Slashdot Mirror
Netflix Sued By 'Choose Your Own Adventure' Publishers Over Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (polygon.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Polygon: Netflix's first interactive movie, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch makes no bones about its Choose Your Own Adventure inspiration, and that's reportedly caught the eye of the series' original publisher. Chooseco, a publishing company specializing in children's books, is suing Netflix for infringing on the company's "Choose Your Own Adventure" trademark. According to the official complaint, Netflix has been in negotiations with Chooseco over a license for the series since 2016, but Chooseco says Netflix never actually gained permission to use it. After the release of Black Mirror: Bandersnatch late last month, Chooseco has filed a complaint against Netflix for $25 million in damages, as the company says that Netflix's new movie benefits from association with the Choose Your Own Adventure series, without the company ever receiving the trademark. Chooseco says it sent a cease-and-desist request to Netflix at least once over the Choose Your Own Adventure trademark in the past. Netflix has declined to comment on the complaint.
It really isn't. It was originally a British show (it ran on Channel 4) that Netflix picked up after the first two series. I haven't gotten around to watching the more recent episodes yet, but the originals were pretty good. If I had to describe it succinctly, "Modern Twilight Zone" seems to do a good job.
Of course it's modern TV so they can get away with a bit more. The first episode featured a plot where some British royal family member has apparently been kidnapped and the kidnappers are threatening to kill the person unless the Prime Minister fucks a pig on live television. That might sound crude (and it is) but it's just as engrossing as it is gross. I'd suggest giving it a try.
I thought for sure that CYOA was generic as hell by this point.
It is. But Netflix specifically referenced Chooseco as an inspiration, without permission to do so.
That was stupid and amateurish. They are now going to get an extremely expensive lesson in intellectual property law.
Just because you say that you are inspired by a trademark shouldn't be enough to get your in trouble. If Netflix actually said that the movie was produced with Chooseco or specifically use the phrase "choose your own adventure" (which they may have done for all I know) then I could see a problem.
If I make a yo-yo and say that I was inspired by Duncan Toys I should be allowed to do so. If I used the phrase "The Original. World's #1" then I could see having a problem.
I guess there is no reason Chooseco can't roll the dice and see what the courts say though.
You can trademark bags of plain, ordinary sand if you wanted to. Let's say you called it "WackySand". That wouldn't stop anyone else from selling bags of sand, but it sure would stop them from selling bags of sand labelled "WackySand" or even "WackeeSand". Anything that might make people think the "WackySand" company endorses a bag of sand is off-limits.
The sand itself you're selling can be completely generic. It doesn't have to be special to be trademarked.
Now if people start calling all bags of sand "WackySand", then yes, you lose your exclusive right to that name. But if you're a sand vendor who *thinks* that "WackySand" has gone generic, but it hasn't been tested in court, guess who gets to be the guinea pig in the first test?
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
If you read the actual lawsuit filing that is linked from TFS one can see that Chooseco isn't claiming that Netflix said that they where inspired, they claim that people will believe that the Bandersnatch book from the movie is an actual CYOA book from Chooseco and that will scare people away from their brand since the book in the movie is dark and disturbing.
Extra hilarious are these two claims:
35. Netflix has benefitted from its association with Chooseco's iconic brand. Bandersnatch has been discussed widely in the press and many reviews of the movie include the phrase or even reference the book series.
36. The association between Bandersnatch and Choose Your Own Adventure has been widely discussed on social media. That discussion demonstrates the dilution of the brand.
So basically, Netflix didn't say that their movie is a CYOA movie but reviewers and people on social media does and therefore we want money from Netflix...