Slashdot Mirror
Professor Layton and the Curious Twitter Accounts
Ssquared22 writes "'Frankly ... I'm ashamed. I have made myself a Twitter page and officially joined the world of technology. Perhaps Luke may help me update.'
With those words on June 28, 2009, what had been just a fictional character in a Nintendo DS game became a fixture on Twitter. Over the coming days and weeks, the TopHatProfessor account would post dozens of riddles and brainteasers of the type found in 2008's Professor Layton and the Curious Village and the upcoming Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, soliciting answers from his slowly growing cadre of followers. Along the way, the professor happily answered questions about the upcoming title and shared little slices of life from his day, all without ever breaking character. Many followers were bemused and intrigued by what they assumed was a clever new viral marketing campaign put on by Nintendo ahead of Diabolical Box's August release. In reality, though, the TopHatProfessor account was the work of a lone college student and amateur game journalist, trying to get attention for a game he felt was being sorely neglected by publisher Nintendo and the media at large."
The smart thing would be to hire the guy part-time. Have him agree to some basic rules and maybe give him a guideline of what they'd work with. Or just let him be, and keep it purely fan-based.
I mean, it's Nintendo...
Not like they're SONY or anything...
What the hell has happened to us where supporting an under appreciated venue has become grounds for suing? What the hell has happened to us where people are paid to do "viral marketing" but when a fan goes out and does it, they should become fearful of the law?
Seriously, wtf has happened to my country?
"... it was a clever new viral marketing campaign put on by some guy."
How about instead of suing him they offer him a job? Seriously, there are marketing professionals out there, some apparently working for Nintendo, who cannot create this kind of viral buzz (to use their awful words) even when the try deliberately.
Fan created work is like free advertisement!
Nobody would have ever heard of the game mostly if not for word of mouth. The touch of fame for even a fake Layton posting on Twitter would give loads of FREE advertisement to the game.
Everyone wins.
TRADEMARK. COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT, CEASE AND DESIST. Everyone now loses. Nintedo is looked upon as a tyrant. The game will now have a negative connotation, of proprietary and locked down. The end.
This story can be replaced with Chrono Trigger, and many other fan based games that got the axe because of this. I can't think of much off of the top of my head. (No Sonichu doesn't count).
Are you saying that the copyright masters of the fictional character of Professor Layton have more right to prevent anyone impersonating him than former President of the USA, George Bush as a real person has the right to prevent the existence of the character of "HBO George Bush"?
Yes. Unlike works of the United States Government, works of Nintendo are copyrighted. And even for works of a government that ordinarily places its works under copyright, such as the United Kingdom or several U.S. states, the First Amendment has colored the "purpose and character" factor of fair use to act more in favor of political speech than non-political speech.
If you're not using any of the content from the game, and only a character's name, then you're only guilty of trademark infringement, and then only if it is a registered trademark or you are deliberately attempting to create confusion.
Whether he can be found guilty of that latter is to be decided in a court of law if necessary, and cannot be determined here today.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Not necessarily. Consider the Mother 3 translation. The patch has been out for several months, and the project itself has been around for several years. Compared to allowing thousands of people play a pirated copy of a niche game (that'll probably never make it here), trying to generate hype for a game is such a trivial offense.