Sunday, November 02, 2003

David versus Goliath

This summer I took an American History course, and my professor wore a HaidaBucks t-shirt one day. As a Canadian (with a dual citizenship) who mainly teaches History at Washington State University in Pullman, I'm sure this drew some attention down in WA, since Starbucks is based in Seattle.

The short version of the story is that corporate giant Starbucks, with billions of dollars in revenue, sued tiny HaidaBucks Cafe in a village (pop. 700) in the Queen Charlotte Islands on the northern coast of B.C. for copyright infringement.

Read more about the story at the HaidaBucks Cafe website.

Unlike many cases of this nature, the legal battle was won by the little guy, as Starbucks dropped the lawsuit.