Post by Supernatural Empress on Dec 20, 2005 0:59:50 GMT -5
MAGOG, QUE. - A Vermont woman has threatened to sue anyone who tries to cash in on a creature that legend says inhabits a lake straddling the Quebec-Vermont border.
Historian Barbara Malloy of Newport City claims to have exclusive rights to the Lake Memphremagog monster, also known as Memphre.
Jacques Boisvert, a lake historian and expert scuba diver from the Canadian side of the lake, says he's preparing to fight Malloy.
"We have lawyers right now involved in this," he says. "It's too bad, because the relation between the United States and Canada should be good and that's one way of deteriorating this good will."
Boisvert has been documenting lake monster sightings since the mid-1970s in Magog, Que. Although the diver said he's never seen Memphre himself, he told a Vermont newspaper that he's keeping an open mind.
The Caledonian-Record in St. Johnsbury, Vt., reported that Boisvert and Malloy collaborated for a while in the 1980s on publicizing the Memphre legend and history.
The creature is said to measure between seven and 20 metres from head to tail. Those who claim to have spotted Memphre say it resembles the water-dwelling plesiosaur of the Jurassic period.
The first recorded sightings began in the 1840s. Long before that, North American Indians in the region warned early settlers not to bathe in Lake Memphremagog because of the mysterious monster.
Barbara Malloy refused to be interviewed on camera for a CBC TV news story. But some people in Newport were willing, and a few scoffed at Malloy's moves to copyright everything from the name Memphre to the creature's cartoon image.
"It's ridiculous," said Buzz Roy. "I don't think she should have a right to it," added Sandra Chaplin. "Feed her to it," Paul Moyer joked.
A journalist with the Caledonian-Record also disputes Malloy's grip on Memphre.
"It's probably the oddest story I've ever written, and yet it's so important," said Robin Smith. The fight over the lake legend involves everything from freedom of speech to intellectual property rights, she added.
Written by CBC News Online staff
Historian Barbara Malloy of Newport City claims to have exclusive rights to the Lake Memphremagog monster, also known as Memphre.
Jacques Boisvert, a lake historian and expert scuba diver from the Canadian side of the lake, says he's preparing to fight Malloy.
"We have lawyers right now involved in this," he says. "It's too bad, because the relation between the United States and Canada should be good and that's one way of deteriorating this good will."
Boisvert has been documenting lake monster sightings since the mid-1970s in Magog, Que. Although the diver said he's never seen Memphre himself, he told a Vermont newspaper that he's keeping an open mind.
The Caledonian-Record in St. Johnsbury, Vt., reported that Boisvert and Malloy collaborated for a while in the 1980s on publicizing the Memphre legend and history.
The creature is said to measure between seven and 20 metres from head to tail. Those who claim to have spotted Memphre say it resembles the water-dwelling plesiosaur of the Jurassic period.
The first recorded sightings began in the 1840s. Long before that, North American Indians in the region warned early settlers not to bathe in Lake Memphremagog because of the mysterious monster.
Barbara Malloy refused to be interviewed on camera for a CBC TV news story. But some people in Newport were willing, and a few scoffed at Malloy's moves to copyright everything from the name Memphre to the creature's cartoon image.
"It's ridiculous," said Buzz Roy. "I don't think she should have a right to it," added Sandra Chaplin. "Feed her to it," Paul Moyer joked.
A journalist with the Caledonian-Record also disputes Malloy's grip on Memphre.
"It's probably the oddest story I've ever written, and yet it's so important," said Robin Smith. The fight over the lake legend involves everything from freedom of speech to intellectual property rights, she added.
Written by CBC News Online staff
