sue if someone else is using the same name say as their business.
suits that do have merit, can't be gotten to, when you have suits
like this going on.
GO GREEN!
We're ahead! Yea!
Thanks for posting to What's the Point?
Thank you for posting to I was bored :)
And at who's expense. What a world.
I always wondered since I was kid if the island of Lesbos had anything to do with the term, Lesbian.
I don't think the suit will get very far.