The creator of indie store itch.io has issued a warning to game developers, as Chooseco appear to be trying to take down anything using the 'choose your own adventure' phrase.
Not surprising it's happening though, Chooseco went after Netflix for using the same phrase with Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. Speaking on Twitter, itch.io founder Leaf Corcoran stated:
Warning to any devs using the phrase "choose your own adventure" to describe their games, Chooseco is issuing takedown notices to @itchio for trademark infringement. Example game page they went after:
In a follow up Twitter post, Corcoran mentioned the person issuing the notices on behalf of Chooseco has been "difficult" and it comes across like they're essentially trolling. This is what happens though, often too, there's legal trolls everywhere. Some companies are set up just to go around sending off trademark notices on junk. I find it completely ridiculous that any company can trademark something like 'choose your own adventure', it just seems crazy to even allow that.
Regardless of how insane it is that such a thing can happen, game developers do need to come together and come up with something else they can use instead. Perhaps someone can then protect it themselves on the basis that anyone can use it, much in the spirit of open source eh? Can you think of a fun phrase that would fit? Let's see what you've got in the comments.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
TheRiddick Dec 10, 2019
Last edited by TheRiddick on 10 December 2019 at 5:19 am UTC
Quoting: denyasisJust wait until you get a trademark notice for using a trademarked colour.
And yes, you can trademark a colour.
https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Telekom-erhebt-Anspruch-auf-die-Farbe-Magenta-42400.html
If people can't use their own brains then maybe they just need to be flooded by so much copyright that they can't even open their mouth without getting fined. Sad that it has to go so far.
But yeah, this is beyond ridiculous.
QuoteCan you think of a fun phrase that would fit? Let's see what you've got in the comments.
Choose your story.
Quoting: TheRiddickCommon phrases or even words from the dictionary shouldn't be trademark-able, within reason.A lot of titles of book/game series are somewhat common words or phrases. "Foundation", "Dark Material", "Call of Duty" just to name a few.
If someone, today, tried to name a book series or game "Goosebumps" (a commonely used word/expression), they would get the pants sued off them for trademark infringement and they wouldn't have a leg to stand on.
Quoting: PatolaThis scam called "Intellectual Property" should be not only extinguished, but banished. It is not property (since it is not scarce) and it is only used to promote injustice.
How would game devs, artists, musicians, etc get paid for their work?
You can't rely solely on donations and the good will of people. If anything, legal trolls only prove that some people lack good will.
Does this mean that trademark is never abused? Of course not. I pointed out things that I thought were abuses in a previous post. That doesn't mean that trademark is a bad thing overall.
The best argument against this trademark is that protection for it wasn't pursued diligently enough in the years between when the books were popular and just recently. The phrase may seem generic now, but it was quite original back when the books were first introduced.
QuoteHow would game devs, artists, musicians, etc. get paid for their work?Maybe by letting them do their work instead of scaring/suing them with non-sense because you have more (need of) money than ideas? Moreover IP is reserved to the richers who have enough wealth to pay lawyers and not to the indie.
IP is just a waste of time. You can not jail a thought.
Last edited by EverLinux on 10 December 2019 at 2:25 pm UTC
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