Release Winnetou and Old Shatterhand from Trademark Bondage!

Sabine Niederberghaus-Lesavoy, who represents herself as the Bamberger Karl May Verwaltungs- und Vertriebs GmbH, KarlMayUSA.com and Karl May USA Inc, has managed to obtain the trademarks of Winnetou, Shatterhand as well as Old Shatterhand. All of the above names refer to two fictional characters created by Karl May [1842-1912] in a series of books of which some bear these names as titles. These literary works have been and continue to be translated into English and thirty other languages, preserving the original names in the newly copyrighted works. The Nemsi Books publishing house is producing the above named books and currently has four titles bearing the name of Winnetou in print. Sunshine Records of Canada is producing the audio books with the same titles under our license. Ms. Niederberhaus-Lesavoy has applied for and been granted trademarks that infringe on the copyrighted titles and characters in the translated Karl May works published by Nemsi Books and Sunshine Records. It should also be noted that the Winnetou trademark applied for by the Bamberger Karl May Verwaltungs- und Vertriebs GmbH. (Sabine Niederberghaus-Lesavoy) was extinguished in Germany on the 5th December 2002. See: Article On the 23rd January 2003 the German Supreme Court held that the defendant violated § 5 I, III of the Trademark Statute, which protects the title of works, and § 15 III of the Trademark Statute by using the title Winnetou. See: Article

 
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