A note to readers: Vice Media had launched a “Weed Week” promotional campaign to support its show Weediquette. Last year I applied for two WeedWeek trademarks to avoid conflicts like this and both are advancing through the approval process.
After hearing about Vice's promotion, I approached the company. The short version is I asked for a $2,500 license fee for the use of Weed Week this year – essentially enough to cover my legal fees. Vice’s outside counsel rejected my claim and offered me a nuisance payment $2,500 to let Vice use “Weed Week” in perpetuity. I declined the offer.
I’m not sure who’d win if I took Vice to court and don’t have the resources to find out. One important factor in trademark cases is whether an ordinary person could be confused between our respective brands. Emails I have received suggest that some people were confused by Vice's campaign. (“At first I thought maybe you were doing a thing with Viceland,” someone wrote.) What do you think? https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/weedweek/
It’s possible that this is a coincidence. It’s also possible that decision makers at Vice were aware of WeedWeek and/or my trademark application and disregarded it. They could have stumbled on it in several ways: WeedWeek frequently links to Vice’s journalism, occasionally on request, and roughly a dozen vice-dot-com email addresses receive WeedWeek every Saturday. My newsletter is the first hit if you Google WeedWeek, Weed Week or “Weed Week”. Someone at Vice could also have done a free and instant trademark search.
I admire much of what Vice does and have friends and acquaintances who’ve worked with the company. As I freelancer, I also noticed last year’s Columbia Journalism Review story called “
Vice Shows How Not to Treat Freelancers.” This recognition is something of an achievement, considering how most publications treat freelancers. Following the story, Vice’s head of content Ciel Hunter reminded staff that “
VICE and freelancers depend on each other."
My case is not an exact parallel, but I believe Vice’s response to me carries the same whiff of contempt for the little guy. This is not an attractive pose for a media company that considers calling out bad behavior part of its mission.
My livelihood is entwined with the trademark WeedWeek, and I’ve taken reasonable steps to protect it. Vice and WeedWeek are part of the same community and potential allies. After this week's promotion ends I hope Vice can recognize that and use another brand.
If you find WeedWeek valuable, I’d appreciate it if you could post something like the following to Twitter, Facebook or other social media:
Hey @VICE, #weedweek is a newsletter! goo.gl/TJs7ee cc: @Weedweeknews
You can also retweet
this tweet and
this tweet and
share this post on Facebook.
Thanks!
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau
unveiled legislation to legalize marijuana nationwide. If Canada legalizes next year, as expected, it would be the second country, after Uruguay, to fully legalize. Canada expects legal REC sales to begin in mid-2018, though
perhaps not on Canada Day, July 1.
See the proposal here. For the press release see
here.
The proposal would
establish a minimum purchasing age of 18, though individual provinces could raise it. Growers would be federally licensed while provinces would regulate distribution and sales.
Criminal penalties for unsanctioned business will be strict. As it moves forward, Canada will likely be in violation of several international treaties.
Many details remain unclear. Brian Linton CEO of Canopy Growth, the country’s largest grower,
expects rules to require “really boring packaging, for sure, which we’re not necessarily in favor of.”
In preparation, the government is accelerating its
business licensing process.
Legalization is expected to
catalyze industry consolidation. Canada stands to take in
C$675M a year in pot taxes.
Jimmy Kimmel joked that Canada is about to become “
the stoner living in America’s attic.” Response from the Trump administration was muted.
An opinion piece in The Hill discusses the “
sensible taxes” in Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Earl Blumenauer’s (D-Ore.) proposed path to federal legalization.
Blumenauer is
one of 44 House members who want to extend the Feds’ current hands-off legal MED policy. He expects legislative activity to
pick up after the April recess.
California lawmakers are considering
dozens of cannabis bills. Gov. Jerry Brown (D) supports rules that would
make it easier to start a cannabis business.
Kevin Sabet’s anti-legalization group SAM Action Inc.,
faces $6,000 in fines for campaign finance violations related to its work opposing November’s REC vote in California.
Tennessee Congressman Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) suggested that Trump son-in-law and advisor
Jared Kushner would tell the president not to crack down. “How can you be 36 years old and grow up in New York City and be for having people jailed for marijuana?" Cohen asked.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) said the federal government
should decriminalize marijuana.
Pro-cannabis Congressman Ed Perlmutter (D-Co.) is
running for governor of Colorado. Current Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) will be term-limited next year and is considered a possible presidential candidate in 2020.
An anti-drug group is helping to
craft Florida’s MED rules.
Oregon lawmakers passed a bill to
protect pot users’ data from the feds. Rhode Island lawmakers say they have the votes to
pass REC through the legislature.
Massachusetts pols are angling for a seat on the
state pot Commission. More than 600 Californians have applied to be on the state
Cannabis Advisory Committee.
A REC bill
needs a miracle to pass the Vermont legislature, a supporter said. A bill in Nevada would
blur the difference between MED and REC.
No one in the Alabama legislature is
pushing for MED reform. But legalization is
popular in the deep south state. The plan to grow MED at Louisiana State University has
attracted skepticism.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed (D) has
mixed feelings about decriminalizing.
Selling REC is still illegal in Maine, but some producers
gift their product and accept payment for shipping and handling.
Ohio appears
eager to start collecting license and application fees from MED businesses. It will start
accepting grow applications in June.
Humboldt County is considering
new regulations for commercial growers.
Industrial hemp
faces long odds in Missouri. In light of moves in Washington, Guam is
abandoning a REC legalization push.
