Owner of Dewey Decimal System Sues Library-Themed Hotel

[Ann Okerson <ann.okerson@yale.edu>]

Dear Liblicence-l Readers:  A number of librarians who have stayed at the
Library Hotel in NYC have found it delightful and are stunned the action
being taken to enforce ownership of the Dewey Decimal System.  As a
consequence, this newspaper article has circulated widley today.

One could imagine that OCLC and the Library Hotel could turn this legal
action into a win-win.  Accordingly, liblicense-l will forward to the
entire list any postings that propose some interesting win-win 
possibilities.  Maybe we can all help to resolve this unfortunate 
situation.  The Moderators

---------- Excerpted Article ----------

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-dewey-decimal-defenders,0,2420724.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

By Associated Press

September 20, 2003, 10:01 PM EDT

DUBLIN, Ohio -- The nonprofit library cooperative that owns the Dewey
Decimal system has filed suit against a library-themed luxury hotel in
Manhattan for trademark infringement.

The Library Hotel, which overlooks the New York Public Library, is divided
according to the classification system, with each floor dedicated to one
of Dewey's 10 categories.

Room 700.003 includes books on the performing arts, for example, while
room 800.001 has a collection of erotic literature.

In the lawsuit filed last week, lawyers for the Online Computer Library
Center said the organization acquired the rights to the system in 1988
when it bought Forest Press, which published Dewey Decimal updates. The
center charges libraries that use the system at least $500 per year.

Melvil Dewey created his system -- used in 95 percent of all public and
K-12 school libraries -- in 1873, but it is continually updated, with
numbers assigned to more than 100,000 new works each year.

"A person who came to (the hotel's) Web site ... would think they were
passing themselves off as connected with the owner of the Dewey Decimal
Classification system," said Joseph Dreitler, a lawyer representing the
center.

Hotel general manager Craig Spitzer and OCLC spokeswoman Wendy McGinnis
did not return phone messages Saturday seeking comment.

The complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Columbus seeks triple the
hotel's profits since its opening or triple the organization's damages,
whichever is greater, from the hotel's owner.

Dreitler said Saturday he and his client do not yet know the size of the
hotel's profits. The center, based in Dublin, is willing to settle with
the hotel's owners, he said.

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