Cease and Desist

I received a registered letter on Friday from an attorney at the firm of Ladas & Parry, LLP, advising me that the phrase "BillyBlog" is the intellectual property of Universal Studios, and is licensed to the official fansite of the film and play, Billy Elliot. I have been advised to "cease and desist" from "continuing to capitalize on the intellectual property of Universal Studios" or face "dire legal consequences."

The letter was a "courtesy," and Ladas & Parry, LLP, were in the process of notifying Blogger, and several other blog hosts, of their intent to pursue legal action against "any and all parties continuing to dilute the intellectual property of Universal Studios".

I am astonished. Although there is a "BillyBlog" on a Billy Elliot website, I cannot fathom how my blog and those of others can be such a threat to Universal. If you google "BillyBlog," my site comes up first, but the second, hosted by lyceum, provides a message, when you click on it, that states: "This blog does not exist or has been deactivated."

I am stunned and disheartened, folks. My attempts to contact Google (which owns Blogger) in California have been a total runaround.

I am sure that, whatever the outcome, BillyBlog will emerge in some different form. I will not post more until I can get some good legal advice and/or just throw in the towel and use a different name with a different host. Of course, I have six months of my own intellectual property that I have to figure out how I can transfer out of here.

Stay tuned.