Ban On Use of Water Meter Lid

The New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board wants the State to ban the use of the water meter lid by artists. The lid was designed in 1921 and has always been in the Public Domain. To get around that the S&WB wants to claim it as an emblem and needs a state law. If it is successful the lid would be removed from the public domain and could be licensed. The popularity of the lid was made by the very artists who used it over many years. Now that it has become popular the S&WB wants to close off its use. The artists have helped stop the abuse of taking of the lids by making available to people unique products, plates, hats, shirts, that can be bought at local stores. I hope someone with a little clout sees through what is going on. What would be the next unique design taken from commerce by this type of action, the "Fleur De Lis"? The news article is below. Anyone who likes the design should buy them now before they are banned sold locally at Bucktown Pharmacy, Lake Ave. Metairie, La. and see http://www.cafepress.com/figstreetstudio/1126148

PS: As of June 22,2007 the bill failed the Louisiana House of Represenatives and should not become law unless it is re-consider and re-introduced. It then was reconsidered and passed. ANy reproduction will carry a $5,000.00 fine.
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New Orleans Times Picayune June 24,2007

Emblem fair game

Artists and vendors who've been reproducing the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board's popular "Crescent Cover" logo won a reprieve Friday when the House struck down legislation that would have allowed the board to license the image and penalize anyone who uses it without permission. The 47-27 vote on Senate Bill 319 by Sen. Edwin Murray, D-New Orleans, was 23 votes shy of the two-thirds super majority needed on bills that impose fines. Water board officials were seeking the change as a means of getting some legal control over a logo that has been reproduced for years on everything from T-shirts and Mardi Gras beads to coasters and commemorative plates. But opponents said the logo, which dates to 1921, should remain in the public domain where anyone can use it. "Isn't imitation the highest form of flattery?" asked Rep. Jim Tucker, R-Algiers. The bill, which has already passed the Senate, can be brought up again for another vote. On Monday June 25, 2007 the bill was reconsidered and finally passed. When signed by the governor sales of items with the lid will be banned.


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Leggo our logo! S&WB asks state to protect emblem
But it doubts licensing brings much money
Friday, May 11, 2007
By Jan Moller
New Orleans Times-Picayune

BATON ROUGE -- It's been reproduced on everything from T-shirts and Mardi Gras beads to cufflinks, gourmet chocolates and commemorative plates.

Now -- after years of watching its famous moon-and-stars logo get appropriated by artists and tourist vendors -- the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans wants a cut of the action. Or, at the very least, some say over who gets to profit from its "Crescent Cover" logo.

"We just want to have some type of control over its use," said Robert Jackson, a spokesman for the board, which on Thursday asked the Senate Local, Municipal and Parochial Affairs Committee to provide legal penalties to anyone who uses its logo without a license.


(Read the whole article on the web at- http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/capital/index.ssf?/base/news-4/117886771564080.xml&coll=1)

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