AMERICANS BUY NESSIE FOR $100,000!

Only a week after it was revealed in government files that the Scottish Office wanted nothing to do with the Loch Ness Monster, her fans in Scotland were stunned to hear that the rights to the name ‘Nessie’ are being claimed by an American film production company. RLP Entertainments of Las Vegas claim to have copyright on the name of the famous Scottish monster.

The row over Nessie and the rights to her name started in late 1997 when RLP Entertainments created a web site on the internet to promote their forthcoming animated film "Nessie".

When Gary Campbell, President of the Inverness based Official Loch Ness Monster Fan Club and part of the Scottish ‘Nessie on the Net!’ web site heard of the claims, he contacted RLP to question their rights to the Scottish icon. "I pointed out that the name was in common usage and therefore could not be copyrighted by anyone . I also could not believe the gall of a US company in claiming that they owned the rights to our monster".

RLP replied by saying that they owned copyright on the name Nessie, with their legal department stating that to date "we have not legally pursued our right to have the use of the word, name or character ‘Nessie’, or as he is commonly known, the Loch Ness Monster, stopped as would be our right under copyright law". 

When last night questioned further on this point, RLP spokesman Robert Leonard stated that they had bought the rights to Nessie for a "six figure plus sum" in the late 1980’s from Ken Anderson who worked as an animator for Walt Disney. Mr Anderson wrote a book "Nessie and the little Blind Boy" which is the basis for the film. 

Gary replied, "This is absurd, firstly they say they own the copyright on Nessie and the Loch Ness Monster, then it appears that they have effectively been taken in by another American to whom they paid a large sum of money. All this for something that has been in the public domain and owned by nobody for many years - it is like the yanks who were sold Tower Bridge in London by some fast talking con man!" 

Veteran Nessie hunter Richard A. Carter of Yorkshire, who has searched for the Loch Ness monster for many years, confirmed that nobody can own the rights to the name ‘Nessie’. "The name originates from the gaelic "An Neasaidh", meaning female of the Ness, the anglified form of which is "Nessie". This has been in common use for hundreds of years in the Loch Ness area since the monster was first spotted in 565AD. 

RLP also claimed that the name ‘Loch Ness Monster’ was first used by Franciscan Monks in the 1800’s who were trying to exorcise the monster from the loch. 

Richard replied "the phrase ‘Loch Ness Monster’ which RLP are also supposedly laying claim to was coined by Evan Barron of the Inverness Courier newspaper in 1933, so I suppose it is Mr. Barron, if anyone, who could have sold the rights. Incidentally, the monks who live by Loch Ness are Benedictine, not Franciscan". 

RLP have gone even further and started "The Official Nessie Fan Club" on the internet which has infuriated Gary Campbell. "Not only do they claim to own the rights to the name Nessie, but they have copied us, only changing "Loch Ness Monster" to "Nessie", a move which will only confuse genuine Nessie fans. This is typical of such a concern - they see what they think is a good idea and rip it off for their own benefit without regard to the fact that they are breaking the law by passing themselves off as us." 

When asked about this, Mr. Leonard of RLP stated that he did not think that anybody would confuse the name "Nessie" with "Loch Ness Monster" and that their fan club only dealt with aspects of the forthcoming film and was not for "people wanting to sit by Loch Ness all day looking for a monster". He went on to say that they were currently attracting 10,000 new members a week which proved the success of the US web site. 

Gary, who runs his club as a hobby and currently has 141 members, retorted "this is rubbish, firstly their legal department say that ‘Nessie’ and ‘Loch Ness Monster’ are one and the same, now their spokesman says they are not. Also, we do not just sit by the loch all day but carry out hi-tech research into the monster and its environs, something that those who think that RLP’s site is the real thing will unfortunately now never know about".

He went on to say "we are a small club so unfortunately we cannot afford to hire American lawyers to stop them - it looks like it will be another case of big brother getting away with it again".

The Loch Ness Monster was first spotted by St. Columba in 1400 years ago. Last year it was seen nine times at various locations in the loch. If you see anything please email: president@lochness.co.uk or use our mailer form. Thanks!