What's up with rubyamplification.com?

idiotwithasolderingiron · Sun 03/07/04 11:34 am

never the less, there is no confusing the two web sites, which is central to their complaint. At one point Paul even had a disclaimer on his site stating that he is not associated with Ruby tubes, tho I dont know that it's currently there.

This is all about a bully stomping on a small businessman.

Post by **Plexi** » Sun 03/07/04 2:30 pm

I agree.. it would be a different story if there was something Paul was doing,or useing that made it look like he was coping or useing the name in a wrong way.
But its nothing at all like that.. I'll also be sending a letter tonight..along with passing this on to many people i know in the music,amp repair,and amp builders business.
I understand the trademark thing is important for some, but some take things to extremes with copyrights and patends..most are the big guys,and have all the lawyers etc..and they know they can step on the little guy. I think what Paul has been doing,getting people interested in amp building,helping others,has probably helped Ruby Tubes sell tubes and other parts,that they probably haven't figured out yet..I don't think they realize what they have done is going to come back on them,and in a bad way. this just reminds me of some others that have been doing this similar kind of stuff.
They rip off others amps,and patend stuff that other people came up with..then make it where no one else can use them.

Richie

fzfwyv · Post by **fzfwyv** » Sun 03/07/04 3:03 pm

The trademark thing can get a little ridiculous, if not absurd. I remember (not totally sure about the details) about a year or so back, Monster Cable put the pressure on some family business that was called the Monster Shop. Guess how similar the two products were? Yeah, thats right, the Monster Shop sold costumes and monster masks. I'm sure Joe Schmoe easily confused that with Monster Cable, and I'm glad Monster Cable successfully shut them down because it diluted the Monster name (can you fell my sarcasm). Oh, yeah, the movie Monsters, Inc. was also sued by Monster Cable. What a joke!

Post by **Graydon** » Sun 03/07/04 3:20 pm

Aaron,

I can appreciate what you are saying but I think that the line is somewhat (if not very) gray in this case. Sure, the name "Ruby" may have been trademarked, but since Paul has a very small business making a couple amps each year, I really don't think he is gaining any business by using the Ruby name and by it's alleged association with Ruby Tubes/Magicparts. Also, I do not believe that Ruby/Magicparts is loosing any business because of Paul Ruby's business by direct competition or by dilution of the trademark. Again, I am not a lawyer so possibly in a court of law, my reasoning would not stand, but that is my "little guy against the big corporation" opinion. I still believe they are attempting to use their size and might (whatever that may be) to bully a small guy and in this case for no good reason. If they could present evidence that Paul's business was damaging theirs, then I might begin to believe that they have a leg to stand on. This bullying is really what gets my goat. If they were to ask in a nice way if there was some way to differentiate the two companies a little more and approach it from a cooperative stance, I'd be much more inclined to go along with them, and I'll bet Paul would have been much more willing to make a change if necessary to make them more comfortable. I'm not trying to put words in Paul's mouth, but he is a good guy and good guys typically are easy to work with as long as all parties are reasonable. This attack is completely unreasonable.

I'm not getting my pantyhose in a knot over this. I don't buy much from Magicparts anyway and what I have purchased has come with inadequate customer support, so it doesn't bother me too much to quit using them. This is just the last straw for me.

Now, I'll move on. I have amps to build, guitars to play, and music to make.

Post by **zaphod_phil** » Sun 03/07/04 4:42 pm

I would *suggest* that everyone who dislikes this kind of bullying behaviour write a polite e-mail to Magic Parts and Ruby Tubes. Make sure you say your e-mail is unsolicitied, so they don't accuse Paul of stirring up a hate campaign. Let them know that the web site was not a commercial operation, just part of Paul's hobby, and in any case never any form of competition against Ruby Tubes or Magic Parts. Also let them know that Paul is also very well known and respected among the tube amplifier building community worldwide. And tell them that their action was disproportionate, and that you will boycott them and their wares until they issue a retraction and apologise to Paul Ruby.

This is just a suggestion....

Post by **zaphod_phil** » Sun 03/07/04 4:54 pm

jersey_aaron wrote: In fact, I have to disagree with all of you, and I think you are all looking at this the wrong way. Ruby Tubes did not trademark "Ruby Tubes", they trademarked the name "Ruby" and probably associated it with the manufacture of tubes, amps, speakers, guitars etc.

No. Paul Ruby was actually born with that name first!

However, the real point to bear in mind is that even supposing they have a valid issue, they should have 'phoned him and discussed the problem with him amicably. No, they put the big gun lawyers on him and go heavy-handed. That's what sucks Their action against a simple hobbyist is compeletely disproportionate. And they actually accused Paul of "counterfeitting the ruby tubes web site" and using their trademark," in an illegal and confusing manor in order to attract internet users". That is totally untrue! They also demanded they give up the domain name rubyamplification.com and never use the term "ruby" in any form. So it looks like he has to get his name changed by deed poll too, if you go by what these Nazis are demanding. Remember, the next victim of corporate bullying could be another on of us....

jersey_aaron · Post by **jersey_aaron** » Sun 03/07/04 5:41 pm

If what you say is true Phil, then that doesn't sound fair either. Paul Ruby should be able to use his own name in FULL.

You also have to remember that with a little research, a man doesn't need a lawyer to defend himself. He can represent himself "pro se" without giving up.

Post by **zaphod_phil** » Sun 03/07/04 5:51 pm

Well, like I said, they could at least have first discussed their problem with him and asked him nicely for his cooperation. Instead, what they have sent him is actually insulting and defamatory - see http://www.ax84.com/bbs/dm.code?id=100296

At least he has now put his site back up with a new title, "Paul Ruby's Amplifiers", but with the same domain name.

Robal · Post by **Robal** » Sun 03/07/04 10:16 pm

Well, how would Groucho Marx handle this situation? This famous letter by Grouch to Warner Bros. is often quoted by intellectual property lawyers:

http://www.infoanarchy.org/story/2003/9/5/211917/5941

Twigley · Post by **Twigley** » Mon 03/08/04 6:54 am

Haha, Robal that is great bit of writing. Perfect example in this situation, because who can ever really own a name? There must be a million companys with 'Ruby' in their title.

bubba2 · Post by **bubba2** » Mon 03/08/04 8:09 am

It will a sad day when the whole human language is either copy written, registered or owned by one or another company. Weâ€™ll all be left speechless (dumb victims) by the insanity of fear or greed.

Twigley · Post by **Twigley** » Mon 03/08/04 10:03 am

ah well i'm lucky my last name is so stupid no-one would copyright it, i really hope that they see their stupidity on this, even big bully micro**** would have tostep dwn in this kind situation. maybe not, but anyhowgood luck to Paul.

Post by **Gabi** » Mon 03/08/04 1:12 pm

Holy cow...

I am just reading about it now. It is makes my stomach turn upside dow.
Paul, I am sorry to hear about it... I am working on your account to fixe it...

gabi.

Post by **zaphod_phil** » Mon 03/08/04 1:20 pm

Yeah, Paul has posted on the AX84 site to say that he has been greatly encouraged by all the support, so much so that he has put his site back as it was to "facilitate discussion" with Magic Parts.

BTW, here's my e-mail to Magic Parts, CC;ed to Vibroworld.

Dear Sirs,

I was appalled to learn of an action being taken by your legal representatives against Paul Ruby, a private individual pursuing an amplifier-building hobby. The accusation was made that Paul Ruby has been counterfeiting the Ruby Tubes web site and using your trademark, Ruby, in an illegal and confusing manor in order to attract Internet users. This accusation is both defamatory and patently absurd, as I will show below. Furthermore, they are demanding that he give up his domain name, "rubyamplification.com" and never use the term "Ruby" in any form. In view of this, I would like you to consider the following facts:

1 - Mr Paul Ruby is the birth name of a private individual.
2 - The web site hosted under the "rubyamplification.com" domain name is not a commercial operation, but merely a showcase for Paul's personal hobby. He has a full-time "day job" that he actually lives on.
3 - His hobby is that he builds tube guitar amplifiers and he also provides free advice and help for many other DIY and professional amplifier builders in the industry. Some of his amplifiers and amplifier boards he sells to help subsidize his hobby. To the best of my knowledge he is not making any profit out of this hobby, apart from his own personal enjoyment in building the amplifiers and playing them in his band. The amplifiers Paul builds are simply drop-dead gorgeous, both in appearance and sound.
4 - Due to his tremendous expertise in amplifier building, in addition to his excellent knowledge of theoretical electronics, Paul Ruby is very widely known and respected among amplifier builders and technicians all over the world. His name and reputation are legendary. As just one typical example, I myself in publishing one of my amplifier designs on the Internet recently (see www.ax84.com/p1-extreme.html), saw fit to acknowledge Paul for his inspirational ideas.
5 - There is no way through any stretch of the imagination that Paul Ruby's web site could be thought to be counterfeiting the Ruby Tubes web site, or even using your trademark to attract Internet users to his site. Paul Ruby's web site shows amplifiers that he has built and also provides technical information, as well as offering his services to build amplifiers for others. In other words his hobby helps consume the type of products sold by Magic Parts and Ruby Tubes, plus also encouraging others to do so as well. If you examine the look and feel of his web site, there is no similarity at all with yours in even the slightest way. Furthermore, if you do a search for "magic parts" on the Internet via a search engine such as Google, rubyamplification.com does not show up. There are websites for "Magic Chef Parts," "Fire Magic Parts," and countless accessories for your next magic act. Likewise a search for "Ruby" produces www.ruby-lang.org/en/ and www.rubycentral.com/ which are about the Ruby scripting language, also Sam Ruby has a web blog, rubytuesday.com, rubygarden.com, etc. No sign of rubyamplification.com is to be found, as also with a search on "Ruby Tubes". Clearly the allegations made by the attorney is arrant nonsense, with no basis in any kind of reality - in common terms it's "total baloney", which anyone who knows Paul Ruby, knows to be untrue.
6 - Finally, it appears that news of this misguided and incredibly foolish action has spread across the Internet among both professional and DIY amp builders across the world - ie your custemers and market. Due to the respect in which Paul Ruby is held, this has caused a tremendous outcry against this action and I have personally seen many posts on Internet groups from both commercial and private builders pledging to boycott Magic Parts, Ruby Tubes and even Vibro World. What this action has done in fact has been to place a slur against your own good name(s), causing Magic Parts/Ruby Tubes to be seen as some kind of corporate bully attacking the basic rights of a widely respected private individual to pursure his hobby under his own birth name. I'm sure this is precisely not the kind of publicity you want, and we know that it's much harder to rectify a tarnished reputation then to even create a good name in the first place. What neither I nor anyone else find hard to understand is why some fact-checking wasn't carried out in the first place, along with an attempt to resolve that matter amicably with Paul Ruby. He is a very reasonable person. In fact you may have been able to signifantly enhance the reputation of Ruby Tubes by having him as an endorsee. Instead you now have a catastrophic error on your hands to resolve.

I am therefore strongly requesting that you retract these defamatory allegations and action against Paul Ruby immediately, and furthermore issue a full unequivocal apology. You may just manage to recover some of your reputation if you do this without further delay.

Yours sincerely

Philip Rowley BSC MIEE
ZoeSound Amplification

PaulRuby · Post by **PaulRuby** » Mon 03/08/04 1:35 pm

Thanks Phil, and ALL!!!! In my knee-jerk reaction to the issue, I removed my web address from my 18watt account and this somehow fouled up my account. I wasn't ignoring 18watt.com, just took me a bit to get things working again with help from Gabi.

Thank you all again!!!! This is fantastic support and has really lifted my spirits. A quick update... I've reposted my website in it's original form to facilitate discussion between representation of magic parts and myself.

Also, as long as responses remain civil and factual, your support is greatly appreciated!!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you,

ampkits · Post by **ampkits** » Mon 03/08/04 1:47 pm

Dear all,

I just saw this.

First of all, emotionally, I would say I dont care if Ruby Tubes trademarked Ruby. We have known Paul for so long, and I think I can represent a good number of people in saying that he is absolutely the man in this diy-community.

Who would go at great lengths to help someone new? Who would impart all the good knowledge freely? Who has the coolest kokobolo hardwood for cabs?

I remember when I had problems with paypal, members of this community rallied and wrote to protest. I hope the same can be done, and so so much more, this is Paul Ruby we're talking about...

All my best goes to Paul. I hope this can be sorted out soon. Hang in there, friend..

Lets do our best,

Thanks!

Nik

Post by **Plexi** » Mon 03/08/04 1:49 pm

Glad to hear your site is back..and you with it.. i'm sure this morning at Ruby tubes..they had to put a fan on there PC to cool it down,from all the e-mails hitting them at once..i'd say they are still reading them,and recieving them.And seeing they made a big mistake.
All the e-mails i've seen,are well written,and very truthfull,and no flames. Funny .i haven't got a reply from my e-mail i sent to them..

Richie

servant · Post by **servant** » Mon 03/08/04 3:46 pm

Hey Paul,

I'm just a frequent lurker here but was shocked by this news. I am glad that you are back up and bravely running your site. All the best!

Twigley wrote:Haha, Robal that is great bit of writing. Perfect example in this situation, because who can ever really own a name? There must be a million companys with 'Ruby' in their title.

An interesting thing to remember here is the whole Apple Records (AR) / Apple Computer (AC) legal business. When AC started, Beatle lawyers came a-knocking. Since then there has been an agreement in place whereby AC agreed to "stay out of music" so as not to blur the brand recognition. Then AC became a platform of choice for MIDI software, etc. AR comes to collect a royalty check (cheque for you UKers/Canadians et al). Every time I see a new iPod commercial I can just see Ringo and Paul smiling (ka-ching!). Apparently every year AC writes a pretty good sized check to AR. (Actually, maybe the corporate name is Apple Corps.)

b4yourtime · Post by **b4yourtime** » Tue 03/09/04 1:23 am

I see that he has placed a disclaimer at the bottom of his pages saying that he is not associated with Ruby Tubes.
Doug C.

dboul · Post by **dboul** » Tue 03/09/04 1:47 am

jersey_aaron wrote: I know all of you are hung up on "thats his name, waaaaah!", but heres a REALLY good example of what you guys are basically saying:

A. Fender Amplification. We know 'em, we love em.
B. Fender Speakers. Ok, we like those too. Hang on a minute, who the heck Peter Fender!? Oh, hes a little guy who has a website called "Fenderspeakers.com" and he sells his own speakers, tubes and other electric guitar stuff.

I believe you all need to think about my example for a while, form a better opinion, and stop attacking a company thats only looking out to protect what they own.

All Paul has to do in this situation is change his business name and website to "Paul Ruby Amplification". Remember, only "Ruby" is trademarked, "Paul Ruby" is something different altogether.

Your analogy doesn't really work because Fender is the bigdog in the business and there's no doubt that someone named Fender would cause confusion in the marketplace; however, the name "Ruby" is not synonomous with tubes and tube amplification and would not cause market confusion . . . that's the legal part of the problem. Using Fender as an example is really not "apples to apples". But you are correct, Paul Ruby amplification would solve the problem.

Now if Paul had been born Paul Mullard. . . then tube people might be confused . . . but how many people mix up the word "Ruby" with "tubes"? No one. Ruby tubes has not established enough market dominance to suggest that they're losing business from a guy that builds guitar amps as a hobby. If Paul was selling tubes . . . maybe . . . this is just silly.

Sincerely,

Dan Kleenex

Rock on Paul, we're all with you!! ugh

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