Reports that Viktor Yushchenko has been issued a copyright on the exclusive use of his surname can be viewed as yet another election campaign twist hatched by professional image makers of this leader. Any good thing can be carried to the point of absurdity if entrusted to an overly ingratiating staff. Defending one’s trademark, a quite natural impulse elsewhere, has acquired comic features on Ukrainian soil.
The number of questions prompted by Mr. Yushchenko’s legal defense of his title to his name has grown by the minute. First comes the question on the issue of authorship. It is only too natural for an inventor of a new car design, software program, or a new hamburger to give his name to his invention, although some modesty will never hurt here. And if a jacket bears the name of Mykhailo Voronin (a popular designer – Ed.) it is precisely the name of this jacket and nothing else. Who in this case is the original producer of the Viktor Yushchenko brand name given not to a jacket or shoes, but to Viktor Yushchenko himself?
So much for production, advertising, and marketing. Let us dwell on the creative individuals who produce intellectual property. It has never occurred to any writer in his right mind to call himself Balzac or Tolstoi, or any composer to call himself Puccini or Tchaikovsky (asylum patients do not count). The reason is simple: in the case of Tchaikovsky the asset is music, not his name. And, most probably, the great composer would have to defend his music against copyright pirates nowadays.
Consequently, there must be property, intellectual or material, whenever property title is claimed by anyone. What kind of property is behind this name of Viktor Yushchenko? Mr. Yushchenko himself. It is a congenial idea – to receive a copyright for oneself, not for a book, article, or some invention. There’s the rub, however. Who is entitled to the honorarium for using such a valuable brand name? Who is the author? Must the owner of this now exclusive name share his proceeds with those many thousands of Yushchenkos living in Ukraine? And does some other Yushchenko, on fathering a son, have the right to call him Viktor without asking the permission of its official bearer?
One might argue that this is politics and one’s political bloc must be defended. Defended from whom? As a matter of a historical fact, we all have the names and surnames given us by our parents. And none of us should be barred from going into politics: we live in a democracy because this is no laughing matter if, prior to nomination for an elected office, one will have to inquire if some other and smarter namesake has already patented some would-be nominee’s name.
A true politician should have something more to his credit other than his name. Why has Leonid Kravchuk not patented his name, given the huge number of his namesakes in Ukraine? He is not even afraid of having his name stolen and used by someone in the election campaign. There are two Marchenkos in Verkhovna Rada and they are hitting it off well, doing without lawyers. Readers can give many more examples of namesakes working in the same sphere without any grudges. There can be players with the same name on the same soccer team, not to say anything about different teams. Thus, two Holovkos, for instance, come on the field to gain a victory for their teams in honest competition. Let the best man (or woman) win, copyright or no. Recently, a little known performer named Khazanov toured the country, with no reaction whatsoever from the authentic Khazanov who let the audience find out the difference.
What, then, is there to stop Viktor Yushchenko from protecting his name not with a copyright but with something more natural for a politician? Frankly speaking, I expected a statement from Mr. Yushchenko to the effect that the Viktor Yushchenko brand name was patented without his knowledge and he distances himself from such inadequate political techniques. But no word of protest came from this popular leader. Apparently his schedule is too tight as he bears his name, day in, day out, even without lunch breaks. Well, it is also a kind of a job. With no risks of making a slip or rash ill-considered statements involved
From all those with their names not copyrighted yet, we wish Viktor Yushchenko every success in his chosen occupation.
