CopyCats - WOW Already ! Give your advice, please.

[td873]

It was just brought to my attention from a potential supporter of this system that someone from another agency asked their company to support almost exactly to a T the system I developed for our sport.

Of course, I have copyrights on all of the information regarding this system I have created and disseminated so the offending parties will be hearing from me to cease and desist but.......... What can I say.
Does anyone have any advice to offer ?

It is unclear what you "own", what you have "copyrighted" (and how you did that), and the extent of your remedy. It sounds like you have something described as a "T system", but you have a copyright on it...

Can you please describe in better detail what has been "borrowed"?

-td

**********************************************
Not intended in any way to be legal advice.
Always consult counsel licensed in your jurisdiction.
And never pay any attention to Forum Posts, especially by me.
************************************************

 

[MikeJanis]

**********************************************
Not intended in any way to be legal advice.
Always consult counsel licensed in your jurisdiction.
And never pay any attention to Forum Posts, especially by me.
************************************************

I like this part the best.

Mj

 

[JAM]

JAM, I have alreadt stated that this was not the works of who you are thinking.

I hope whatever it is that it does not breathe fire.

In all seriousness, Mike, I want you to succeed. There is no doubt that you are one of the hardest working industry members out there.

If anybody can do it, you can.

JAM

 

[Dawgie]

Invoke your copyrights rights before it gets too far into the development. The further it gets developed the more expensive it will be to stop.

 

[Williebetmore]

Re: the Board. I wish I could agree with you on this but as proof that a board can change the direction of original intention just use the BCA (Billiard Congress of America not the BCA Pool-League) as an example.


Mj

MJ,
Wow.....you really hit the nail on the head there. The BCA is a prime example of what DOESN'T work. For 60 years they totally abdicated their responsibility to help the game grow (despite having the authority, and probably the resources as well).

Hopefully the future will see a Pete Rozelle-, Dean Beman-, Fred Corcoran- (LPGA founder), Bowie Kuhn-, David Stern-type of leader for pool; someone who can "force/convince" the players and sponsors to behave in the best interests of the game. Maybe his initials will be MJ. Good luck.

 

[MikeJanis]

Hopefully the future will see a Pete Rozelle-, Dean Beman-, Fred Corcoran- (LPGA founder), Bowie Kuhn-, David Stern-type of leader for pool; someone who can "force/convince" the players and sponsors to behave in the best interests of the game. Maybe his initials will be MJ. Good luck.

WOW, that's strong !

Thanks for your support,

Mj

 

[Joe Pickens]

WOW, that's strong !

Thanks for your support,

Mj

Maybe he meant Michael Jordan.

 

[!Smorgass Bored]

I Said,"A No, No, No, It Ain't ME Lord. It Ain't Me You're Thinking Of" imo

Ok, Ok, my new guesses are:
Don Mackey
Chuck Bobbit
Fast Larry
ActionHound
Simon Cowell (surely, he's guilty of SOMETHING)

 

[Dartman]

By working together for one goal, this system (the ATS) allows all pool players, amateur, league, tournament
and otherwise to advance through an exact system to achieve professional status.
Mj

Best wishes for success with your endeavor.
How does the ATS impact an individual that is Not interested in "pro status" but just
aspires to be best in league or best in state, etc.

 

[cleary]

So, you are suggesting I work with someone that stole my intellectual property, copied it and tried to pass it off as their own and has no experience with operating a tour in the interest helping the sport grow?

Yes, I am. I don't know who "stole" your "intellectual property" or what exactly they "stole" but obviously if they are coping you, they have similar goals in mind. I've read through your system and nothing about it seems that revolutionary.

Dont get me wrong, I truly admire what you're doing and Ill stand behind anyone who is trying to help. I just think if you gather as many people who are interested in helping.... it could work out even better.

 

[MikeJanis]

Best wishes for success with your endeavor.
How does the ATS impact an individual that is Not interested in "pro status" but just
aspires to be best in league or best in state, etc.

That depends by what you mean as impact.

 

[Dartman]

That depends by what you mean as impact.

How does your system "affect" the player not looking for pro status.

In your statement -
"this system (the ATS) allows all pool players, amateur, league, tournament and otherwise to advance through an
exact system to achieve professional status"

Let's say a league affiliates with ATS - would there be some sort of mandatory advancement towards a
pro designation for the top league player(s). What about someone that wins an (ATS?) Viking Tour stop event.

My query is simply that some individuals may not want to be categorized as pro
so would the ATS advancement system be mandatory or voluntary?

 

[JB Cases]

How does your system "affect" the player not looking for pro status.

In your statement -
"this system (the ATS) allows all pool players, amateur, league, tournament and otherwise to advance through an
exact system to achieve professional status"

Let's say a league affiliates with ATS - would there be some sort of mandatory advancement towards a
pro designation for the top league player(s). What about someone that wins an (ATS?) Viking Tour stop event.

My query is simply that some individuals may not want to be categorized as pro
so would the ATS advancement system be mandatory or voluntary?

I would guess that it would be similar to the WPBA. Any player who wins a qualifier is not obligated to play in a pro event nor are they granted professional status.

However the ONLY path to becoming a Touring WBPA player is by going through the qualifier system to get spots in the pro events where you can then earn points towards Professional status.

I know of one WPBA regular who deliberately keeps herself from earning "Pro" status so that she can continue to play in amateur events where she does very well.

I don't know how the ATS will work it out but I would hope that they have some kind of definite boundary between professional and amateur.

 

[LeagueShirts]

Its obvious that you have applied a lot of work into your system Mike. IMHO, legal protections should be lined up ASAP. I think one of the most immediate methods would be to declare your ATS name trademarked by marking (TM) on the phrase each instance it is used in 'print', incl any logos and graphics. Until you get everything protected and until you commercially demonstrate use of the ATS, it's possible that somebody could take it right from under you and use and demonstrate its use first, and have more rights that you do. yikes! Best of luck with this project!

 

[Dartman]

I know of one WPBA regular who deliberately keeps herself from earning "Pro" status so that she can continue to play in amateur events where she does very well.

Gaining "eligibility" to move into higher levels of play is reasonable.
On one darts tour, finishing top 3 in a regional event automatically puts one on the pro list and I know
many folks that throw off to maintain a non-pro status - similar to your example.

 

[lodini]

However the ONLY path to becoming a Touring WBPA player is by going through the qualifier system to get spots in the pro events where you can then earn points towards Professional status.

I know of one WPBA regular who deliberately keeps herself from earning "Pro" status so that she can continue to play in amateur events where she does very well.

Maybe if there was a great "pro" system that made sense and was more lucrative, then people wouldn't throw away their pro status opportunities. That's the goal here, and I am sure we would all be happy to see it happen, no matter how we get there.

 

[Dartman]

Maybe if there was a great "pro" system that made sense and was more lucrative, then people wouldn't throw away their pro status opportunities. That's the goal here, and I am sure we would all be happy to see it happen, no matter how we get there.

Lucrative being the keyword - major sponsors being the answer, imo.
This might make for an interesting poll - "What's your goal as a player?"

 

[sixpack]

As most of AZ forum members know, I have been working on a complete system for the overall growth of our sport which culminates in a US Pro Tour. I have worked and formulated this system for over four years.

It was just brought to my attention from a potential supporter of this system that someone from another agency asked their company to support almost exactly to a T the system I developed for our sport.

Of course, I have copyrights on all of the information regarding this system I have created and disseminated so the offending parties will be hearing from me to cease and desist but.......... What can I say. What a joke. The offenders are a well known billiard entity but have no experience in these matters regarding tournaments or membership services. In fact, they have an already tarnished reputation . I hope I am able to convince them to stop before their reputation is tarnished even further.

PLEASE DO NOT SPECULATE AS TO WHO THEY MAY BE. We as a community through AZ forums definitely do not want to get anything wrong with assumptions and tarnish an innocent person or company through speculation. Again, please do not post any names of companies you think it may be.

Does anyone have any advice to offer ?

Mike,

I love what you're trying to do and I think you have the right combination of tenacity, diplomacy and elbow grease to pull it off.

Don't worry about the copycats much, they don't have the track record or wherewithal to pull this off.

Also, the system you came up with is not unique and while the specifics have changed and been refined to a level I haven't seen before, people have been tossing similar structures around for a long time. Wasting time and effort trying to prove your case could derail you from succeeding at implementing it. IMO that's not a good path to go down.

I was personally involved in a business plan to do almost the same thing about 12 years ago but we elected not to proceed because we did not think we would be successful given our other commitments etc...
What is unique about your proposition isn't the plan itself. What's unique is your ability to succeed where others would fail.

Please don't take this post as a negative, it's not intended to be. Rather I support you wholeheartedly and want you to see your true competitive advantage: Namely, you have you. Nobody else does. Leverage your advantage and you'll be fine.

If the copycats turn out to have more staying power than I think, then deal with that as you have to, but for now focus on execution.

~Regas

 

[Johnnyt]

I would guess that it would be similar to the WPBA. Any player who wins a qualifier is not obligated to play in a pro event nor are they granted professional status.

However the ONLY path to becoming a Touring WBPA player is by going through the qualifier system to get spots in the pro events where you can then earn points towards Professional status.

I know of one WPBA regular who deliberately keeps herself from earning "Pro" status so that she can continue to play in amateur events where she does very well.

I don't know how the ATS will work it out but I would hope that they have some kind of definite boundary between professional and amateur.

I don't know why a men's tour can't be started using the WPBA system/format. I've been saying this for years. If you need to tweek it a little here and there fine...but it seems to work just fine. Johnnyt

 

[JB Cases]

Maybe if there was a great "pro" system that made sense and was more lucrative, then people wouldn't throw away their pro status opportunities. That's the goal here, and I am sure we would all be happy to see it happen, no matter how we get there.

Maybe but not everyone wants to be a pool professional. In other sports people retain their amateur status for a myriad of reasons. I don't think that participating in pro-level events should make one a pro.

I agree that being a "pro" should be more lucrative. However if you are a top amateur or a mid-level pro sometimes you make the same money with far more choice and less pressure as an amateur.

Professional Status as a designation should accompany an income level that is commensurate with Professional status in all walks of life. My plumber is a professional and he clears $50,000 a year. I am sure that if this was the target then there would be plenty who relish the chance to go pro.

This was the premise of the IPT who stupidly wasted the chance to build something similar. Remember the mini-qualifiers to earn a spot in qualifiers? I think Mike Janis ran those for a week. Each mini was like $30 and paid out an entry into a qualifier, which in turn paid out one spot into the big tournament.

If the ATS can develop such a feeder system that produces a PRO tour with an average after tax/expense income of sufficient size to support a family decently then I am sure that there will eventually be plenty of people in the USA who try to go that route for their professional careers.

John