A long time ago, I was a small software company, and I sold gamemaster's aid products to D&D players, etc. This was back in the days when TSR was still TSR. Their shakedown guy, a fellow named Robb Repp, came around to my booth at GenCon the first year I was there and started in on how my products could be used to ifringe on TSR's copyrights. I agreed that yes, this was true, and if TSR wanted to sue me, I'd get in line behind Xerox, Lotus, and the Ticonderoga Pencil Company, because copiers, word processors, and #2 pencils could be used at least as effectively for the same thing, and undoubtedly were far more often. TSR backed down. Yes, I was lucky, but I had the advantage of being both right and belligerent about it. Unlike the other small vendors they were intimidating, I clearly wasn't going to back down. So they turned their attention to the people who were. It's like running away from a lion: you don't have to be faster than the lion, just faster than the other guy.
My bet is that Putt-Putt doesn't think that Mojang is really infringing on their trademarks; they're probably looking for danegeld -- they want a payoff to go away. It's sort of corporate extortion: "Pay us or we'll litigate you into the ground. You can't afford to fight us long enough to win." Of course, they never go away. Rudyard Kipling put it best: "For once you have paid him the danegeld, you never get rid of the Dane."
My wallet-vote is very small, but until Putt-Putt apologizes to Mojang, any miniature golfing I do will be done at courses they don't own. I think that would be a fair stance for any and all Minecraft players, and for that matter any people concnerned about this kind of extortion.
Copyright laws are just stupid.
A video game company being sued for a golf course thing?
Its basically the same as the fact that the song "Happy birthday to you" is copyrighted. Its stupid, why would someone not be allowed to say some common thing?
The term "Putt Putt" is so well known that it is synonymous for mini golf. Thus, it is illogical that anyone who says "Putt Putt" should be sued.
You find it illogical, and it should be noted that a judge would find it similarly illogical. There is nothing illegal that Mojang is doing in this case, so it has nothing at all to do with copyright laws or anything else like that.
What this is about is somebody in a legal department of some random company that didn't take the 30 seconds or so to actually watch one of these videos to find out what was going on. For those claiming that this was an "automated" letter of complaint, I promise you that no judge will even consider such a legal briefing (it has been tried and thrown out any time a judge gets a lawyer doing that kind of thing).
There is even a legal concept called barratry, which I hope the lawyers of Putt Putt are going to be thinking very carefully about. In other words, not only will Mojang avoid having a problem, but the lawyer who sent this letter could even be facing criminal prosecution for even sending a letter of this nature. I don't know if Notch wants to have this particular lawyer arrested for incompetence (or challenge the law license of this particular lawyer), but there definitely are things that could happen here which would not be pretty or nice for the Putt Putt legal team. Frivolous lawsuits don't make happy judges, and it makes future lawsuits much weaker when lawyers involved don't take the time to do their homework. This goes beyond merely being stupid.
Heck, if Mojang plays their cards right, they may even make a little money off of this fishing expedition. At the very least, Mojang should send an invoice to Putt Putt for legal fees even responding.
Copyright laws are not stupid. Someone who creates something puts a lot of work into it, and they deserve to have their rights protected. Now, the length of copyright terms has gotten ridiculous -- stuff that was created before I was born will still be in copyright after I die, which is certainly only "a limited time" within the letter, not the spirit, of the US Constitution.
However, this isn't about copyrights; it's about trademarks. There's a BIG difference. They're covered by different laws. They exist for different reasons. They're registered with different agencies in the government. And enforcement works in different ways. In particular, copyrights exist from the moment something is "fixed in tangible form" (say, written down) and do not have to be affirmatively enforced. Trademarks, on the other hand, do have to be enforced or they're lost, such as has happned with trademarks from Aspirin to Zipper in the past. And trademark laws have, in recent years, been used much less often to protect a company's actual product and identity from look-alikes and more often as a weapon against competitors or a tool to pry money loose from unrelated companies.
That latter is, I think, what's happening here. Putt-Putt is hoping that Mojang will hand over money, so they can get thousands, maybe even millions, of dollars for no more effort than sending out a letter. If their legal department is so poor that they genuinely believed that Mojang was in control of what customers did with their product, they'd be fired for incompetence. I think this is a cash grab.
We all play Minecraft. We all know people who play Minecraft. And, it appears, at least some of us play miniature golf. What we, as players, need to do is to contact Putt-Putt and tell them, very politely, that we are not cool with what they're doing, and until they cease and desist in their own actions, and apologize to Mojang, we and anyone we can influence will spend our money with their competitors instead of them. We have to make it clear that it is their actions which has caused this -- that we don't want to do business with people who act as they have. Consider that if even a thousand people out of the millions who play Minecraft don't spend $100 each with Putt-Putt in the next year, that's a hundred K in money they've lost because of this groundless threat to Mojang. This kind of corporate extortion only works because the customers of both companies tolerate it. We don't have to.
Hmm... Interesting in my opinion. I think perhaps they should check the "cease and desist" letters before sending them out. Otherwise then that, I hope that one day we will remember this time, look back, then maybe smile or laugh
Actually they are un-able to sue or file a lawsuit. they have Putt-Putt trademark... Not Putt Putt. Therefor they are unable to sue or file a lawsuit for a phrase that they do not own. They may own "Putt-Putt" , But they do not own "Putt Putt".
No.. I don't think you could get away with that if you were ACTUALLY DISTRIBUTING Putt-Putt, but Mojang clearly is not, so they are inoccent to these mini-golfing potheads.
Actually they are un-able to sue or file a lawsuit. they have Putt-Putt trademark... Not Putt Putt. Therefor they are unable to sue or file a lawsuit for a phrase that they do not own. They may own "Putt-Putt" , But they do not own "Putt Putt".
Actually that doesn't matter. You can't have anything too similar either. Just ask the guy selling "Eat More Kale" T-Shirts.
This has got to be one of the worst/hilarious law suits I have seen. Even the ones on the TV are better than this or at least make sense! Come on Putt-Putt give up all ready. Before the comunity eats you up.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Raisin Cookies that look like chocolate cookies are the main reason I have trust issues...._
This has got to be one of the worst/hilarious law suits I have seen. Even the ones on the TV are better than this or at least make sense! Come on Putt-Putt give up all ready. Before the comunity eats you up.
What I want to know is why is this posted to the public? If it is such a common thing as stated in the post why even bother posting it? Are they trying to sabotage their business by making this public or something?
Mojang posted it, not Putt-Putt. I assume they wanted to expose it for public mockery. It's certainly worthy.
I guess Putt-Putt's gonna sue Humongous Entertainment aswell.
What? They created the amazing point and click Putt-Putt games! (LISTEN I'M NOT A HUGE FAN OF IT)
Oh wait, they're gonna sue Golf Companies, Putting flash game makers, Golf flash game makers, Golf game makers, Golfers, Golf gamers, Putters, and everything else related to Hole in One.
*slow clap*
My bet is that Putt-Putt doesn't think that Mojang is really infringing on their trademarks; they're probably looking for danegeld -- they want a payoff to go away. It's sort of corporate extortion: "Pay us or we'll litigate you into the ground. You can't afford to fight us long enough to win." Of course, they never go away. Rudyard Kipling put it best: "For once you have paid him the danegeld, you never get rid of the Dane."
My wallet-vote is very small, but until Putt-Putt apologizes to Mojang, any miniature golfing I do will be done at courses they don't own. I think that would be a fair stance for any and all Minecraft players, and for that matter any people concnerned about this kind of extortion.
The golden age: it's not the game, it's you ⋆ Why Minecraft should not be harder ⋆ Spelling hints
You find it illogical, and it should be noted that a judge would find it similarly illogical. There is nothing illegal that Mojang is doing in this case, so it has nothing at all to do with copyright laws or anything else like that.
What this is about is somebody in a legal department of some random company that didn't take the 30 seconds or so to actually watch one of these videos to find out what was going on. For those claiming that this was an "automated" letter of complaint, I promise you that no judge will even consider such a legal briefing (it has been tried and thrown out any time a judge gets a lawyer doing that kind of thing).
There is even a legal concept called barratry, which I hope the lawyers of Putt Putt are going to be thinking very carefully about. In other words, not only will Mojang avoid having a problem, but the lawyer who sent this letter could even be facing criminal prosecution for even sending a letter of this nature. I don't know if Notch wants to have this particular lawyer arrested for incompetence (or challenge the law license of this particular lawyer), but there definitely are things that could happen here which would not be pretty or nice for the Putt Putt legal team. Frivolous lawsuits don't make happy judges, and it makes future lawsuits much weaker when lawyers involved don't take the time to do their homework. This goes beyond merely being stupid.
Heck, if Mojang plays their cards right, they may even make a little money off of this fishing expedition. At the very least, Mojang should send an invoice to Putt Putt for legal fees even responding.
Version 2.1 now updated for MC 1.6.2
However, this isn't about copyrights; it's about trademarks. There's a BIG difference. They're covered by different laws. They exist for different reasons. They're registered with different agencies in the government. And enforcement works in different ways. In particular, copyrights exist from the moment something is "fixed in tangible form" (say, written down) and do not have to be affirmatively enforced. Trademarks, on the other hand, do have to be enforced or they're lost, such as has happned with trademarks from Aspirin to Zipper in the past. And trademark laws have, in recent years, been used much less often to protect a company's actual product and identity from look-alikes and more often as a weapon against competitors or a tool to pry money loose from unrelated companies.
That latter is, I think, what's happening here. Putt-Putt is hoping that Mojang will hand over money, so they can get thousands, maybe even millions, of dollars for no more effort than sending out a letter. If their legal department is so poor that they genuinely believed that Mojang was in control of what customers did with their product, they'd be fired for incompetence. I think this is a cash grab.
We all play Minecraft. We all know people who play Minecraft. And, it appears, at least some of us play miniature golf. What we, as players, need to do is to contact Putt-Putt and tell them, very politely, that we are not cool with what they're doing, and until they cease and desist in their own actions, and apologize to Mojang, we and anyone we can influence will spend our money with their competitors instead of them. We have to make it clear that it is their actions which has caused this -- that we don't want to do business with people who act as they have. Consider that if even a thousand people out of the millions who play Minecraft don't spend $100 each with Putt-Putt in the next year, that's a hundred K in money they've lost because of this groundless threat to Mojang. This kind of corporate extortion only works because the customers of both companies tolerate it. We don't have to.
The golden age: it's not the game, it's you ⋆ Why Minecraft should not be harder ⋆ Spelling hints
"Sliced that one, should have used the iron"
*pulls out iron hoe*
Lets sue all the Minecraft rip offs too. They will at least get what they deserve.
And to think Minecraft was getting Putt Putt added. Ah the fun..
Mini Nova.
1. this is retarted why would they think mojang did anything.
2. how do i start my own thread i have a few questions to ask and i will need a new thread to do it anyway
So on subject.
Careful. You'll get sued for saying that!
Actually that doesn't matter. You can't have anything too similar either. Just ask the guy selling "Eat More Kale" T-Shirts.
Too late. We eat them anyway.
I'll bring the ketchup.
Mojang posted it, not Putt-Putt. I assume they wanted to expose it for public mockery. It's certainly worthy.
The golden age: it's not the game, it's you ⋆ Why Minecraft should not be harder ⋆ Spelling hints
What? They created the amazing point and click Putt-Putt games! (LISTEN I'M NOT A HUGE FAN OF IT)
Oh wait, they're gonna sue Golf Companies, Putting flash game makers, Golf flash game makers, Golf game makers, Golfers, Golf gamers, Putters, and everything else related to Hole in One.
BECAUSE WHY NOT?