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posted by chromas on Wednesday January 16 2019, @02:41AM   Printer-friendly
from the The-Chosen-Ones dept.

From Engadget:

Netflix's choose-your-own-adventure style film Black Mirror: Bandersnatch is the subject of a new lawsuit, brought against the streaming giant by Chooseco LLC The company is known for publishing the "Choose Your Own Adventure" book series popular in the 1980s and 90s, and it's claiming Netflix infringed upon its trademarks, Variety reports. Netflix tried to obtain a license for Chooseco's trademark in the past, according to Chooseco, but never reached a deal with the publisher.

In its complaint, Chooseco specifically points to a scene in Bandersnatch where a character makes a reference to a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book -- and that appears to be Chooseco's main infringement charge against Netflix. It also says Netflix is "causing confusion, tarnishing, denigrating and diluting the distinct quality of the 'Choose Your Own Adventure' trademark," and that Bandersnatch's "dark and violent themes" reflect poorly on its brand.


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by bradley13 on Wednesday January 16 2019, @08:08AM (4 children)

    by bradley13 (3053) on Wednesday January 16 2019, @08:08AM (#787286) Homepage Journal

    Having one of their books mentioned - isn't that called "free publicity"? WTF are they upset about?

    Oh, I get it. They haven't published a book in 20 years [wikipedia.org], so they've decided to be come a "trademark troll". All the profit, none of the work...

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by maxwell demon on Wednesday January 16 2019, @08:14AM (1 child)

    by maxwell demon (1608) on Wednesday January 16 2019, @08:14AM (#787289) Journal

    Shouldn't the trademark then be lost due to non-use?

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    • (Score: 3, Informative) by DannyB on Wednesday January 16 2019, @02:34PM

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 16 2019, @02:34PM (#787377) Journal

      Google for four words: "eu trademark big mac". If McDonalds can lose the BigMac tirade mark for being a grade-A hole and tirade mark bullying, then why can't another company lose a tirade mark, at least in the EU?

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Kalas on Wednesday January 16 2019, @11:43AM

    by Kalas (4247) on Wednesday January 16 2019, @11:43AM (#787341)

    Yeah I was just thinking I haven't seen any around since childhood. And I get the impression today's kids don't really give a shit about reading books. Certainly not on dead trees anyway.
    Luckily our legal system often lets them have their cake and eat it too, receiving free publicity then suing the hell out of whoever was dumb enough to help them for free.

  • (Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Wednesday January 16 2019, @05:13PM

    by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us (6553) on Wednesday January 16 2019, @05:13PM (#787450) Journal

    They might be upset because (actual spoiler)

    In the movie the book's author (not the main character) goes insane and murders someone; that author is insane because he realizes that he himself is being controlled to do things and that the "choices" that one has are made by someone other than the person. The movie's protagonist (not the book author) has options in the movie to take drugs (LSD), slips into dissocation as he realizes that his choices are being made by the real-life movie viewer, and can end up bloodily murdering his father and burying the body or chopping it up, or suddenly "waking up" to discover that he is an actual cast member in the film but still believes he is the character. It is *not* a nice movie to associate with books where the reader chooses different pathways.

    So yes, if it is their active trademark and not a generic descriptor, they might have a right to be upset that the trademark was used without permission.

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