Nyan Cat and Keyboard Cat Team Up Against Scribblenauts

[Covarr]

I just took a look through the complaint... there's a mistake in it. Keyboard Cat's copyright number (PA0001696099) is listed for both properties, while Nyan Cat's copyright number (VAu001063390) is not mentioned. I don't know if this will affect the lawsuit at all, but it's amusing nonetheless. I rate it a hearty sloppy out of 10.

P.S. Thanks

 

[Pedro The Hutt]

Let's just ignore that most of the success of the Nyancat meme came from a song -that wasn't his to begin with-.

Way to be a douche and be hypocritical. (And probably very greedy, too)

 

[Reeve]

Way to be a douche and be hypocritical. (And probably very greedy, too)

He's greedy? What about Times Warner? Nyan Cat is original enough for the creator to have a claim over it. Besides the fact that the complaint isn't about the song. If the man owns copyright over the thing then Warner Bros. aren't allowed to use it without permission. No matter how trivial YOU think it is.

Edit: Regarding Wreck-it-Ralph: Are people really naive enough that they think Disney put references to IP's without working out the copyright with the owners first?

 

[Lopende Paddo]

So they don't mind it being reused over the internet a million million times but they balk at an easter egg in a well meaning game?

Talk about greedy ugh.

I think the problem is the for profit idea. if you use a meme for fun on the Internet thats one thing, to use a concept made by another in a for profit project i would say it's a completely different case. if i make an indie game and put a WB character in it Warner Bros will sue me even if the game i made is free.

also, apparently the person that made the animation (A) and the persons (there where more party's involved in the end product of the song) who made the song (B) are different people than the person (yes a third party) who combined the two to make the meme we all know and love (hate). so the distupte is probably not about what became the meme but about the character itself. but let's just wait what the judge says before making the ultimate conclusion of douchbaggery.

Hail Cthulu!

edit: i don't know how to spell dispute...

 

[jpoon]

Just take the two idiotic memes out of the game, problem solved. Not like a single person worldwide would avoid a game because of that worthless loss like that.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

YOU OWN A MEME.

YES YOU. YOU TWO IN THE ARTICLE. YOU OWN A MEME.

Anything you try to say involving your intellectual property being misused in the way that Scribblenauts has is forfeit in my opinion. It's not that I want content creators to be screwed out of money or anything, it's that possibly dozens of times, your work has been appropriated on the internet in games or videos, some of that being for profit, and you have come into contact with this content, made without your permission, and you have been fine with it.

 

[Infernal Lawyer]

I was rolling my eyes through this entire article... until I read the part about them using it in the marketing & promotion; that changes the situation a bit

It's one thing to use a popular image in your work, it's another to use it as a selling point

Edit: Plus, Warner Bros dive head first into anyone that even thought about infringing their trademarks, so no sympathy there

I was also wondering why they didn't seem to care about their memes being used in the first two games. Still, I doubt if they'll be able to prove that the game would have made a significantly lower amount of sales if the memes had never been used in advertising.
But maybe that's the point. Maybe they were fine with their memes being used as sneaky Easter eggs that you'd have to have specific knowledge to find, or just find by accident. Personally, I'd be pleased to see one of my (theoretical) creations used as an Easter egg in Scribblenauts... but I'd still be mad if they used it in advertisements without consulting me first. Hell, I wouldn't need a 'golden handshake' to say yes, but I'd still appreciate the fact that they didn't assume that just because it was a meme, they could use it to promote the game.
However, I still don't think this is serious enough to warrant anything significant, but of course the lawyers will blow it out of proportion and demand thousands.

This is why we.. can't really ever have nice things.

Even an easter egg, a harmless little flash in the background is enough to send some people off. I would completely understand if Warner Bros was selling the memes or something in regards to that, but the case is that because they're 1% part of Scribblenauts, that's enough to cause a law suit. This is sort of why we'll never get cool references or see neat things throughout games, movies, or ect. because the developers/owners like being overly protective.

Thank god Wreck-It-Ralph wasn't the case. I know that Disney owned the majority of licenses thus they could show the video game characters.. but it still worked out. Wish there were people who just talked on the side and got things settled then making a huge deal in public about it, demanding money as their punishment.

I agree mostly for the first part, but as I said Zoobie_Moogle, it would be probably have been smarter for WB to contact the meme's owners before using their 'property' for advertising. You can argue whether they are or aren't allowed to use it either way, but it sure as hell would have avoided this kerfuffle if they asked nicely first.

By the way, Disney owns very few (if any) of the IPs in Wreck it Ralph other than the ones specifically made for the film. They contacted the owners of each appropriate IP and got permission for their few seconds of screen time. Sort of how they asked Hasbro if they could use Mr Potato Head for Toy Story.

 

[Sonic_Boom]

A link [http://prguitarman.tumblr.com/post/49463648971/a-legal-dispute-ive-been-going-through-with] to the guy who made nyan cat's tumblr post about this, if you're interested.
Personally I think that if they used the meme to advertise a product for sale, then it's not right, although I have no issue with it being in the game as an easter egg. Somebody mentioned Halo armour in Duke Nukem, but was that armour used to advertise the game, or was it a simple easter egg?

 

[Dryk]

Just take the two idiotic memes out of the game, problem solved. Not like a single person worldwide would avoid a game because of that worthless loss like that.

Scribblenauts Unlimited has an object editor, so if they're patched out they'll be back in by lunchtime

 

[OldNewNewOld]

Why am I not surprised that the Escapists is on the side of WB.

?We reached out to the companies in hopes of working out an amicable resolution of the issue, yet were disrespected and snubbed each time as nothing more than nuisances for asking for fair compensation for our intellectual property. That?s not right. I have no issues with Nyan Cat being enjoyed by millions of fans as a meme , and I have never tried to prevent people from making creative uses of it that contribute artistically and are not for profit. But this is a commercial use, and these companies themselves are protectors of their own intellectual property. Many other companies have licensed Nyan Cat properly to use commercially.

?In Scribblenauts Unlimited, you have to actually type out the words ?Nyan Cat? and ?Keyboard Cat? to get our characters to appear in the game. In fact, the game forbids you from making any copyright references in their games with a pop-up error. Meanwhile, 5th Cell recently negotiated proper rights for several Nintendo characters for their games. Just because popularity with millions of fans has caused Nyan Cat and Keyboard Cat to become famous by virtue of their viral or meme nature, doesn?t give these companies a right to take our work for free in order to make profits for themselves, especially considering too that they would be the first to file lawsuits against people who misappropriate their copyrights and trademarks. It just isnt fair.

?I?ve been working alongside with the creator of the music and the lady who uploaded it to YouTube since the start. There are many reputable companies that have respected our rights and negotiated fees to use our characters commercially. Warner Bros. and 5th Cell should have done the same.

?Since Warner Bros. and 5th Cell chose to act as if we had no rights in characters we created, filing a lawsuit was the only way we had to protect our intellectual property rights from being used for others? commercial profit without our consent. Too often normal artists like us don?t have the means and resources to protect our rights against big media corporations who use our work for their own profit without permission. We are looking here just to be treated fairly and to be fairly compensated for our creative work.?

WB infringed upon their copyright law, therefore they should pay. There is no discussion.
What do you guys think would happen if someone used Bugs Bunny in a game without paying WB for it? They would be sued into oblivion.

Also, just because it's a meme doesn't mean it belongs to "the people" as some people say. There is a meme with Bugs Bunny, does that mean I can use him now in my games?
There is HUGE difference between a meme and using it for profit.

Spoiler

 

[Zer0Saber]

Nyan and keyboard cat were trademarked after the game came out huh. Does anyone have a trademark on the wheel? Image the back royalties you'd get from that.

 

[MarsProbe]

So, from what I can gather here, these "characters" (and I use that term loosely) were used in Scribblenauts and then a year later, they had trademarks filed for them? I'm no expert in these matters, but it sounds to me like these individuals may have thought their trademarks would be retroactive and as such they could claim the big bucks for this infringement.

Also, I'm guessing that no, you couldn't use Bugs Bunny in your game just because he appeared in a meme because well, he's Bugs Bunny. How many other pre-existing fictional characters have appeared in memes: Adam Jensen, Neo, that girl from Bleach with the leek, Kirk, Picard.... Would you use any of those in your game just because they appeared in a meme. Unlikely. You can hardly look at Nyan Cat and Keyboard Cat in the same way, as they were likely never existed before their memes.

Be sure to update us when these claims crash and burn in a predictable but nonetheless entertaining manner, will you?