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US Crowdfunding giant Kickstarter has threatened the organisers of #UKCrowdfundingDay with legal action.
The "cease and desist" order came after the Kickstarter logo appeared on the home page of the #UKCrowdfundingDay website, under the heading "Prominent UK Crowdfunding Organisations and Supporters".
The two paragraph email, signed only "Kickstarter Legal", concluded: "We demand that you remove our name and logo from the site immediately. If you fail to do so, we will take all appropriate action to protect our rights, including instituting a legal action against you."
Barry James, founder of #UKCrowdfundingDay, is baffled at the response.
He said: "We've all worked really hard to boost Crowdfunding in the UK and quietly supported and helped Kickstarter along the way. For reasons it's difficult to fathom someone, somewhere, has taken umbrage - and their very first reaction is to issue a legal threat.
"Frankly we’re gobsmacked. My team of #UKCrowdfundingDay volunteers followed the logo usage criteria laid out by Kickstarter on their website – and we’ve certainly done nothing to injure them. On the contrary the day is proving a very popular and powerful way of raising awareness of Crowdfunding - and Kickstarter UK is one of the many beneficiaries. Why would they be offended at being called a 'prominent UK Crowdfunding organisation'?
"I remain hopeful we can resolve this in the spirit of collaboration and mutual support which characterises Crowdfunding. Especially since we both have the same end goal - to boost Crowdfunding in the UK and enable many more entrepreneurs to flourish!
In a bid to create an open, positive dialogue, Mr James has written an Open Letter to Kickstarter’s founders inviting them to join him as VIPs for # UKCrowdfundingDay on 1st November 2013.
Notes:
Open Letter – link here - http://thesocialfoundation.tumblr.com/post/64382750431/kickstarter-in-legal-threat-over-uk-crowdfunding-day and copy on next page.
UK Crowdfunding Day – www.ukcrowdfundingday.org
The Crowdfunding Centre – www.thecrowdfundingcentre.com
