Kickstarter suspends project 10 hours from successful funding
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Re: Kickstarter suspends project 10 hours from successful funding
#2tl;dr - Person who mentored these guys didn't realize they were going to compete, takes legal action, Kickstarter complies.
Since Kickstarter is walking into the same land mines that eBay did, albeit with a slightly different flavor, it will be interesting to see how this plays out. The Vinted Goods folks can show pretty clear economic harm from the action, the mentor clearly thinks there is some sort of trademark, trade dress, and/or copyright violation. The story reads like a DMCA takedown although Vinted didn't provide details or a copy of the DMCA filing that they must have received (they mention a counter claim).
So what happens if you decide to make a Kickstarter Movie about a couple of anthropomorphized robots who end up on a dessert planet only to discover one of the inhabitants is destined to overthrow a totalitarian dictator? Hollywood loves to throw those lawsuits around.
Re: Kickstarter suspends project 10 hours from successful funding
#3It feels like there's got to be more to this story than is actually included in this post with regards to the mentor suddenly opposing the startup.
Re: Kickstarter suspends project 10 hours from successful funding
#4Any interest I might have had in their problem was lost when I could not read their complaint. The lines are too wide for the screen on my mobile device, and they are blocking resizing so I can not shrink it to fit.
Re: Kickstarter suspends project 10 hours from successful funding
#5It feels like there's got to be more to this story than is actually included in this post with regards to the mentor suddenly opposing the startup.
I agree:
> He laid claims to a number of our designs such as our website utilizing a top navigation bar, our photo of the designer operating a sewing machine, etc.
> In short, the claims are as outlandish as we perceived
If the claims are so ridiculous why haven't they posted the claim? Why are we supposed to trust what they have to say?
Also this line reads very curiously:
> the mentor gave them words of blessing for future success.
it's as if they're trying to say "he said it was okay to take the work we did there and use it in the future"? I don't get that sentence.
Something about the way this is written feels weird.
Re: Kickstarter suspends project 10 hours from successful funding
#6Any interest I might have had in their problem was lost when I could not read their complaint. The lines are too wide for the screen on my mobile device, and they are blocking resizing so I can not shrink it to fit.
My iPhone has a reader button in the browser that makes the page nice readable plain text with proper margins.
Re: Kickstarter suspends project 10 hours from successful funding
#7If everything they have said is true, it's an unfortunate situation and seems to be the result of the mentor saying, 'Fuck, why did I not take it to this level?'
However this is only one side of the story and it definitely seems like there might be more behind the scenes. Interested to see how this plays out and it means interesting things for how Kickstarter handles issues like this.
Agree with ChuckMcM about how it reads like a DMCA takedown, but just with much more serious consequences than the average DMCA.
Re: Kickstarter suspends project 10 hours from successful funding
#8It does feel like something fishy is going on, because we're only getting one side of the story. Regardless, VintedGoods is now getting a ton of free publicity.
Re: Kickstarter suspends project 10 hours from successful funding
#9It feels like there's got to be more to this story than is actually included in this post with regards to the mentor suddenly opposing the startup.
I agree: > He laid claims to a number of our designs such as our website utilizing a top navigation bar, our photo of the designer operating a sewing machine, etc. > In short, the claims are as outlandish as we perceived If the claims are so ridiculous why haven't they posted the claim? Why are we supposed to trust what they have to say? Also this line reads very curiously: > the mentor gave them words of blessing fo…
"Thanks for all your help help, Mentor. We'll be off!"
"Sure thing kids, go crazy. Do whatever you want! Good luck! You'll need it!"
[Kids post to kickstarter and get tons of funding. Mentor decides that maybe he wants some of that action.]
How much funding had been pledged before Kickstarter pulled the plug?
Re: Kickstarter suspends project 10 hours from successful funding
#10IANAL, but if the "mentor" is acting in as bad of faith as it appears, there may be grounds for a counter-claim of "tortious interference."