- Impact
- 32
Appraisals on this name, "WebstersDictionary.mobi".
NOTE: It is NOT TM'd, "Websters - anything" is considered a generic term. (Thanks to those of you who did some research this morning and helped to find that out).
Honest appraisals please.
From Wikipedia:
The name "Webster" used by others
Since the late 19th century, dictionaries bearing the name "Webster's" have been published by companies other than Merriam-Webster. Some of these were pirated reprints of Noah Webster's work, some were revisions by others. One such revision was Webster's Imperial Dictionary, based on John Ogilvie's Imperial Dictionary, itself an expansion of Noah Webster's American Dictionary.
As a result of lawsuits filed by Merriam, American courts ruled that "Webster's" entered the public domain when the Unabridged did, in 1889 (G. & C. Merriam Co. v. Ogilvie, 159 Fed. 638 (1908)) and another court ruled in 1917 that it entered the public domain in 1834 when Noah Webster's 1806 dictionary's copyright lapsed. Thus, Webster's became a genericized trademark and others were free to use the name on their own works.
Since then, use of the name "Webster" has been rampant. Merriam-Webster goes to great pains to remind dictionary buyers that it alone is the heir to Noah Webster[1]. The issue is more complicated than that, however. Throughout the 20th century, some non-Merriam editions, such as Webster's New Universal, were closer to Webster's work than modern Merriam-Webster editions. Indeed, Merriam's progressive revisions came to have little in common with their original source, while the Universal, for example, was minimally revised and remained largely out of date. However, Merriam-Webster revisionists find solid ground in Noah Webster's concept of the English language as an ever-changing tapestry.
So many dictionaries of varied size and quality have been called Webster's that the name no longer has any specific brand meaning. Despite this, many people still recognize and trust the name. Thus, Webster's continues as a powerful and lucrative marketing tool. In recent years, even established dictionaries with no direct link to Noah Webster whatsoever have adopted his name, adding to the confusion. Random House dictionaries are now called Random House Webster's, and Microsoft's Encarta World English Dictionary is now Encarta Webster's Dictionary. The dictionary now called Webster's New Universal no longer uses the text referred to in the previous paragraph but is a commissioned version of the Random House Dictionary.
NOTE: It is NOT TM'd, "Websters - anything" is considered a generic term. (Thanks to those of you who did some research this morning and helped to find that out).
Honest appraisals please.
From Wikipedia:
The name "Webster" used by others
Since the late 19th century, dictionaries bearing the name "Webster's" have been published by companies other than Merriam-Webster. Some of these were pirated reprints of Noah Webster's work, some were revisions by others. One such revision was Webster's Imperial Dictionary, based on John Ogilvie's Imperial Dictionary, itself an expansion of Noah Webster's American Dictionary.
As a result of lawsuits filed by Merriam, American courts ruled that "Webster's" entered the public domain when the Unabridged did, in 1889 (G. & C. Merriam Co. v. Ogilvie, 159 Fed. 638 (1908)) and another court ruled in 1917 that it entered the public domain in 1834 when Noah Webster's 1806 dictionary's copyright lapsed. Thus, Webster's became a genericized trademark and others were free to use the name on their own works.
Since then, use of the name "Webster" has been rampant. Merriam-Webster goes to great pains to remind dictionary buyers that it alone is the heir to Noah Webster[1]. The issue is more complicated than that, however. Throughout the 20th century, some non-Merriam editions, such as Webster's New Universal, were closer to Webster's work than modern Merriam-Webster editions. Indeed, Merriam's progressive revisions came to have little in common with their original source, while the Universal, for example, was minimally revised and remained largely out of date. However, Merriam-Webster revisionists find solid ground in Noah Webster's concept of the English language as an ever-changing tapestry.
So many dictionaries of varied size and quality have been called Webster's that the name no longer has any specific brand meaning. Despite this, many people still recognize and trust the name. Thus, Webster's continues as a powerful and lucrative marketing tool. In recent years, even established dictionaries with no direct link to Noah Webster whatsoever have adopted his name, adding to the confusion. Random House dictionaries are now called Random House Webster's, and Microsoft's Encarta World English Dictionary is now Encarta Webster's Dictionary. The dictionary now called Webster's New Universal no longer uses the text referred to in the previous paragraph but is a commissioned version of the Random House Dictionary.
Last edited:
