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'Call of Duty' wins First Amendment victory over use of Humvees

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Re: 'Call of Duty' wins First Amendment victory over use of Humvees

#111

Post by Keverw »

Nice! I know Books and Movies have first amendment protections, but some reason people debate about it for games. I remember another similar story on HN a while back and someone said they were contacted to remove a mailbox they posted to a model sharing site because it looked too similar to a real life mailbox. But as far as I know they didn't push back, but I felt that company was abusing things, especially since they sent a DMCA which doesn't cover trademark disputes - but I guess most companies don't care and will take it down if they get a notice since they feel it's the courts job to decide if it was valid or not if someone decides to fight back. I guess legally, companies just act as a middleman doing a process so they won't be held legally liable even if the notice is wrong so they can keep their safe harbor instead of picking sides.

Then I remember the case where a real life club got mad at grand theft auto. But in the end it was decided people wouldn't confuse a night club in real life with one in a virtual world. Probably would be the same for that mail or car example too. And they didn't even use the logo, the shape or colors of things can count as a trademark.

Re: 'Call of Duty' wins First Amendment victory over use of Humvees

#112

Post by Alupis »

projektfu wrote: post #66
WaxProlix wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I grew up playing Counter-Strike and have in the past few years bought a few guns; despite their solid reputation and the fact that they do what I want, I never even considered a Glock. Was this causal? Who knows, but I wouldn't rule it out.

I assume that a gamer would want a Heckler & Koch VP9 just for the appearance.

Well, there was a noticeable surge of new Mini14 owners at my local range during the peak of PUBG (Player Unknown's Battlegrounds) battle royale game.

Re: 'Call of Duty' wins First Amendment victory over use of Humvees

#113

Post by greglindahl »

MaxBarraclough wrote: post #81
djsumdog wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, so this serve the companies interest because they're trying to defend their trademark; even if they failed. I doubt Humvee is in danger of becoming a generic term (Jeep is more likely; I cannot tell you much my it annoyed me my ex called her Suzuki 4x4 a "Jeep" .. it's not a Jeep! It's a 4x4 or off-roader.." but if they enter into other trademark battles, the opposing council can't say "Well they haven't tried t…

I'm not a lawyer, as may soon become obvious, but couldn't they just play nice and say Pay us $1 and we're ok with you using our trademark ? Why drag them to court?

I know a best-selling author with a trademark, and she got legal advice that having folks who use her trademark point at her website is good enough.

Re: 'Call of Duty' wins First Amendment victory over use of Humvees

#114

Post by endorphone »

saagarjha wrote: post #16
CM30 wrote: post #15

Have to be honest, I've always thought complaints about trademarked products in works of fiction were a silly thing to begin with. Why shouldn't a fictional universe feature products and businesses found in the real world? Are we supposedly to randomly assume all other universes don't have humvees or macbooks or the Red Cross? Who's to say the same people/companies/organisations would even be responsible in that work…

What if I took your product and had it fail spectacularly in my movie?

If it failed in a way it can fail in the real world, ideally with examples, then there should be no problem. If the movie doesn't extrapolate and effectively libel the brand with untruths (e.g. they all do this, this is normal, etc), there should be zero problem with it.

Brands, music, trends, etc, are always a street with two-sides, yet we act like there is only one side worth consideration. e.g. These things are the part of our lives as well, and we made them what they are, so there is shared consideration, which is exactly what this judgment is saying.

Re: 'Call of Duty' wins First Amendment victory over use of Humvees

#115

Post by Sebguer »

refurb wrote: post #105
LatteLazy wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US you generally have to pay your own fees, even if you successfully defend a suit. So I guess it makes sense for Humvee: they need a legal department for when there are real lawsuits. They have to pay them all the time, as they don't know when a real suit will hit them. So in the mean time, why not file frivolous bs like this? The margin cost is zero. If a real suit comes in, you just drop the bs one. And you…

The margin cost is zero Corporate legal departments (at least the big companies) hire out trial work typically and at a very high hourly price.

Also the idea that corporate legal departments are just doing nothing all the time unless they're suing people is the tech equivalent of only caring about IT when something's broken.

Re: 'Call of Duty' wins First Amendment victory over use of Humvees

#116

Post by bonestamp2 »

dsr_ wrote: post #89
bonestamp2 wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It doesn't apply in this case because the Call of Duty series has nothing to do with selling vehicles. I understand that the trademark itself is only protected within the same field, but it seems pretty common to defend trademarks across other fields.

That sentence doesn't make sense to me. A trademark can only be defended in the face of an incursion into a protected use. If it's an "other field", then it can't be defended and the suit fails.

Fair enough and technically, I think you're right that it's not a "defense" with legal precedence (and therefore not an actual defense). But, I don't think that reality stops many companies from trying to stop the use of their brand or product in other fields because they believe they're protecting the brand.

That said, this AM General case seems to be a licensing case -- they want money for the use of the of their design. To some degree, I don't blame them since Activision is profiting from their work.

Re: 'Call of Duty' wins First Amendment victory over use of Humvees

#117

Post by thatguy0900 »

cosmodisk wrote: post #107
solinent wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The standard example I've heard is for Trampoline. No one calls them rebound tumblers anymore. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trampoline#First_modern_trampo... I think this is really just a case of lawyers being super-protective. It also pays well, I'm sure. I think a words like Humvee or even Google have coloquially already lost their meaning--their meaning is polymorphic, it's only a matter of time (100 years is a m…

The very first that came to my mind is Jeep. In some countries it literally means SUV nowadays.The term is so ingrained that pretty much everyone says like this: 'He's got a BMW Jeep' or 'Look, that's a nice looking Jeep, surely it's Mercedes!'. The funniest thing is that nobody can ever see a real Jeep anymore,as nobody buys them( talking about Europe here).

Interesting, I've never heard jeep used like that in the U.S. Actual jeeps are pretty common here though.

Re: 'Call of Duty' wins First Amendment victory over use of Humvees

#118

Post by jacobush »

_jal wrote: post #108
solinent wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The standard example I've heard is for Trampoline. No one calls them rebound tumblers anymore. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trampoline#First_modern_trampo... I think this is really just a case of lawyers being super-protective. It also pays well, I'm sure. I think a words like Humvee or even Google have coloquially already lost their meaning--their meaning is polymorphic, it's only a matter of time (100 years is a m…

Here is Velcro's lawyers telling you to call those other brands 'hook and loop' in a surprisingly straightforward, honest and amusing way. https://youtu.be/rRi8LptvFZY

Straightforward and amusing, yes. Honest? Well, they are paid to be "honest". Excuse while me while I go buy some hook and loop.

Re: 'Call of Duty' wins First Amendment victory over use of Humvees

#119

Post by doperroper »

filoleg wrote: post #102
doperroper wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i can answer that. russians are retarded (source: am russian). they see a new thing, and think anything written on the side is the name of it. Examples: marker =flomaster. clearly flow master, name of the guys who made the first marker seen in russia. hard drive =winchester. the model of the first hdd seen by russians. and don't try to tell them black olives are olives. they're masleeny, translating to 'oily'. becaus…

Oh god, I completely forgot about "winchester", since it's been over a decade since I've heard someone say it. And yup, fully agree on all your points.

even with das coolz english words sneaking in, and markers becoming markers, it's half-assed, in true slav style. the new russian cool-kids did ditch 'winchester.' and replaced it with 'stiff disk'

however anything that's a usb stick, be it a modem or wifi card, is still 'flashka.' sticking a cell modem in a usb port makes it flash memory. i hear with usb-c new lingo will take over. anything usb-c will be called djest' (stiffness)

Re: 'Call of Duty' wins First Amendment victory over use of Humvees

#120

Post by malkia »

thatguy0900 wrote: post #117
cosmodisk wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The very first that came to my mind is Jeep. In some countries it literally means SUV nowadays.The term is so ingrained that pretty much everyone says like this: 'He's got a BMW Jeep' or 'Look, that's a nice looking Jeep, surely it's Mercedes!'. The funniest thing is that nobody can ever see a real Jeep anymore,as nobody buys them( talking about Europe here).

Interesting, I've never heard jeep used like that in the U.S. Actual jeeps are pretty common here though.

Born in Bulgaria, can confirm - "Джип", or "Джипка" which is really "Jeep" in bulgarian (and probably other slavic languages).

Another one is "Yonica" for any synthesizer. Obviously "Scotch" (more for the tape, than drink).

But... What I really love is "Pampers" - yes this is the bulgarian word for... "diapers"... and many more...

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