As an attorney who practices intellctual property law, it sure sounds like Ford was venturing out onto thin ice.

Upon the sale of a tradmarked product, the trademark rights are generally considered exhausted on the first sale of the specific item, and the trademark owner cannot preclude anyone from otherwise using that product even it bears the trademark. For example, if you buy a Nissan which has the Nissan logo, Nissan cannot claim its trademark restricts you ability to use or later sell that vehicle.

As for copyright, that belongs to the author of the work. Thus, if you were to take a picture of something, you are the one that owns the copyright to that picture. While you may not have an unrestricted right to take a picture of a copyrighted work, it seems extremely unlikely that Ford has a valid claim of copyright to its automobiles (copyright generally subsists only in works of authorship).

Ford would have had to make a great stretch to assert that the calendar was unfair competition. To do so, it would have to show that the club was passing the calendar off as something that was created or sponsored by Ford. Since it was apparently being sold by and through the club, that is quite a leap under the circumstances here; especially where the club and cafe press appear to have been very careful not to use the Ford logo on the calendar itself (outside of the pictures, as to which the trademark was exhausted). Ford would have to show that people would likely be confused as to the source of the calendar, a feat that might comparable to trying to show that people think an issue of Car and Drive comes from Ford because it shows a Ford car on the cover.

Its these types of over-reaching claims that help keep me in business.

k_enn