If they are looking for a payday, why didn’t they license to Netflix in the first place? If they’re counting on a settlement, they’re playing a dangerous game imho. As @jasonstevanhill points out a public legal wrangle over this could result in their TM being ruled un-defendible, and hence generic. Which is good for Netflix, since I suspect they plan to produce more interactive #content.
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Hm. I wondering if Netflix really is going to argue generalized because Chooseco claims they were in negotiations with Netflix to use the name but it wasn’t granted, and they even sent Netflix a C&D before the movie was live (or maybe Netflix just figured a settlement would be cheaper than paying whatever Chooseco was asking).
For the actual history of the term CYOA, it’s noteworthy (not in the legal sense, but in the normal sense of the discussion) that Chooseco never actually published the original CYOA books (that was Bantam Books), it’s just one of the authors that published under the original publisher bought the CYOA name, and have reprinted (some of?) the books. (And he’s been dead for years now.) As far as I can tell, the only new things they’ve been publishing are for Pre-K.
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And I instinctively knew he simply meant the general concept of a Choose Your Own Adventure book in terms of interactive narrative, especially since it’s 1984 when the series and it’s various competitors would be at their height of popularity. Should he have said ‘It’s like a Choose Your Own Adventure book…’? Probably, but I reckon the vast audience would know the distinction. Netflix will likely argue this as the case.
That phrasing is still an actionable infringement of their trademark, I’ve been told.
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I am not sure what else they could have said that wouldn’t sound clumsy, given the term is engrained into public opinion as to the definition of what an interactive fiction book is…
Make/choose/design your own story, an interactive adventure where you decide the outcome, etc. Lots of ways around it 
. Either someone really messed up with their copyright research or it was calculated and Netflix thinks they can argue it and get some extra press at the same time.
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Those are all just clumsy variations of the same thing. Like I said in the context of the time people would really know what Interactive Fiction was through Choose Your Own Adventure and Fighting Fantasy style books, so Stefan would describe Bandersnatch exactly like that, because even in 1984 the term and what Interactive Fiction was generally considered were one and the same.
I’m hoping this settlement might finally resolve with Choose Your Own Adventure regarded as a fair use catch all term for Interactive Fiction (or narrative driven anyway) but I suspect Netflix will just pay up, which is honestly all ChooseCo care about given that they haven’t published anything new or significant in years now…
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Netflix was totally asking forgiveness, rather than permission. Black Mirror episodes set in the past are really big on timeline accuracy. Back then, CYOA was pretty much the only option. Even now, people use the term interchangeably, not realizing it is trademarked.
That said, if Chooseco wins, the $25 mil in damages is probably lower than the amount they wanted to license. Chooseco is a dying brand that hasn’t published anything for years - they live off 80s nostalgia and licensing fees.
But I agree - I hope it turns CYOA into a fair use term, because lord knows, it really is used, colloquially, as a catch-all.
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Sorry but can everyone stop saying they haven’t published anything in years? They bring out new books all the time. They absolutely have and do continue to publish books. Books you don’t read because they’re aimed at 11 year olds and you aren’t 11.
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All the new CYOA books online I have seen appear to be designed for very young audiences, while the regular books seem to just be reprints of older titles. I might be wrong though, but if nothing else this situation might encourage ChooseCo to make books for older audiences if something like Bandersnatch concerns them so much.
Right. That’s my point.
apparently Netflix is being sued by a company for using the “choose your own adventure” trademark, which is pretty ridiculous. Video games has been using the same concept??
Quote:
“The suit accuses Netflix of trademark infringement, trademark dilution, unfair competition and false designation of origin. Chooseco is seeking $25 million in damages from the streaming service, according to the suit.”
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I think I’m stupid because I still don’t understand their pettiness. Video Games have been using the “choose your own adventure” concept for YEARS. Detroit: Become Human, Beyond Two Souls etc and etc. What makes Netflix anything different? Is it because Stefan mentioned the “choose your own adventure”-book in the movie? And what about this website?
It’s not about the CONCEPT of branching-narrative, that can’t be trademarked. It’s about the USE of the phrase “Choose Your Own Advenure.”
Look at any of the marketing materials of any of those games/sites your cite: dollars to donughts, none of them use that phrase. We certainly don’t.
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I actually read some lately As here are using as reading to learn English in several courses. A easy reading fantastic to learn grammar structure. Modern ones are worst than elder ones. And simplier
The regular books are aimed at that age, I was talking about the ones which I assume are aimed at the 5+ bracket and would have been called the Skylark range back in the old days. Most of the books for 9+ are as I said reprints of older titles, though having checked I can see there is a couple of new ranges like CYOA Spies and Choose Your Own Nightmare…
Lawsuit stuff aside, I have not seen Bandersnatch (I am only up to USS Callister), but the mere fact that it has people talking about IF seems like it is a net benefit to all of us, no matter what. The more attention to works like this, the better.
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…And yet try describing a interactive fiction book to a casual person and wait to see how long before one of you uses the words Choose Your Own Adventure or a crude equivalent of it in conversation. It’s impossible not to, which is precisely why ChooseCo elected to copyright it.