c/worldnews · by ray@lemmy.ml · 284d

Why all the free-stuff Facebook groups you’re part of just changed their name

https://sfstandard.com/2025/11/07/buy-nothing-group-facebook-taken-down-trademark-infringment/

Not exactly... world news. But it's happening all over the world.

56 points · 16 comments · view on lemmy.world

16 Comments

RunJun@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 25 pts · 284d (5 replies)

Actually hilarious to charge $55 a year under the banner of Buy Nothing

nymnympseudonym@piefed.social · 5 pts · 284d

Yeah CEOs are frickin' hilarious that way

solrize@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 284d (3 replies)

What was that brand that tried to pitch itself as a non-brand having no logo, but its stuff had a black smudgy circle as a logo? It wasn't "No Logo" (title of a Naomi Klein book) but I had thought it was related to that. It amused me. Web search isn't finding it right now.

nymnympseudonym@piefed.social · 4 pts · 284d (1 reply)

Not what you're thinking of, but adjacent and worthy on its own

solrize@lemmy.ml · 5 pts · 284d

I still can't find the black smudge logo but this is funny too (it's unironically a product for sale):

Bartsbigbugbag@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 283d

I buy unbranded brand jeans, but I don’t think that’s it. I just like high quality selvage denim, lasts way longer than Levi’s or Wrangler and looks nicer too.

paper_moon@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 284d (2 replies)

Back in college when I was more active on Craigslist, they called it freecycle. I always wondered why and where buy-nothing came from, as I was extremely familiar with the term freecycle already.

IamSparticles@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 283d (1 reply)

Freecycle did the same thing a few years ago. Our local freecycle group had to change their name to Giving With Integrity.

paper_moon@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 283d

Well thats shitty, i also didn't realize freecycle was an organization or entity that had legal rights to the name, thought it was similar to what I originally thought buy-nothing was, just a term used to easily describe the intention of the group.

OldChicoAle@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 284d

Wow what an asshole thing to do. They want to make money off their book. Crazy that people need these Facebook groups to get food and resources when SNAP is not available and these two just want to make money.

HiddenLayer555@lemmy.ml · 4 pts · 283d (1 reply)

But to the people behind the Buy Nothing Project, the umbrella group that sparked it all, Cahill and others are copycats who stole their idea, their trademark, and, ironically, their chance to reel in revenue from the giveaways through the official Buy Nothing app.

Are there no rules for how complex and NOT PART OF THE LANGUAGE trademarks have to be?

I'm going to trademark all 26 letters and become a jillionaire

CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org · 0 pts · 283d

Generally they're by type of good, IIRC. So, a grocery store can still sell eating apples, but not computers or phones called that.

GraniteM@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 283d (2 replies)

Can one trademark a brand and then announce that it is immediately public domain so that no one else can ever trademark it? Someone should trademark No Buy Stuff or some such phrase and do that.

ray@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 283d (1 reply)

Obviously, I am not a lawyer, but I believe that part of having a trademark is that you have to defend it and show that it's just yours. So I don't think having a trademark and then just saying everyone can use it would really work.

Manifish_Destiny@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 283d

Tell that to the 'super S' guy.

Catalyst_A@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 283d

in Jimmy's voice from south park This is an ad.