The Comic Con trademark battle keeps spreading

20 JANUARY 2018

If tedious lawsuits are your thing, and you were disappointed by the seeming resolution of San Diego Comic-Con's lawsuit against Salt Lake Comic Con in December, I have good news for you - it's ongoing and more players have jumped into the mix.

Here's where we are currently:

• Salt Lake has spent over a cool million in fees on this case and is now considering crowdfunding to pay it all off.

• There apparently will be a documentary about the case, which I am so here for. 

• Both SDCC and SLCC are dissatisfied with that December outcome and are headed back to court. 

• Salt Lake's reason: asking for a reconsideration on the genericness of the term Comic Con; also that the court precluded evidence and gave the jury improper instructions.

• CCI's reason: they don't like the tiny settlement they were awarded ($20K) and they want a stronger verdict regarding the "willfulness" with which SLCC violated their trademark. They want a new trial, some of SLCC's profits, $4.5 million in legal fees and a pound of flesh - or at least, a recognition that Salt Lake's attorneys engaged in an "all-out war" and "staggering" misconduct in that they "preyed on the sympathies of the jury."

And they may need that $4.5 million for future lawsuits. While other Cons have proactively changed their names to avoid being sued by CCI, one of those Cons, Phoenix Comic Fest (formerly Phoenix Comicon) has filed a motion to strike down SDCC's "Comic Con" trademark and have CCI pay their legal bills. Nervy!

In other words, CCI may lose their trademark, letting Salt Lake and other Cons freely use "Comic Con," "Comic-Con," "Comicon" and any other permutations of the name - setting them back where they started but millions of dollars poorer. It's dizzying to contemplate. Even if they stay victorious in all these lawsuits, it's hard to foresee an outcome where they come out on top of their attorney fees.

In the meantime, we're left with our questions.Will the lawsuit documentary be screened at the SDCC film festival? Will other smaller Cons jump on, burying CCI in lawsuits like velociraptors attacking a T-rex? How will the new trial turn out, if we get one? We'll just have to wait and see.

ReedPOP on the SDCC-SLCC lawsuit

11 DECEMBER 2017

Last Friday a fascinating court case came to an end: the trademark lawsuit between CCI and Salt Lake Comic Con was decided in CCI's favor.


Reactions have ranged from "what a stupid lawsuit" to "Salt Lake was asking for it" to "I thought all Comic Cons were run by the same company" and more. But one of the most dramatic reactions has also been one of the most unrealistic: that this is the beginning of a trademark tidal wave that will force every Con to change its name.

That just isn't going to happen. If you have any inkling of what attorneys cost, you can understand that waging a legal battle for 2.5 years likely cost CCI far more than the paltry $20,000 they got from this trial. There's no way they can take on every Con in the world. And CCI isn't some kind of warlord that wants to crush every other Con under its heel. I suppose they could send out Cease and Desist letters and request events to enter into licensing agreements with them, as some have done already. But we're not going to see a rash of name changes where San Diego is the only Comic-Con left standing.

ReedPOP and all those other Comic Cons

That brings us to ReedPOP, the apex Con master in the world. I'm not saying that to cast shade on CCI, just pointing out that the vast number of events they manage dwarfs everyone else. It's reached the point where if our planet undergoes some kind of massive dying-off that rescrambles nation-states, I fully expect ReedPOP to have their own continent where it's Comic Con all the time.

So I asked them what they thought and if they foresaw any interaction with the naming of their own many Cons. Here's their statement:

"We haven’t seen anything issued from the Court or the jury other than what has appeared in the press. Until there is a final disposition of that case, we will reserve comment.  Nevertheless, we expect there to be no impact on our continued use of the New York Comic Con name for our annual event now well over a decade in existence or use of any of our other proprietary event names."

So yes, we will have other Comic Cons and they will keep growing and multiplying and fascinating us. This lawsuit (which I still doubt is over) isn't going to change anything for attendees. Not anything that matters.

SDCC wins their lawsuit against SLCC - sort of

8 DECEMBER 2017

Surprising many spectators in the Con world, a jury today decided in CCI's favor in their lawsuit against Salt Lake Comic Con. But as victories go, it was mixed.

What did the jury rule? That SLCC improperly used the words "Comic Con." I know, I know - so does ReedPOP 800 times a day, along with other event organizers. However, the jury also found they hadn't willfully violated the trademarks.

The heart of the decision is this: "San Diego Comic-Con's trademark is valid and Salt Lake Comic Con used it without permission." So will other events be forced to stop calling themselves Comic Con? Realistically speaking, I doubt it. But a CCI attorney called other Comic Con events "infringers" and said "We are pursuing the worst offenders first." Tough talk, but I think we all know CCI isn't about to file lawsuits against more 140 other events.

Here's a summary of the trademark issue:

• CCI, owner of San Diego Comic-Con, has a trademark on "Comic-Con" with a hyphen - but they were unsuccessful in their 1995 bid to trademark "Comic Con" with a space. 
• Also protected by trademark: the unhyphenated name "Comic Con International," as well as the event's eye logo.
• CCI insists its trademarks cover the term "comic con" in all forms, hyphen or not.
• Salt Lake Comic Con does not have a hyphen.

So what did CCI win?

CCI originally asked for $12 million in damages, with $9 million of that staked out for a "corrective" advertising campaign. (Imagine the witty taglines, the smooth copywriting, we would have blessed with. Such a loss.) What that figure is allegedly based on - and this is very hard for this SDCC attendee to swallow - is a trial statement from San Diego authorities that "the organization generally spends between $20,000 and $30,000 for a month of advertising."

I'm sorry, what? Advertising? To who? They turn away 10x more attendees than they can handle! Maybe that figure covers salaries for PR and the social media director and graphic designer and the Toucan blog, but those are day to day operations, not special campaign costs. You cannot convince me they would have spent $9 million educating the gullible masses on the differences between themselves and a Utah Con where 80% of the attendees are local.

Anyhow, the jury only awarded them $20,000. Chump change in the scheme of things, and unlikely to even cover CCI's attorney fees. For SLCC, I'd imagine it's the humiliating sting of loss that's going to hurt the most. In any case, they interpreted the small amount in a flattering light: Dan Farr's take was "With the damages being nominal like that, I think the jury was saying, 'OK, we want to protect these marks, but you know what, Salt Lake didn't do any damage here'."

I was hoping for a colorful quote from CCI, now that they're flush with victory - maybe from the eloquent David Glanzer, maybe from their attorney Peter Hahn who threatened more than 2 years ago to have the court "force Dan Farr Productions to comply with the law" - but their statement was formal and restrained. Read it here.

So is it over? I doubt it. 

I'll be surprised if Salt Lake doesn't appeal this decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals of California, but the low amount of damages may persuade the organizers to put it behind them. They have 30 days to decide which takes them right through the holiday season and into the new year. That can change a person's perspective. But it has to be galling to have to change their name (eventually) when other Comic Cons are occurring every weekend. I know that would burn me.

You can chalk up this verdict to many things - the intricacies of trademark law, the flashy car SLCC drove around San Diego all those years ago, a California jury. In the end, both Cons will go on and they'll both continue to be popular and successful. As attendees, we're not affected that much. But it does show how willing these organizations are to draw blood to protect their image and the dollars we bring them.

See you tomorrow during Open Reg.

The SDCC vs SLCC battle rages on

4 DECEMBER 2017

Just in time to get you in the mood for Open Reg this weekend, we're hearing tantalizing news on the long-running battle between San Diego Comic-Con and Salt Lake Comic Con - which you'll be thrilled to hear has finally gone to trial.

I know, I know - you thought this was settled somehow, or at least died from lack of interest. It wasn't, it hasn't. If there's one thing we know about CCI, it's that they are indefatigable when it comes to righting perceived wrongs.

(If you're newish in these parts, CCI is suing SLCC for trademark infringement and basically trying to mooch off their SDCC brand magic. This has dragged on for years and has eclipsed the Zombie Walk/car accident kerfuffle as the biggest court case associated with SDCC. You can read a lot of the coverage, court documents and commentary on SLCC's dedicated page.)


                                                         from SaltLakeComicCon.com
 
Opening arguments began last week. And make no mistake, this trial is of interest to every Con out there, since it centers on whether CCI owns "Comic-Con," "Comicon," "Comic Con" etc. despite a jillion different events calling themselves such. And it's of significant interest to Con attendees, especially those of us who love CCI for its special brand of absurdity. Only through this lawsuit have we learned:

• CCI commissioned a study which proved Comic-Con has a higher brand recognition than Jello.
•  People were attending Comic-Cons in the 1960s, before SDCC was even born. Martin Luther King, Jayne Mansfield, Jim Morrison, Robert Kennedy and Sharon Tate could have attended Comic-Con.
• Other Cons like Rose City have struck licensing deals with CCI in a preemptive CYA move.
• Emails from SLCC founders include talk like "leverage San Diego Comic Con to boost our brand here better."
• George R.R. Martin attended the first Comic-Con at the tender age of 15.
• CCI has allegedly been deluged with calls and emails from people complaining about a bad experience with SLCC - people who believed they are associated.

To fully experience the convenient nature of that last point, I recommend reading Bleeding Cool's coverage.

If you're beyond sick of the political maelstrom we're all swirling around in these days, this trial could provide an entertaining distraction. Hopefully we get some scandalous juror interviews. But regardless of what plays out now, I don't see a resolution any time soon - there will almost certainly be an appeal. Stay tuned.

Update on the SLCC vs SDCC lawsuit

8 APRIL 2016



If you've been wondering about the status of CCI's lawsuit against Salt Lake Comic Con, I talked to SLCC founder Bryan Brandenburg today. He said they are "close" to settling and it could happen in the next 2 months, but they're still prepared to take it to the end.

"The settlement agreement boils down to 1 or 2 issues," he said. "We either settle on reasonable terms or we go to trial."

In other words, no resolution yet - and it doesn't sound like CCI has softened at all. But we kind of expected that.

Updated: SLCC does NOT have a $10,000 VIP room

6 APRIL 2016



We've all heard about people who make and sell fake Comic-Con badges, but one guy took it to another level: he impersonated a federal agent at Salt Lake Comic Con, flashing documentation on a wanted fugitive, so he could get into a private VIP room that was $10,000 a head.

Let's digest that. Not the impersonation - fraud, crime, yawn, whatever - but the fact that people pay $10,000 at Salt Lake Comic Con just to be in a room with famous people. Who are these people? What do they get out of the experience? Do they ever calculate all the compound interest squandered with this financial choice?

Anyhow, Jonathon M. Wall faces 3 years in prison and a $250,000 fine; it would have been cheaper just to pay the entry fee. His sentencing is 9 June. Don't impersonate federal agents at Comic Cons, kids! Just in case that was one of your strategies this summer.

Updated: I talked to SLCC founder Bryan Brandenburg and they most definitely do not have a  $10,000 VIP room. The impersonator was just trying to get into the green room where the celebrities are. Which sounds more like the Comic Cons we know. Somehow the AP press added that extra flourish, but it just isn't true.

CCI & Salt Lake Comic Con may settle by 1 March

25 FEBRUARY 2016




Emphasis on "may." Who knows with these 2 crazy kids, but apparently the organizations are "inching closer" to settling their court dispute over naming rights and trademarks. So far lawyers say they've been able to resolve many disagreements, and now have asked a federal judge for more time to work on an agreement - until 1 March.

In other words, create your betting pool now if you haven't already. What will this agreement look like and who will ultimately have their way? (Obvious answer is obvious, in my opinion, but I'm curious what you think.)

Salt Lake lawsuit scheduled for settlement talks

28 OCTOBER 2015




On 23 November, CCI and Salt Lake Comic Con will meet in a judge's chambers to discuss a possible settlement.

How likely is this settlement? According to Salt Lake Comic Con's founder Bryan Brandenburg: "We're confident that the nature of the concessions and details of the settlement with make things better for our fans.... We're also confident that one of the outcomes of this is that our relationship with San Diego Comic-Con is going to be greatly improved and that we're going to be able to cooperate moving forward."


SDCC's attorney Peter Hahn: "It's going to have to be on terms that are acceptable to San Diego."

So... a licensing agreement? I can't imagine SLCC going home with its tail between its legs and amputating the "Comic Con" part of its name. But we'll find out soon enough.

SLCC vs SDCC: is a truce afoot?

27 SEPTEMBER 2015



If you ever wanted to hear a news anchor say "Comic Con" 7 times in 30 seconds, you should watch this video. No real developments are revealed; all we're told is that our favorite courtroom warriors San Diego Comic-Con and Salt Lake Comic Con met with a judge and "both sides are working on an agreement but nothing is final."

Will SLCC get its longed-for bromance? More like a legal fist to the jaw, probably. But we'll see if these two crazy kids can work it out.

SDCC doubles down on their Salt Lake lawsuit

16 AUGUST 2015




Maybe they've quadrupled down at this point. I've lost track. At any rate, after Salt Lake Comic Con crowed about its trademark victory last month, CCI is seeking to nullify that trademark with "administrative action" and block them from a logo trademark. But don't expect to see a resolution any time soon; the pretrial conference has been scheduled for 3 October 2016, at which time the actual trial will be scheduled. To put that in our terms, we may have gone through Pre-reg and even Open Registration for 2017 by the time they duke it out in court.

A settlement is still possible; both camps have until 11 August 2016 to submit their final offers. What those offers might look like is a mystery, but we do know that CCI has suggested SLCC just stick to calling itself FanX, the name of its other event. But let's be real; besides the fact that FanX sounds like a porn channel or over the counter medication, it lacks the crucial Con branding that virtually every other event uses for marketing. BookCon, PlumberCon, Cat-Con; there's no way a ginormous pop culture convention is going to relinquish that crucial syllable.

On the other side, Salt Lake hoped to have a "bromance" - that's their word, not mine, just typing it made me shudder - with CCI as recently as earlier this year but apparently that's off the table. I could have told you that, SLCC organizers! CCI is unflinching. This was never going to end with a hug.

Friday night I saw Best of Enemies, which is a powerful testament to how destructive - and ludicrous - a grudge can be after a certain point. While SDCC vs. SLCC is obviously a very different situation, it does make me wonder who's really going to benefit in the end. It's hard to imagine SLCC actually being forced to drop "Comic Con" (or accepting that decision) in a world where so many other events have the same name; and it's hard to imagine what CCI thinks it's protecting. They're already the apex Comic Con. No other Con is as famous or in demand. Even if half the current Member ID holders decamped for SLCC, there'd still be more people clamoring for badges than SDCC could handle. Yes, other Cons are growing fast but San Diego is still the #1 dream for most attendees. I don't see that changing soon.

Maybe this will all get hashed out in court and we'll learn about additional details that are driving CCI to press on. Or maybe it's exactly what we've been told. Either way, it sounds like we'll have to wait a long time to find out.

Now everyone's trademarking everything

28 JULY 2015



 
 
You clearly didn't get enough trademark legalese served up to you over the weekend regarding San Diego Comic-Con vs Salt Lake Comic Con - so here's more.

Bleeding Cool reports that various other Cons are trying to trademark their names, specifically Boston Comic Con, Rhode Island Comic Con and Kansas Comic Con. (Nary a hyphen to be found, you'll note.) And that Grand Rapids Comic Con actually quit trying for a trademark after being rebuffed by the trademark office with a complicated statement that began, "In the case of Comic-Con, applicant has merely added geographically descriptive wording to a registered trademark. Adding a term to a registered mark generally does not obviate the similarity between the compared marks..."

Et cetera.

I skipped on over to Salt Lake's exhaustive page about the whole subject and found some interesting claims. Such as:

- "Comic Con" has been a "common expression since 1964," years before San Diego Comic-Con was born. Really? I'm sure they have sources for this, but that's definitely news to me. That means the characters on Mad Men could have gone to Comic Con.

- Wait, yes, they even have a newspaper illustration that says "Attend the 1967 Houston Comic-Con June 16-18!!" This is real. SDCC is not the Lucy fossil of comic conventions.

- Just to drive that home: "San Diego wasn't the first comic con. According to the history books, comic cons originated in New York and the United Kingdom at least 6 years before the first San Diego event."


Salt Lake also dug in by posting Alexa scores and some weirdness about SDCC adding 500,000 Facebook fans from Mexico City. And they included one of my favorite articles about SDCC, which goes beyond panting over celebrities and addresses the actual Con itself.

My point being: it's worth visiting their page and looking through all their historical documentation. Even if you're growing bored with this lawsuit, it's generally interesting stuff. Again, I would love to point people to SDCC's "side" of this for the sake of fairness - but there's nowhere to point.

Which is kind of what makes this all so fascinating. You have two major players committed to battle. One old, one new; one bull-headed and silent, one tireless and expressive. Neither shows any sign of wavering. It's like an old Norse legend or lost George RR Martin manuscript come to life - but in a really tedious way. Who's going to win? How will this affect other Cons? What actually happens in SDCC's most secret High Cabal meetings?

We'll probably never know that last. But this legal grudge match has to end decisively at some point or another. Let's just hope it doesn't turn into another convention center expansion and linger unresolved for years.

SDCC fires back at SLCC

24 JULY 2015

 

If you were wondering what CCI had to say about Salt Lake Comic Con's victory lap yesterday, the answer is quite a lot - delivered in their characteristically stiff and inimitable manner, of course. I realized today I've grown rather fond of the stilted statements and emails that emerge from the CCI office. If their communication team is ever replaced by a league of silver-tongued poets, I'm going to have to protest.

Anyhow. San Diego Comic-Con is unfazed by Salt Lake Comic Con's trademark win; they countered with a whole bunch of legal details no doubt intended to chill SLCC's flush of triumph. Paraphrasing wouldn't do it justice so here it is from Bleeding Cool:

 "We were less surprised by the registration than we were of the organizers’ take on it. As there is no opposition process for a Supplemental Registration we of course were not able to oppose it, however we are engaging this matter as part of the normal course of protecting our already granted and incontestable trademarks.”

That's from David Glanzer, CCI's fearless spokesperson. But their attorney Peter Hahn really dishes it out: 

 "The issuance of a Supplemental Register Registration has no effect on San Diego Comic Convention’s exclusive rights afforded by its Principle Register Registrations for various marks including the mark ‘Comic-Con.’ Contrary to Dan Farr Production’s statement, the Supplemental Registration will have no effect on the on-going infringement litigation in San Diego. San Diego Comic Convention will continue to protect its incontestable rights in the Comic-Con mark until Dan Farr Productions discontinues infringement of the Comic-Con mark—even if that means having the Court force Dan Farr Productions to comply with the law.”

 

Good grief. This is like listening to a spurned lover carry on months after anyone else would have let it go. One hypothetical silver lining: maybe an enterprising filmmaker will make a documentary about this and enter it in the SDCC 2016 IFF. I will throw the after-party myself if that happens.

US Trademark office legitimizes SLCC

23 JULY 2015




If you've been following the legal skirmish between CCI and Salt Lake Comic Con, here's a fresh development: Salt Lake Comic Con got its name trademarked by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. This is good news for SLCC and probably a bitter pill for SDCC.

Why this is relevant: "The trademark specifies that no claim is made to the exclusive right to use 'comic con' apart from the mark as shown." Apparently USTPO already ruled that "comic con" was "nondescript" (which as someone who owns a domain called comicconguide.com, I enjoyed hearing); this trademark further solidifies SLCC's legal claim to use those words in its name.

If you're not familiar with the history of this lawsuit, it started with SLCC driving a flashy car with an SLCC decal around SDCC last year. (It feels like this has been dragging on for at least 3 years but it really was that recent.) A highly perturbed CCI fired off a cease and desist letter which led to a lawsuit and countersuit.

SDCC's claim: intellectual property infringement, SLCC is too confusingly similar to SDCC in terms of a name, and other branding crimes. SLCC's view: there are a jillion events called "Comic Con" and "Comicon" and "Comic-Con" already so why target them? You can read SLCC's summary of the situation here; in the interest of fairness, I'd point you to SDCC's summary but - shockingly - they aren't sharing much about it.

So that's the situation. SLCC founder Dan Farr provided a telling quote: “Now hopefully we (and many others around the country) can fully focus on producing exciting comic book related fan events called comic cons. Maybe, in some small way, we have played the role of heroes in this battle.”

That would suggest the "battle" is over - but is it?

Why NYCC, DragonCon & SLCC matter

3 MAY 2015

We're almost midway through the year. By now you've either gone to a West Coast Con like ECCC, WonderCon or are preparing to go to one, like San Diego or Phoenix. Or maybe you've done none of that - in which case you might want to consider the second half of the year and a few options therein.

I was at a Cinco de Mayo party last night where I heard the typical nay-saying against any other Con; they're boring; no one important goes to them; there's nothing to do; San Diego is it. These arguments almost always come from people who've barely been to any Con at all and are just parroting the media's breathless coverage of San Diego Comic-Con. But streetsmart nerds and geeks know the truth - that there are Cons out there that offer just as good (if not better) an experience, and it's smarter to find a Con that reflects your interests than just rolling the dice on SDCC year after year.

Here are three upcoming major Cons that might appeal to different audiences. I'll be at least one, and I hope you  consider the same - especially if you got shut out of San Diego.


DragonCon

Attendance last year: 63,000

This is always a fun time for sci-fi, fantasy and comic book fans. It's more of a party than SDCC is, with more entertainment and more adult-only events, but some family fare as well. While it's numerically smaller than Cons like ECCC and Phoenix Comicon, the intense round-the-clock engagement of attendees means that it feels like a bigger Con.

Wrestling, live bands, puppet slams, burlesque shows, Rocky Horror and even a night at the local aquarium are just a few of the offerings; the panels and sessions are just as diverse, and focus on the paranormal, cosplay, sci fi, comics, alternate history, tech, gaming, books and more. In many ways, this is a truly nerdy Con in a way SDCC and NYCC shed a while ago - less mainstream pop culture and more of the weird and specific interests nerds tend to drill down into and get obsessed with. It's also more social; the bands and parties, and general friendliness of attendees, means you will always find a party to go to and people to party with. Yes, it's a popular Con for the poly/kinkster crew, but it's also easy just to make friends and find fellow fans and nerds to hang out with.

This year it happens 4-7 September in Atlanta, which means one important deadline looms on the horizon: 15 May is the final day to get the $110 Membership Rate. However you can still register through 15 August for the full $130 rate.



Salt Lake Comic Con

Attendance last year: 120,000

SDCC's nemesis is happening this year 24-26 September. Passes are on sale right now - with rates for all budgets. This Con has grown very rapidly and ranks up there with NYCC and SDCC in terms of size. I've never been, but it seems like a fairly generic pop culture and comic book convention, one that is a bit more wholesome than some other Cons. It's quite popular with parents who are looking to share their nerdy interests with their kids - something that was once guaranteed at SDCC, but these days is a bit harder to pull off, especially for a family of four or larger.

This is in Salt Lake City and tends to reflect the local culture; for instance, the Con runs Thursday-Saturday and does not have any events on Sunday. That can be a selling point for attendees looking for more of a family environment, while attendees looking for a more libertine experience might be happier elsewhere. Programming is still getting announced, but you can see some guests and news.




New York Comic Con

Attendance last year: 151,000

Last year NYCC dethroned SDCC as the biggest pop culture/comic convention. That only should tell you that this is a not a consolation prize for people who couldn't get into SDCC, but a massive and desirable event that offers many advantages San Diego does not.

The obvious: you're in New York. You're not going to struggle finding a hotel room, and if you've never been to NY, you can build in extra days to see the city or even drive into New England and see the autumn foliage. (Despite hailing from that region, I'm not a huge fan of New York - however, I do believe it is a city that everyone should experience at some point.) On the other hand, you won't find that city-wide sense of nerd community that San Diego offers so richly. It's very easy to walk away from NYCC and ten minutes later, feel completely alienated from the milieu you just left.

NYCC is run by ReedPOP, which means it differs from SDCC in other ways. While CCI does clearly want to improve our Comic-Con experience, ReedPOP has superior change management skills and a vastly greater appetite for change in general. From the cosplay red carpet to sexual harassment policies to recognizing and incorporating ECCC's excellent culture, they are willing to adapt to the ever-evolving Con community needs. They have to be that agile; they also run ECCC, Paris Comic Con, Shanghai Comic Con, Star Wars Celebration, C2E2, other Cons and are pretty much colonizing the planet.

There's also New York Super Week. NYCC happens 8-11 October; however, it's part of a larger event called New York Super Week that runs 5-11 October. This takes place out and about in the city and a few events have already been announced:

• Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular (1st time in America)
• After Party with BBQ Films
• Workshops on Writing for TV and Film - led by top network & studio writers and producers
• A Shipwreck Fan Fiction Competition
• Karaoke with Broadway Stars

Many more events will be added over the spring and summer; cardholders also get discounts at various bars, attractions and restaurants. You can get the Super Week card if you buy a 4-day NYCC ticket for $105, while other ticket holders can buy it for an extra $10. Yes, it's really that cheap.

Tickets go on sale for both NYCC and Super Week go on sale 13 May; don't delay on this because they will go fast. You can buy online, at Special Edition NYC 6-7 June, or at a special Midtown Comics event this summer.




Other conventions are consistently presented as the community college to SDCC's Ivy League. This just isn't true anymore. If you were willing to shell out for San Diego and didn't get a badge, consider using that money for another Con. You are not settling for second best, even if it feels like it at first. You are being smart - and you're also getting ahead of the future attendees who will eventually turn NYCC and other Cons into the same traffic-jammed nightmare that SDCC is now. Be adventurous, try out these unique offerings of these Cons and enjoy them while you can. I don't think you'll regret it.

Are you looking for a comic convention career?

13 MARCH 2015




Because if you are, Salt Lake Comic Con - you know, San Diego Comic-Con's arch nemesis, the Snow Meiser to their Heat Meiser - is hiring. Specifically for these positions:

• PR/Media Relations Internship (unpaid)
• Community Outreach Internship (unpaid)
• Corporate Sales Manager

And just maybe a graphic designer, based on the weird job ad image.

Those are all transferrable skills, and Comic Cons are a booming business. So don't think these are specialized niche industry jobs. Go forth and grow your resume and maybe one day you'll be running the smooth and efficient Con we all dream of.

SLCC and the genesis of Cons

30 JANUARY 2015

If you had to guess how most Cons got started, you'd probably imagine a motley collection of diehard fans and nerds booking a small venue and contacting local vendors. That's how it always went in my mind at least. And while I don't romanticize the struggles that go into getting a new Con off the ground, I do think a certain amount of genuine geeky passion is probably a requisite for creating the right energy and culture.

So it's a bit discomfiting to read about people who launch Cons for the pure business of it. I mean, it's what I fully expect to see happening these days, given that people obviously notice the growth and interest and sniff out an opportunity. But it's still weird to read about Salt Lake Comic Con's roots. Which namely involved a software vendor deciding he could increase attendance at the Cons he sold at, and enlisting an entrepreneur - who had never been to a Con - to partner with him in creating SLCC.

Obviously they've been crazy successful: Salt Lake Comic Con is booming. And they describe themselves as being "a fan of the fan experience" so there's some kind of convention love happening. But overall it points to a future in which Cons are sculpted and run like real businesses - as opposed to San Diego Comic-Con, which is like a dog that grew into a dragon but is still chained up in the backyard.

You can see CCI's lack of organizational sophistication in its clumsier processes, but also in the way it's stayed (mostly) committed to the original vision of that event. These shiny new events that are fast outgrowing it, on the other hand, often run more smoothly but lack that nerdy je ne sais quoi. Which is better? That's up to the individual attendee to decide. But it's probably just a matter of time before the suits end up taking over most of the big Cons and working their quasi-corporate transformations.

Update on SDCC vs SLCC lawsuit

10 JANUARY 2015




You've probably forgotten all about this by now, but one of the bigger drama bombs from last summer was San Diego Comic-Con's lawsuit against Salt Lake Comic Con. The lawsuit centers on the two names being too similar, as well as SLCC driving a snazzy car around San Diego with their logo on it. Honestly, I can't rehash it all; you can read SLCC's exhaustive coverage right here.

What matters now is that both sides' attorneys will meet with SoCal Magistrate Judge Jan Adler on February 5 to see if a settlement is in sight. I'm guessing not; the feisty SLCC has expressed a wish to see the case go before a jury.

As for CCI, they've suggested SLCC change their name to "FanX" which to me sounds like an over-the-counter medication you take for your headache /exhaustion / constipation while at a Con. (It's actually the name of SLCC's other event.) However, given the abundance of "Comicons" and "Comic Cons" all over the world, I can't see SLCC capitulating.

Update on SDCC-Salt Lake lawsuit

10 AUGUST 2014




Last month, during the flush of San Diego Comic-Con madness, CCI served Salt Lake Comic Con with a cease and desist order. But that's old news; this month they are suing them for monetary damages and an injunction demanding Salt Lake stop using “any combination, reproduction, counterfeit, copy or colorable imitation of the COMIC-CON marks in the marketing, promoting, advertising, offering for sale, or the sale of goods or services.”

CCI says: they did this on the principle that SLCC's name is confusing to the public and suggests an SDCC-SLCC alliance that doesn't exist. Basically, intellectual property infringement.

Salt Lake says: CCI lashed out because Salt Lake burst onto the scene last year like a boss, with their very first event attended by 78K and then over 100K at their next event. And because they drove a Salt Lake Comic Con Audi around San Diego during SDCC, which is the kind of guerilla marketing you'd expect from an audacious young upstart, but which CCI shouldn't have let bother them.

I know legal documents aren't always the most exciting reads, but the lawsuit is actually rather entertaining. I will highlight and hope that I don't get sued.

• SDCC believes  that  in   2013, Salt    Lake   decided    to "capitalize  on  SDCC’s  creativity,   ingenuity and   hard   work   through  the  unauthorized    use    of    SDCC’s   trademarks    to    advertise    and    promote    Defendants’    own     popular    arts    convention   titled   “Salt    Lake    Comic       Con.” "           I        know         this       is           legalese        but          "Comic            Con"             seems         to          be        what         they're     referring          to        here.      See       below.

• They     say    the    "extensive, unauthorized   use of    “Comic    Con”  (which   is   identical   to   or   confusingly    similar   to   SDCC’s COMIC-CON  marks)"     is    " intended   to suggest,   mislead   and   confuse   consumers into   believing that  the Salt Lake Comic Con convention   is   associated   with,   authorized   by,    endorsed   by   or   sponsored   by   SDCC."        They   don't     explain   why    this   argument   doesn't    apply   to  all  of   the   other Comic Cons     or    Comicons    in the   world.

• " On   their     website    Defendants    advertise, market and    sell    merchandise      that     incorporates         SDCC’s         COMIC-CON        mark,     including         t-shirts,       sweatshirts, hats, blankets, bags, mugs,  phone cases,   flags,  key chains and much more. The    logos    affixed   by   Defendants   to such   items   prominently   display and   emphasize   the   COMIC-CON   mark, while   minimizing   any   reference to  “Salt  Lake.”     They    actually    say   "Comic   Con"   (no hyphen)  and   they   don't   look   even   close   to    the   SDCC    logo   to  my   eye.

• Salt  Lake's    jaunty   response   toward  the   cease  and   desist   letter    seems   to   have   annoyed  CCI  as   well.   "In   a   further   effort  to   solicit   interest   in   their    convention   through   the unauthorized and   unlawful   use   of SDCC’s   intellectual    property, Defendants    invite   readers    to     propagate   their   skewed   accounting of    events,   by   “liking”   or commenting   on   various   publications   made or   driven    by   Defendants   regarding   the   dispute   in   exchange for   a    chance    to    win   a   pass   to   Defendants’   event.  Defendants    have   made   it clear in several   online publications that they do not intend to stop their unauthorized use and   infringement   of   SDCC’s   COMIC-COM   marks, but   instead   have brazenly   and   intentionally   continued    to   infringe  the COMIC-CON   mark   resulting   in   considerable   and    irreparable   harm   to SDCC."      Skewed    and  brazen!    I    hope   whoever   wrote  this   lawsuit   writes   our  badge  sale   emails.

• They    are    concerned   that   the   "confusingly   similar  marks"   will   deprive   SDCC   "of    the    ability    to    control   the   consumer   perception  of   the   quality   of  the   goods   and  services"   and    basically   make   them   lose   control   of    their   own   reputation.    Which   is  a  legitimate  fear   or    would   be   if    Salt   Lake  actually    seemed   to   be  blurring   the    line.   I  just  don't  think  people   are  going  to  make   that   mistake.

So   let's   just  say   it,  IP   infringement    is   a  serious   matter.  But  it's   still   hard    to   see   what   Salt   Lake   is    doing   that    other   Cons    aren't,   other   than   their   stunt    with   the  Audi.   (You  can  see  it  here.   I'd  wager   it's   the  font  that  pissed  off CCI.)  They're   already   a   wildly   popular   event  and  clearly    don't  need  to   leech   off   San  Diego's  buzz;   and  their   branding  look  and  feel  is   nothing   like  SDCC's.    I   can't   imagine   this   lawsuit    doing    CCI   any   favors or   doing   anything   at   all    but   stirring   up   more  publicity   for   Salt   Lake   Comic   Con.

This   turned   out   to  be   such    a    contentious   year, didn't   it?

Why you should consider Salt Lake Comic Con

29 JULY 2014

I spend a fair amount of time talking about other Cons on here, namely because I think people get too rabid about doing San Diego and San Diego only. I've also talked about the growth of other Cons, which have accelerated at astounding rates. However, Salt Lake Comic Con (note the careful omission of the dash, CCI) is in a league of its own. I can't even say it grew fast - instead it exploded into the scene as a full contender less than a year ago, like the Alien chest-burster.

Here's why you should consider going to Salt Lake:

• It debuted last September 2013 with 70-80K attendance. That is a huge number for a first year.
• It then hosted an April 2014 event called "Salt Lake Comic Con Fan Experience" which had over 100K attendance.
• CCI has served them with a cease and desist order for using "Comic Con" in their name, despite so many other other Cons (New York Comic Con, Emerald City Comicon, Phoenix Comicon) doing the same. Why so spooked, CCI? 

They have far too many badge price options for me to address here, but I like that they have a VIP pass. I'll be curious to see if that stays feasible in the coming years. They also have a range of events and celebrities, which I'll let you be the judge of. But it's probably their corporate sponsorship and ambitious tagline -"One Event to Rule Them All" - that's making CCI nervous. This is clearly not a grassroots Con but a well-orchestrated event with media firepower behind it.

As for the SDCC vs SLCC battle, it's hovering somewhere between hilarious and pathetic. By serving SLCC with that letter during their own Con, CCI only guaranteed maximum publicity for Salt Lake and derision for themselves. (Between this and the media-illiterate handling of the harassment issue, they have got to get better leadership.) At any rate, SLCC has set up an entire page that includes the letter, media coverage, the trademark and a list of all other Cons with "Comic Con" in their name. Read it and judge.

Two days after SDCC ended, I know many of you feel left out of the fun. This is an option that you should consider. Emerald City isn't until next spring but Salt Lake is just a few weeks away. Take a look and think about ending your summer on a high note.