Hotel Offers Dewey Decimal Getaways! But Librarians not Amused; Seek Decimals Preceded by “$”

As you might remember from your school days (I, surprisingly enough, do), Melvin Dewey in 1873 created the eponymous Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system of classifying fields of knowledge so as to organize and provide access to library collections around the world. The DDC divides classes of knowledge into basic disciplines or fields of study, and there are ten classes covering the entire world of knowledge. Each main class is divided into ten divisions and each division into ten sections.

The Library Hotel in New York City has fastened onto this scintillating concept and now offers a bibliophile’s dream vacation: a hotel offering 6,000 volumes organized throughout the hotel based on the DDC. Each of ten guestroom floors honors one of the ten classes of the DDC, and each of the hotel’s 60 rooms is adorned with a collection of books and art exploring a distinctive topic within the category to which its floor belongs.

But wait! The OCLC Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) in Dublin, Ohio is a nonprofit library membership organization that in 1988 acquired Forest Press, which was the publisher and owner of the DDC and its trademarks. OCLC is currently responsible for the DDC’s publishing and constantly edits, develops, and updates the DDC for use by its member libraries worldwide.

As owner of the DDC trademark, OCLC has taken exception to the Library H otel’s use of the DDC in its mission without OCLC’s permission. OCLC has sued the corporate owner of the hotel in federal district court in Ohio under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1051, et seq. OCLC claims that the defendant has infringed its trademarks of the DDC, engaged in unfair competition, and passed off trademarked property as its own, as well as being guilty of false advertising, false designation of the origin of property, and the dilution of a famous trademark.

OCLC seeks a permanent injunction against the defendant’s use of the DDC in connection with its marketing of the hotel and the defendant’s use of any variation of the word “Dewey.” I guess any literary reference to the former Governor of New York. the late Thomas Dewey (of “Dewey Defeats Truman” fame), would infringe the trademark, as well. Some guys can never win.

OCLC seeks a recovery of the hotel’s profits as a result of the defendant’s wrongful conduct, treble and punitive damages under the Lanham Act, and costs and attorney’s fees. Such a judgment would certainly result in the largest library fine ever. And I thought ten cents a day was the going rate.