I am writing in regard to your website, MeritBadgeOnline.com. As you may know, the Boy Scouts of America owns the copyrights in and to each Merit Badge pamphlet. As such, only the BSA may reproduce and distribute copies of Merit Badge pamphlets. However, it appears that your website is a source of distribution for photocopies of various Merit Badge pamphlets, and I cannot find any documentation showing that you have been granted permission for such activity. Therefore, we respectfully request that you cease distribution of all Merit Badge pamphlets.

Furthermore, the phrase “Merit Badge” is a registered trademark of the Boy Scouts of America. Your use of the famous “Merit Badge” trademark in your website’s domain name is likely to lead users to mistakenly believe that your site is sponsored by, endorsed by, or otherwise affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America, when in fact it is not. Therefore, we respectfully request that you cease use of the MeritBadgeOnline.com domain name and, because the domain name incorporates a BSA trademark in its entirety, transfer the domain name to the Boy Scouts of America.

We appreciate all you do for Scouting. However, we have a responsibility to protect the symbols of Scouting and the literature that forms a core component of the Scouting movement, preserving their value for future generations. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Best regards,

Burgin Hardin, Compliance Specialist, Licensing Programs
Boy Scouts of America

Dear Mr. Hardin & Mr. Glasscock,

Thank you for your letter. I appreciate the opportunity to respond to your concerns and perhaps enhance my understanding about BSA policies.

The site MeritBadgeOnline.com began as a Wood Badge (**** ***** ******* *******) ticket item for me. At the time I was a Scoutmaster in a small troop, where we operated on a very tight budget, and several Scouts were of families with limited means. The library system in our area does not contain merit badge pamphlets, and the nearest Scout shop is over an hour away. Thus, access to pamphlets is very limited by distribution and cost. Even just purchasing a single pamphlet left the lingering problem of sharing between Scouts who often did not have contact outside of Scout meetings.

I submitted my proposal to my Troop Guide, who discussed it with our ASM and Course Director. I cannot remember specifically, but the idea may have been discussed with **** *****, the Council Executive at the time. I had to wait for them to talk about it, but the idea was approved with great interest on behalf of the course director.

I spoke to the supply division in 2006 and later to Mr. Glasscock in 2008 at Philmont regarding the concept of making pamphlets available for download from BSA. The response from supply division was that it would be too costly; Mr. Glasscock replied that they had not yet discussed such an idea.

It is commonly held among Scout leaders that BSA freely allows reproduction of all copyrighted materials for use within Scouting. As far as I can find, there is no statement on Scouting.org or in printed materials regarding a copyright policy (outside of the copyright notice itself) that would clarify that issue. I would appreciate a clarification of that policy, and perhaps bring to your attention that it is at least very difficult to find BSA's policy if it even exists. With this understanding, I assumed this would not constitute infringement as long as there was no charge for pamphlet downloads. I made it explicit on the site that we are not selling pamphlets.

It is also commonly held that the cost of production and distribution is subsidized by BSA. The inside cover statement "The costs of the development, writing, and editing of the merit badge pamphlets are paid for by the Boy Scouts of America in order to bring you the best book at a reasonable price." would seem to confirm it. Under that understanding, having pamphlets available for download would not only save BSA millions of dollars, it would also increase Scouts' access to materials and help Scout Leaders in delivering the promise of Scouting. In my opinion, advancement should not have a price tag attached for either the family or the troop.

One purpose I had for this site was to bring the issue to BSA's attention that this is something BSA should be doing. I would be happy to shut down my site upon hearing that BSA would offer this needed service to its Scouts. At no time did I have a desire to infringe on BSA intellectual property, but under my understanding (which at least many other Scouters also believe) the site was acceptable. In accordance with the Scout Oath I will be willing to remove the pamphlet downloads from the site.

In response to the trademark on the term "Merit Badge", I have failed to find any pamphlet which uses the appropriate (TM) or (R) mark on the term, or any statements regarding the trademark. I had to search the US Patent Office database just to confirm the trademark. If BSA does not advertise or endorse its trademarks as such in their material, then it is unlikely that any Scouter will know of the trademark.

I assume that since meritbadgeonline.com has been registered since 2006, my site must have passed some measure of notability although we average only 30-40 visitors per day. However, a quick search reveals several websites whose names would probably attract more attention than my own, namely meritbadge.com, meritbadge.org, and meritbadge.info. All of these existed prior to the registration of meritbadgeonline.com, and none of these sites have posted any information that they have been notified about trademark infringement. It is a very specious argument to say that my site would cause individuals to be confused while these other, larger sites would not. There are also numerous paid applications using Scouting terms and presumably trademarks in their names, which should garner much more attention than me. I would be happy to add additional disclaimers of non-affiliation to the site, but I am not inclined at this time to transfer ownership of the domain name to BSA.

I do believe that this is an area in which BSA is sorely lacking behind the times. I believe BSA offering pamphlet downloads would allow thousands more Scouts the benefit of the merit badge program as well as save BSA millions of dollars in printing and distribution. Indeed in this era youth turn to electronic means by default before exploring paper-based options. In the absence of allowing pamphlet downloads, I plan to allow visitors to sign an online petition that BSA themselves provide pamphlet downloads. I also plan to publish this and future correspondence on the site, not as a criticism of BSA but as to inform Scouters of the need for this service.