I think
most businesses would love to have a little word of mouth advertising,
but it seems that the folks at Ford (or at least their law firm) are
more interested in protecting their trademark than cultivating a
relationship with some of their most avid supporters.  From Boing Boing:

Josh sez, "The folks at BMC (Black Mustang Club) automotive forum
wanted to put together a calendar featuring members’ cars, and print it
through CafePress. Photos were submitted, the layout was set, and…
CafePress notifies the site admin that pictures of Ford cars cannot be
printed. Not just Ford logos, not just Mustang logos, the car -as a
whole- is a Ford trademark and its image can’t be reproduced without
permission.
So even though Ford has a lineup of enthusiasts who want to show off
their Ford cars, the company is bent on alienating them…

"I got some more info from the folks at cafepress and according to them,
a law firm representing Ford contacted them saying that our calendar
pics (and our club’s event logos – anything with one of our cars in it)
infringes on Ford’s trademarks which include the use of images of THEIR
vehicles. Also, Ford claims that all the images, logos and designs OUR
graphics team made for the BMC events using Danni are theirs as well.
Funny, I thought Danni’s title had my name on it … and I thought you
guys owned your cars … and, well … I’m not even going to get into
how wrong and unfair I feel this whole thing is as I’d be typing for
hours, but I wholeheartedly echo everything you guys have been saying
all afternoon. I’m not letting this go un-addressed and I’ll keep you
guys posted as I get to work on this.

I’m sorry, but at this point we will not be producing the 2008 BMC
Calendar, featuring our 2007 Members of the Month, solely due to Ford
Motor Company’s claim that THEY own all rights to the photos YOU take
of YOUR car."

You can read the predictably irate comments of club members on the BMCForum here.

Cross posted at Lowder Enterprises.