A literary estate did something similar when it tried to keep a Catholic group in Canada from using a short, 9-word phrase from one of the estate’s many books. Disgusted by that bit of bullying, although I’m not a Catholic, I inserted that same phrase where it was appropriate in a book I was about to publish and told them they could use it any time they wanted with my compliments.

Some similar creativity at yanking on the beards of the greedy is appropriate here. Does a trademark trump copyright? I can’t see how it can. Here, it’d ban the publication of any book or poem containing the phase “tall ships.”
I’d suggest those doing a tall ships event, having nothing to do with the ASTA, and in the literature quote either all of the poem “Sea Fever” or the first four lines, followed by the attribution: “John Masefiled, England’s Poet Laureate, 1930-1967.”

At the bottom they should include a note that the event is not affiliated with nor does it want to be affiliated with any “tall ship” event sponsored by the ASTA. If their lawyers are cowards, they could leave off the quote but at least include the ‘we don’t want to have any connection to the ASTA’ quote.

Those who’d like to complain to the ASTA can do so via the link below. Judging by their website, they must be earning far more from tall ships events than from teaching anyone sailing.

http://www.sailtraining.org/index.php

You might have better luck going to the webpage that lists their “Business Partner Members” and writing them.

But even if I did that, it only “might” be a good blog? Don’t love them odds. Doesn’t sound like it’s worth the trouble. Thanks, though, for your gracious suggestion! — RDC

No wait; it was used before they were founded to describe sailing ships.

“I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
…”
John Masefield – Sea Fever

He got them back with each one annotated with “Can’t Use,” “Shouldn’t Use,” and “Okay to Use.”

He asked, “What’s the difference between ‘Can’t Use,’ and ‘Shouldn’t Use?’”

I replied, “‘Can’t Use’ means there’s a live registered mark for goods in our class. ‘Shouldn’t Use’ means there’s a live registered mark for goods in our class that the PTO probably issued as some kind of bizarre joke, which wouldn’t last two minutes in an actual court but would cause us all kinds of expensive headaches if we used it.”

I think “Tall Ships” would get a “Shouldn’t Use.”

Although if it’s that old (none of the “Shouldn’t Uses” were more than a few years old) the incontestability thing would probably require a “Can’t Use.”

Argh indeed.