Naked Cowboy

[DaGip]

Does the Naked Cowboy have a legitimate lawsuit?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsUqLyMR ... re=related

[Kid_A]

This pathetic individual thinks this is an opportunity to get rich and be set for life. He deserves slow death from cancer and aids.

[DaGip]

This pathetic individual thinks this is an opportunity to get rich and be set for life. He deserves slow death from cancer and aids.

Yeah, the only chance this guy ever had at making it big in his life was to sue somebody! His songs suck!

[Kid_A]

....and as a New Yorker born and raised, when I think about New York, I think of 8 million miserable, angry and cold individuals cramped into a tiny living space

I love sunny California

[Kid_A]

This pathetic individual thinks this is an opportunity to get rich and be set for life. He deserves slow death from cancer and aids.

Yeah, the only chance this guy ever had at making it big in his life was to sue somebody! His songs suck!

agreed. You do not deserve 6 million dollars for playing guitar in the streets of Manhattan. Every major city has a thousand homeless guitar players. They all don't deserve a million dollars. If he wanted to EARN $$$ he should've gotten an education. Wearing a cowboy hat and underwear doesn't make him unique and special, it makes him trashy, and an embarrassment to him family and friends.

[DaGip]

....and as a New Yorker born and raised, when I think about New York, I think of 8 million miserable, angry and cold individuals cramped into a tiny living space

I love sunny California

Sorry, I am not from NewYork so i would not have thought of that option.

I am from SouthDakota where only 700,000 people are half frozen for half of the year, but we got lots and lots of room! Clean air too!

[Kid_A]

....and as a New Yorker born and raised, when I think about New York, I think of 8 million miserable, angry and cold individuals cramped into a tiny living space

I love sunny California

Sorry, I am not from NewYork so i would not have thought of that option.

I am from SouthDakota where only 700,000 people are half frozen for half of the year, but we got lots and lots of room! Clean air too!

yeah, but you also have a lot of incest

I currently live in Los Angeles, which has the worst air quality in the entire US of A, so I wouldn't know anything about that fresh air you speak of.

[muy_thaiguy]

You know, all I ever hear about NYC (or most places out East for that matter) are the sites, landmarks, etc, but never the people. The one time I did, my friend said that a guy casually came up to him, started talking to him about the Wyoming Cowboys, and then told him he was being mugged. My friend was lucky that sensei came just in time to scare off the guy.

[DaGip]

....and as a New Yorker born and raised, when I think about New York, I think of 8 million miserable, angry and cold individuals cramped into a tiny living space

I love sunny California

Sorry, I am not from NewYork so i would not have thought of that option.

I am from SouthDakota where only 700,000 people are half frozen for half of the year, but we got lots and lots of room! Clean air too!

yeah, but you also have a lot of incest

I currently live in Los Angeles, which has the worst air quality in the entire US of A, so I wouldn't know anything about that fresh air you speak of.

We really don't have that big a problem with incest, we have lots of cows, pigs, and sheep to keep those incestual impulses at bay.

[Harijan]

I have not seen the complaint yet. Part of what I do professionally is calculating how much damage is done to people/companies when there is a copywrite or trademark infringement like this.

Just to give you a rough idea, if Naked Cowboy's brand was completely destroyed by Mars using his image, and he could no longer earn any money from his Naked Cowboy brand (I know its a big "if") then he would need to prove that his annual revenue from the brand is approximately $200,000 in order to claim $6,000,000 in damages.

I have no idea what the guy actually earns, but he does have albums, tours, and a fan club.

[Pedronicus]

This pathetic individual thinks this is an opportunity to get rich and be set for life. He deserves slow death from cancer and aids.

If a slow and lingering death is what you're after - It makes more sense to wish 1 uncurable disease upon him.

[DaGip]

I have not seen the complaint yet. Part of what I do professionally is calculating how much damage is done to people/companies when there is a copywrite or trademark infringement like this.

Just to give you a rough idea, if Naked Cowboy's brand was completely destroyed by Mars using his image, and he could no longer earn any money from his Naked Cowboy brand (I know its a big "if") then he would need to prove that his annual revenue from the brand is approximately $200,000 in order to claim $6,000,000 in damages.

I have no idea what the guy actually earns, but he does have albums, tours, and a fan club.

Well, when professional beggars are making around $100,000+ in some of the big cities (and NewYork is the biggest city), i think Naked Cowboy was probably pulling in some major cash in a years time.

I remember when I lived in Arizona, one of the news channels did a report on professional beggars. They live in nice houses, have cars and food, and they go about their lives in a normal fashion. The beggar part is only an act. They got some dirty grubby clothes and they rub potting soil over their face and hands. They make sure they get the dirt under their finger nails, then they hang out at a Freeway ramp with a sign "Please Help!"

The guy they were talking to (who had his face blurred out) said that he was making about $100,000 a year by doing this. (I can't find the footage, but I remember seeing it and we talked about it for a few days in Arizona)

So, if some dumb guy in Phoneix is making 6 digits, then I imagine Naked Cowboy--who, at least entertains (although lamely)--is pulling in a pretty serious figure every year.

[Harijan]

I remember when I lived in Arizona, one of the news channels did a report on professional beggars. They live in nice houses, have cars and food, and they go about their lives in a normal fashion. The beggar part is only an act. They got some dirty grubby clothes and they rub potting soil over their face and hands. They make sure they get the dirt under their finger nails, then they hang out at a Freeway ramp with a sign "Please Help!"

I am in Arizona, I can confirm that story. I remember when that ran, people were pissed. I wonder if money given to beggars declined after that story.

[DaGip]

I remember when I lived in Arizona, one of the news channels did a report on professional beggars. They live in nice houses, have cars and food, and they go about their lives in a normal fashion. The beggar part is only an act. They got some dirty grubby clothes and they rub potting soil over their face and hands. They make sure they get the dirt under their finger nails, then they hang out at a Freeway ramp with a sign "Please Help!"

I am in Arizona, I can confirm that story. I remember when that ran, people were pissed. I wonder if money given to beggars declined after that story.

I can't find that video or news article anywhere on the web, can you?

[Frigidus]

I remember when I lived in Arizona, one of the news channels did a report on professional beggars. They live in nice houses, have cars and food, and they go about their lives in a normal fashion. The beggar part is only an act. They got some dirty grubby clothes and they rub potting soil over their face and hands. They make sure they get the dirt under their finger nails, then they hang out at a Freeway ramp with a sign "Please Help!"

I am in Arizona, I can confirm that story. I remember when that ran, people were pissed. I wonder if money given to beggars declined after that story.

I need a new job.

[Harijan]

haven't looked. not that important to me.

[got tonkaed]

I remember when I lived in Arizona, one of the news channels did a report on professional beggars. They live in nice houses, have cars and food, and they go about their lives in a normal fashion. The beggar part is only an act. They got some dirty grubby clothes and they rub potting soil over their face and hands. They make sure they get the dirt under their finger nails, then they hang out at a Freeway ramp with a sign "Please Help!"

I am in Arizona, I can confirm that story. I remember when that ran, people were pissed. I wonder if money given to beggars declined after that story.

its fair to assume it probably did in the short term.

[reminisco]

I remember when I lived in Arizona, one of the news channels did a report on professional beggars. They live in nice houses, have cars and food, and they go about their lives in a normal fashion. The beggar part is only an act. They got some dirty grubby clothes and they rub potting soil over their face and hands. They make sure they get the dirt under their finger nails, then they hang out at a Freeway ramp with a sign "Please Help!"

I am in Arizona, I can confirm that story. I remember when that ran, people were pissed. I wonder if money given to beggars declined after that story.

its fair to assume it probably did in the short term.

of course, not all beggars are like that. according to the most reputable research, it's a small minority that pull a con like that described above.

fact is, the overwhelming majority of beggars are drug addicts, to crack or heroin, most commonly.

however, the way that con can work is in the serious underreporting of income on taxes. since they are collecting cash, it's essentially all tax free.

[got tonkaed]

I remember when I lived in Arizona, one of the news channels did a report on professional beggars. They live in nice houses, have cars and food, and they go about their lives in a normal fashion. The beggar part is only an act. They got some dirty grubby clothes and they rub potting soil over their face and hands. They make sure they get the dirt under their finger nails, then they hang out at a Freeway ramp with a sign "Please Help!"

I am in Arizona, I can confirm that story. I remember when that ran, people were pissed. I wonder if money given to beggars declined after that story.

its fair to assume it probably did in the short term.

of course, not all beggars are like that. according to the most reputable research, it's a small minority that pull a con like that described above.

fact is, the overwhelming majority of beggars are drug addicts, to crack or heroin, most commonly.

however, the way that con can work is in the serious underreporting of income on taxes. since they are collecting cash, it's essentially all tax free.

yeah the con is a pretty decent way to make potentially substantial amounts of money tax free.

I think it probably reduced some revenue all the way around for beggars simply because the amount of money they recieve probably has some correlative if not causal relationship to how the indivdiual thinks about begging in general. Bad pub about begging, though already probably not a highly esteemed activity in general probably isnt great for the wallet