Congresswoman Claims 'Fair Use' And 'Transparency' Are Just 'Buzz Terms'

Putt-Putt Fails To Comprehend User-Generated Content, Sends C&D To Mojang Over Mini Golf Games Recreated With Minecraft

from the those-protecting-the-brand-seem-least-capable-of-the-position dept

Thu, Jul 11th 2013 10:25am — Tim Cushing

I suppose kids staying indoors playing their video games and zoning out to a steady stream of YouTube videos and social media streams has had a slightly deleterious effect on mini-golf giant Putt-Putt's fortunes. That theoretical downturn might explain the cease-and-desist letter sent to Mojang, the company behind Minecraft, threatening to sue the developer if tons of user-generated content doesn't just up and vanish from the web.

Putt-Putt, the entity behind the chain of miniature golf courses so prevalent that its name has practically become synonymous with the hobby, is threatening to sue Minecraft developer Mojang over user-generated levels that allegedly infringe upon the "Putt-Putt" name.

Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson released the cease-and-desist letter on Twitter along with the musing, "Putt-Putt being silly."

"It has recently come to our attention that Mojang AB has been using, without authorization our famous Putt-Putt trademarks in connection with your business," said the letter. "We feel that Mojang AB's use of of the Putt-Putt name has benefited Mojang AB to the detriment of Putt-Putt."

Putt Putt offered the following screenshot as "proof" of Mojang's wrongdoing.

The President and CEO of Putt Putt, David Callahan, threatens to "refer this matter to our legal counsel" and "seek damages of a reasonable royalty for Mojang AB's past infringing use." Hopefully, Putt Putt's legal counsel will save Callahan a bit of money by explaining user-generated content to him. Mojang didn't create the Putt Putt "knockoffs," nor, in a majority of these cases, does it even host the servers where the content is contained. (Mojang only began offering hosting in May of 2013.)

Putt-Putt's move makes no sense, as Alex Chapman, a lawyer contacted by Eurogamer points out:

"Mojang doesn't control what users build and Mojang doesn't control the content of the videos users make. Suing Mojang for what people do using Minecraft is like suing Microsoft for what people do using Word."

If Putt-Putt seriously wants to make this content vanish (and protect the brand), it will have to go after individual users, something not known for its cost-effectiveness or PR value. Sony spent some time killing off "infringing" user generated content crafted by fans of the ~~M-rated~~ E-rated LittleBigPlanet series, but it failed to net the beleaguered company much more than additional scorn to throw on top of the pile of scorn it had already amassed due to previous assaults on its customers.

Mojang isn't complying with this C&D simply because there's nothing for it to comply with. The deadline was July 10th, so hopefully we won't have to wait too long to see if Putt-Putt managed to find counsel willing to pursue Callahan's folly.

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Filed Under: minecraft, minigolf, notch, putt putt, trademark, user generated content
Companies: mojang, putt putt

41 Comments

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Lonyo, 11 Jul 2013 @ 10:39am

Cease and Desist
Mojang/Notch should send a cease and desist letter to Putt-Putt asking them to stop putting up content which promotes their brand using Minecraft to create the content.

Clearly Putt-Putt are using Minecraft and the associated brand to get online users interested in Minigolf and trying to build an association using the Minecraft brand without compensating Mojang.

"It has recently come to our attention that Putt-Putt has been using, without authorization our famous Minecraft trademarks in connection with your business," said the letter. "We feel that Putt-Putts's use of of the Minecraft name has benefited Putt-Putt to the detriment of Minecraft."
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- Ninja (profile), 11 Jul 2013 @ 10:48am
  
  Re: Cease and Desist
  That would be an epic response. Have my insightful vote.
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- jupiterkansas (profile), 11 Jul 2013 @ 12:34pm
  
  Re: Cease and Desist
  You joke, but if Putt Putt was truly innovative and forward thinking, it would have long ago created its own branded Minecraft mini-golf courses.
  
  If someone in the company had thought to do it, they'd have been promoted. But when someone outside thinks to do it, it's sue time!
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- Anonymous Anonymous Coward, 11 Jul 2013 @ 12:50pm
  
  Re: Cease and Desist
  I agree, an epic response. Got insightful AND funny from me.
  
  Maybe...I heard someplace that any publicity is good publicity.
  
  As noted by more than a few below, the 'trademark' is conflated with either the actual physical game as in "let's go play some putt putt golf", or they had never heard of it at all.
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GMacGuffin (profile), 11 Jul 2013 @ 10:42am

Holy crap, there are mini-golf mods? Must have.

Thanks, Putt-Putt, for alerting me.
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Ninja (profile), 11 Jul 2013 @ 10:46am

If ppl could sue for user generated content I'd sue Mike for allowing retardation from the likes of ootb, bob and aj =/

Ahem. They should be THRILLED their brand is so remembered by the kids. I mean, mini-golf is kind of dorky and not the type of thing kids would love... (my own opinion lmao)
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- madasahatter (profile), 11 Jul 2013 @ 1:34pm
  
  Re:
  They are getting free publicity with Mods. I think part of the problem is the proliforation of entertainment and social media has reduced the time spent on other activities. Putt-Putt is not only competing against other outdoor activities but social media, computer gaming, and the Internet. Money and more importantly time spent on these newer activities can not be spent on Putt-Putt.
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  - Ninja (profile), 12 Jul 2013 @ 3:29am
    
    Re: Re:
    Yeah but you see, they can insert themselves on the internet, games and stuff. It's all about seizing the opportunity. Why not partner with Mojang and do some advertising?
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Jul 2013 @ 10:49am

' like suing Microsoft for what people do using Word.'

but Google is constantly having to remove links from it's search, but doesn't put the sites on the web. the third party business seems to come into play, or be left out, depending on who wants what
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- ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 11 Jul 2013 @ 11:00am
  
  Re:
  Google is digging its own hole there.
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- John Fenderson (profile), 11 Jul 2013 @ 1:08pm
  
  Re:
  Google is constantly having to remove links from it's search
  
  It doesn't have to do this. It chooses to do this.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 11 Jul 2013 @ 1:50pm
    
    Re: Re:
    I think you will see something else if they actually removed the option. Something along the line of hefty fines in certain countries and massive regulative capture from the copyright industry in the rest of the western world to force Google to reintroduce the feature.
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    - John Fenderson (profile), 12 Jul 2013 @ 11:23am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      Perhaps, but that would be a change in the law. Currently, Google is not required to do what it's doing.
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- Michael Long (profile), 11 Jul 2013 @ 1:29pm
  
  Re:
  "...is like suing Microsoft for what people do using Word."
  
  Light. Bulb.
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Keroberos (profile), 11 Jul 2013 @ 10:55am

hopefully we won't have to wait too long to see if Putt-Putt managed to find counsel willing to pursue Callahan's folly.
Please, oh please let them have found counsel willing to take their money. I could use a good laugh over some copyright troll smack-down.
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- Anonymous Coward, 11 Jul 2013 @ 11:58am
  
  Re:
  indeed, it would be doubly-amusing to see this formulated as a copyright lawsuit, given that it's alleged trademark infringement :P
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- Robert Doyle (profile), 11 Jul 2013 @ 12:40pm
  
  Re:
  What are righthaven's lawyers up to these days?
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- Anonymous Coward, 11 Jul 2013 @ 12:45pm
  
  Re:
  I think John Steele would be up to the task, that is if his porno career is finally over...
  
  *Starts warming up popcorn maker*
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- PRMan, 11 Jul 2013 @ 1:16pm
  
  Re:
  I wonder if Notch will challenge them to a game of Quake III...
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Jul 2013 @ 10:56am

Free Advertising
The analogy with MS Word is a bit off. It should read, "...like suing Microsoft for people making advertisements for your product using Word."

The reasonable response here would be to make better quality resources available to people who want to build Minecraft Putt-Putt courses. Give them graphical assets that go with the image you want to project and invite them to your company web page to find those assets.
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- jupiterkansas (profile), 11 Jul 2013 @ 12:36pm
  
  Re: Free Advertising
  Or create those assets yourself, since obviously people are interested in them.
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Dogbreath, 11 Jul 2013 @ 11:14am

Based on this logic, it's time for Putt-Putt to send a C&D to LEGO
"Proof" of infringement:

http://www.google.com/search?q=lego+putt+putt+youtube
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- Idiot InaHurry, 11 Jul 2013 @ 1:08pm
  
  Re: Based on this logic, it's time for Putt-Putt to send a C&D to LEGO
  What, Lego and putt-putt merged? Awesome!
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  - Dogbreath, 11 Jul 2013 @ 4:12pm
    
    Re: Re: Based on this logic, it's time for Putt-Putt to send a C&D to LEGO
    Here is the extremely short documentary showing the merger, and subsequent dissolution.
    
    Aforementioned merger only lasted for a very short time: 1 minute 8 seconds.
    
    I believe (based solely on the audio), one of the parties "ruined it", although from the video it appears to be unclear what exactly was "ruined". This will more than likely need to be taken all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, for a clear decision that falls within Constitutional Law. Failing that, I'd recommend no dinner and early bedtime for both parties involved.
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Jul 2013 @ 11:17am

Maybe they can get Prenda Law to take the case.
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Transmitte (profile), 11 Jul 2013 @ 11:17am

Wait, putt putt is still around? Go figger...
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RyanNerd (profile), 11 Jul 2013 @ 11:27am

I've heard of Minecraft
What the hell is Putt-Putt?
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- G Thompson (profile), 11 Jul 2013 @ 12:43pm
  
  Re: I've heard of Minecraft
  Isn't it the noise that old riverboats (steamers) make?
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  - Anonymous Coward, 11 Jul 2013 @ 12:46pm
    
    Re: Re: I've heard of Minecraft
    I had a car that made that noise too...
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Baldaur Regis (profile), 11 Jul 2013 @ 11:40am

Note as evidence they entered the phrase "putt putt craft" with the corresponding search results. Enter that phrase now and the results will show a page of...stories about this story.

There really should be a betting pool where we could all guess when the exact "Oh fuck..." moment hits.
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Zimzat (profile), 11 Jul 2013 @ 12:08pm

Given that their search term is for "craft" instead of "minecraft" it has me wondering if they're planning on releasing some product based on 'craft' in relation to their name sake, only to find out that there are already results for that search term and thus their potential product.
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Jul 2013 @ 12:10pm

Huh, I had no idea Putt-Putt was a company/brand and was just what it was called.
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- pr, 14 Jul 2013 @ 1:58pm
  
  Re:
  Yes, Putt-Putt is still around. They have a well deserved reputation for being the lamest of all major miniature golf course chains.
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Rikuo (profile), 11 Jul 2013 @ 12:59pm

I've never heard of the term Putt Putt. I have heard of Pitch and Putt, is that a rival company?
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Andrew Nyland, 15 Jul 2013 @ 5:40pm

Suggestion
Notch/Mojang AB and Google should both sue (or send a cease and desist to) Putt Putt, separately. Mojang for already mentioned reasons, and Google could because of unapproved images of their property (their search engine) for harmful or blackmail intent. That would be
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Kendrick, 16 Aug 2013 @ 2:21am

Thank you..
Give them graphical assets that go with the image you want to project and invite. Kendrick
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Halo fan, 30 Aug 2013 @ 2:34am

This game should be sued and shut down for copyright hopefully it will end the game brainwashes people anyway people are violently hurting them selfs by banging hand on tree and picking up spiders cave spiders glass and glowstone
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Minecrafter, 30 Aug 2013 @ 2:35am

Shad up halo geeky game
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John Smith, 6 Dec 2013 @ 11:00am

Thanks
The two comics done by the guys over at Penny Arcade certainly didn't harm sales either.
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LukeWalker (profile), 16 Dec 2013 @ 10:26pm

Luke the Master Golfer
I think both parties are at fault here but Putt-Putt should have known better than to raise their concerns against Mojang. They should focus their problem on improving their on miniature golf course builder instead of creating some conflict.
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Bob Poltis, 11 Oct 2021 @ 3:43am

"Putt-Putt" trade name infringement
"Putt-Putt" is a registered trade name of Putt-Putt Golf Courses, since 1954... RESPECT IT !
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