Trademarked Holidays
From Giftypedia
In our recording of known holidays, we have come across a number of them that are trademarked, or copyrighted, with the holiday's ownership claimed by corporations or individuals. All holidays had to be started or sponsored by someone or some entity for it to come into being, though over the ages, these holidays were traditionally given to society free of charge in an open and inclusive way. After all, isn't everyone Irish on St. Patrick's Day and free to join in the celebration?
Witnessing the mass retailing extravaganza around Christmas, Mother's Day, the 4th of July and so on, it's clear that profiting from holidays is nothing new. However, retailers profit by helping people celebrate, rather than by being the gate-keepers to restrict celebration or referencing the proprietary holiday to only those who are commercially approved. In our opinion, such holiday ownership goes against the true nature of what holidays should be about -- the open sharing of a celebration, remembering a person or an event, or raising awareness for a worthy cause.
While we wholeheartedly disagree with the concept of holiday trademarking, copyrighting and ownership, we do list these holidays in our guide for reference purposes. It's our hope that as the issue of holiday ownership matures, that our legal systems will recognize that some things, like holidays, shouldn't be owned.
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