“I think CBS is being unreasonable,” Mat Honan, frustrated creator of the 48 HR magazine tells Business Insider, “I don’t feel like they’re negotiating, I feel like they’re demanding.” (h/t MediaDecoder)
As we noted last month, CBS lawyers delivered a Cease & Desist to the group alleging that the two-day-produced magazine’s title infringed on the “48 Hours Mystery” newsmagazine.
Honan and his colleagues relented and agreed to change the name, but are now saying that CBS’ demands — the ability to vet the new name and possession of the 48hrmag.com URL — are unfair: “The bottom line is we’re still trying to work with them. What we’re hoping for is that we can continue to maintain the good will and reputation we’ve built up without having to start from scratch, and it looks like [CBS doesn’t] want that to happen.”
On the matter, a CBS spokesperson tells TVNewser, “After some productive discussions, the other side has seen the error of their ways and they have agreed to vacate the use of our trademark name. Rumor has it that they will now call themselves ‘The New York Times Sunday Magazine,’ and we have no problem with that.” Ha!