While it is true that you must defend your trademark or you give up the right to defend it in the future, I believe obtaining a settlement does count as defending your trademark. I don't believe you HAVE to file a formal lawsuit.
"settling with the [brothers] would set a bad precedent for other board games going online."
So someone else takes care of all the development costs, the initial marketing to build a huge following, furthers your brand (which has undoubtedly translated into some additional board game sales for you) and all you have to do is show up after it's a success and negotiate a reasonable settlement?
How is that that a "bad" precedent?
I suppose if you're a Mattel/Hasbro lawyer, settling would be a bad precedent, because then the game developers and Mattel/Hasbro would actually make money, instead of you.
Reagrdless of whether YouTube's terms of service will stand up in court (which wouldn't really prove anything anyway), the fact that he probably is infringing on a copyright of work he produced himself illustrates the system is terribly broken.
The founding fathers are turning over in their graves at how their "necessary evil" patents and copyrights have been corrupted into hindering progress rather than promoting it. Exactly what they most feared would happen.
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While it is true that you must defend your trademark or you give up the right to defend it in the future, I believe obtaining a settlement does count as defending your trademark. I don't believe you HAVE to file a formal lawsuit.
"settling with the [brothers] would set a bad precedent for other board games going online."
So someone else takes care of all the development costs, the initial marketing to build a huge following, furthers your brand (which has undoubtedly translated into some additional board game sales for you) and all you have to do is show up after it's a success and negotiate a reasonable settlement?
How is that that a "bad" precedent?
I suppose if you're a Mattel/Hasbro lawyer, settling would be a bad precedent, because then the game developers and Mattel/Hasbro would actually make money, instead of you.
Reagrdless of whether YouTube's terms of service will stand up in court (which wouldn't really prove anything anyway), the fact that he probably is infringing on a copyright of work he produced himself illustrates the system is terribly broken. The founding fathers are turning over in their graves at how their "necessary evil" patents and copyrights have been corrupted into hindering progress rather than promoting it. Exactly what they most feared would happen.