Coleco strong-arming homebrew publishers and fan sites

[+GoldLeader]

I wish I could "like" post 1392 several more times. AWESOME!!!!!

 

 

EDIT: I CAN'T believe you found yourself a SLITHER arcade game! Totally awesome!!!!

 

 

That's what I was thinking! Along with a choice Mr. Do! (And lots of other cool New York experiences)...

 

But that Slither has to be a pretty rare game! Unlike Mr. Do!, I've never seen one in real life, but strangely I saw a game at a Denver amusement park (can't remember if it was Lakeside or Elitch's) called Asp and it appeared to be the same thing...I've never really looked it up, but I assume Asp was a bootleg version of Slither.

[Schizophretard]

 

I work in social media. That means I'm on 24/7 sometimes literally. But don't worry, while the family is sleeping after a great day, I'll find some time to post a few things. So far we've been having a lot of fun! In case you were wondering, this is what we've been doing in the middle of all this drama...

 

That does look fun but I hope you got licences for everything that is trademarked in those pictures.

[Schizophretard]

I hope Pat makes another video but about how they fraudulently received their trademark using Ben Heck's work.

 

 

As PatTheNESPunk has just posted a followup video (which I haven't watched yet), I'm going to unlock this thread, at least for the short-term, so people can continue to discuss this topic.

 

I understand Robb's frustration, especially having to contend with all this while on a family vacation. This is supposed to be a fun, enjoyable hobby revolving around an entertainment medium (video games). That's what people should really focus on, playing their ColecoVision and other classic consoles! I know Robb will continue to focus on the positive aspects of the hobby and helping to spread the word about the ColecoVision and all the great games and hardware people are creating for it.

 

 

Please be respectful as we continue...

 

..Al

 

Pat granted my wish within hours. He really is gay for us!

[Schizophretard]

I think I see where Coleco®© is coming from. I don't agree, and still think they're pants-on-head stupid for doing this, but still ...

 

This explanation of counterfeit consumer goods on Wikipedia is pretty clear, and it appears to be consistent with Coleco's argument. If I put a Gucci label on a cheap Wal-Mart handbag, that's infringing on Gucci's trademark and could cause confusion in the marketplace. If I attempt to copy their style but don't put a name on it, it's a "knockoff," which may or may not be illegal. In the case of Coleco, it's not what they said they did that is offensive, it's how and to whom it was done that is not cool.

 

Needless to say, Coleco is not Gucci. Or Nintendo. If we were in 1983, and Coleco was actually producing something, things would be different.

 

I agree that intent matters, and confusing the market is a factor as well. As you've pointed out, I don't think a reasonable person could assume that any of these modern home-brews were associated with the Coleco Holdings company.

 

If Coleco is planning to release game-related products, that would be great. They've shown less than zero aptitude or ability for doing so, though. I enjoyed the ColecoVision Flashback for what it was, but there's no way I'd buy another one unless they did the one simple thing that kicked this off:

 

They STILL(!) haven't addressed the very simple matter of retracting their inappropriate claim against ColecoVision Fan's images on Facebook. I will never buy, support, attend, or otherwise patronize anything Coleco does ever again, until they make this right. Backhanded apologies won't cut it.

 

I'm having trouble seeing where they are coming from because if they really don't want to confuse the market then the best way to do that is to stop pretending to be Coleco. I mean, if they would accept the fact that Coleco died decades ago like everyone else instead of living in a Mike Kennedy alternate reality where "Coleco is back!" then even the most gullible would be able to figure out that there is no possibility that any game or anything for that matter was made by or officially licensed by Coleco in the 21st century. Trademarks should die and stay dead once the original companies die and a trademark should only be able to be obtained by another party only if they acquire the company that the trademark represents. That would clear up market confusion.

 

Homebrewers, on the other hand, that use dead trademarks for the purpose of using them as art to show,"What if Coleco never died?" aren't doing anything to create market confusion because even though they are pretending there is an alternate reality where Coleco never died they aren't really believing they are Coleco and aren't trying to convince the public they are Coleco with revisionist history nonsense. They aren't in denial that they aren't Coleco and aren't presenting themselves as being Coleco unlike what "Coleco" is doing which is trying to present fantasy as real.

[+frankodragon]

Judge's Reaction to Cardillo in court :

 

[mr_me]

I think I see where Coleco®© is coming from. I don't agree, and still think they're pants-on-head stupid for doing this, but still ...

 

This explanation of counterfeit consumer goods on Wikipedia is pretty clear, and it appears to be consistent with Coleco's argument. If I put a Gucci label on a cheap Wal-Mart handbag, that's infringing on Gucci's trademark and could cause confusion in the marketplace. If I attempt to copy their style but don't put a name on it, it's a "knockoff," which may or may not be illegal. In the case of Coleco, it's not what they said they did that is offensive, it's how and to whom it was done that is not cool.

 

Needless to say, Coleco is not Gucci. Or Nintendo. If we were in 1983, and Coleco was actually producing something, things would be different.

 

I agree that intent matters, and confusing the market is a factor as well. As you've pointed out, I don't think a reasonable person could assume that any of these modern home-brews were associated with the Coleco Holdings company.

 

If Coleco is planning to release game-related products, that would be great. They've shown less than zero aptitude or ability for doing so, though. I enjoyed the ColecoVision Flashback for what it was, but there's no way I'd buy another one unless they did the one simple thing that kicked this off:

 

They STILL(!) haven't addressed the very simple matter of retracting their inappropriate claim against ColecoVision Fan's images on Facebook. I will never buy, support, attend, or otherwise patronize anything Coleco does ever again, until they make this right. Backhanded apologies won't cut it.

When I first read "counterfeit" accusations I wasn't sure what RWB was referring to. I was thinking counterfeit was like fake CDs made to look exactly like the real ones labels and all, ie. product replication. And as Ikrananka pointed out it has to be produced or sold knowingly counterfeit to be a crime. The example of arcade remakes is obviously not what I thought of as counterfeit goods. So I read counterfeiting has broader meanings in the law. And now I see that the law has counterfeit goods as simply having a registered trademark on a product without permission making it appear that the trademark owner produced it, when they didn't . So is RWB referring to a dispute with the SGM packaging. Or perhaps they mistakenly think any product with their "claimed" trademark is counterfeit.

 

Counterfeiting is a serious crime and as long as there is a buyer/victim the police can be called. Although the police won't be interested unless it's a large scale operation. And as Ikrananka pointed out it has to be sold or produced knowing its counterfeit to be a crime. Remaking an old videogame using trademarks without permission is neither counterfeiting nor a crime. And like Opcode pointed out is a civil matter between parties.

 

I don't think RWB has consulted a proper lawyer because a lawyer might have advised something like the following. Quoted from http://whoswholegal.com/news/features/article/29789/trademark-enforcement-internet-age/

"Before writing a demand letter or commencing action, it is important to gauge the effect that action or inaction may have on consumer perceptions of the trademark intended to be protected or of its owner, and to calibrate carefully ones reaction to the impugned conduct, taking into account the severity of the conduct, the likelihood of success, and the possibility of retaliation in social media."

[Flojomojo]

^ wump

dere it is

[Special Teams]

Still can't figure out why Cardillo would come here with these accusations. Did he forget so soon that AtariAge, aka the Super Slueths, is the group that outed MK's fraudulent activity? He may as well have asked the group to review all his past business transactions and report any questionable and inappropriate behavior, as the result is the same. How many potential felonies have been uncovered? Memo to self - don't mess with this group!

[Jinks]

 

Dude I saw "Connecticut" and was like Yes!, finally a retro gaming convention near me! Awesome!

 

...and then I google mapped it and its like 2 hours away...

So it is close by. Where I live the closest would be 20 some hour drive.

[opcode]

If the matter is the SGM, it was never a counterfeit.

 

1) I had the one time license from RWB

2) Coleco was always aware of all runs, including last year's 3rd run, where I removed the Coleco logo and was requested to put it back. So was Coleco looking for an official counterfeit in that case?

3) After receiving an email notifying me that the license had been suspended a few weeks ago, I complied and removed the logo.

4) I would also argue that having the SGM with the Coleco/CV logos was a good thing for them, so they can justify the maintenance of their trademark

 

As for the games, I used the logo under the premise of fair use, I never tried to pretend they were Coleco releases, or licensed by Coleco. Now, once again, even it that was the case:

 

1) The ColecoVision is a 35 years old platform, not owned by Coleco Holdings, and people buy know what they are buying and from who they are buying. We don't sell at ToysRUs to unsuspicious gamers.

2) I am not the only one, and in fact of the 3 major publishers, I am by far the one with the least number of games released, 11 total to this date. And there is something else I want to say about this point here, but I will save to another post

[Northcoastgamer]

Saw a Doctor Who marathon about a month or two ago on BBC. Quickly fell in love with the show, then haven't seen it since. Probably a good thing, because I wouldn't want to be glued to the TV all the time.

I think you meant to say it would take away some of your CV game time.

[TPR]

Please don't be down on yourself

 

Just to be clear, I was never down on myself. I'd like to think I'm a very confident person with strong self-esteem. I wouldn't be here fighting this scumbag if I didn't feel I had a solid, valid argument. If I was down on anything, it was other people to be honest.

 

The simple fact is that some people don't see the big picture at all.

 

And this is exactly the problem and fuels my frustration. I would like to think that true members of AtariAge would be supporting the parties being victimized by Chris Cardillo and Coleco. When I see posts from people that makes me question that, it's important to remember...

 

Everything you say can be used against you.

 

The last thing we want is to hand Cardillo and Co., even accidentally, any nugget of information that they can later blow up out of proportion and use in their favor. We've already seen him do on several other instances and we don't want to give him any more.

 

No matter what happens from this point forward, you've won.

 

I also want to make it clear that I am not looking for a personal victory. Just like my social media pages, I'm doing this for the homebrewers and for the community. Trust me, I wouldn't be taking my time out of a family vacation if I didn't feel they were important to me. I'm not looking for a winner or a loser, I just want to support the community. In short "I fight for the users!"

 

The word is out on their shady actions and THOUSANDS of people now know the truth. We can only hope many more learn the truth and have the courage to stand up for what's right by simply refusing to ever let a penny of their money go to these people.

 

Actually, the true "winners" in this scenario are the ones that learn Coleco Holdings LLC is trash and in turn support the homebrew community.

[+5-11under]

 

"I fight for the users!"

 

I just finished watching Tron: Legacy last night.

It sounds like a great vacation you're having. Food, games, shows, sights, family. Lot's of great pics there.

[opcode]

 

I'm having trouble seeing where they are coming from because if they really don't want to confuse the market then the best way to do that is to stop pretending to be Coleco. I mean, if they would accept the fact that Coleco died decades ago like everyone else instead of living in a Mike Kennedy alternate reality where "Coleco is back!" then even the most gullible would be able to figure out that there is no possibility that any game or anything for that matter was made by or officially licensed by Coleco in the 21st century. Trademarks should die and stay dead once the original companies die and a trademark should only be able to be obtained by another party only if they acquire the company that the trademark represents. That would clear up market confusion.

 

Homebrewers, on the other hand, that use dead trademarks for the purpose of using them as art to show,"What if Coleco never died?" aren't doing anything to create market confusion because even though they are pretending there is an alternate reality where Coleco never died they aren't really believing they are Coleco and aren't trying to convince the public they are Coleco with revisionist history nonsense. They aren't in denial that they aren't Coleco and aren't presenting themselves as being Coleco unlike what "Coleco" is doing which is trying to present fantasy as real.

 

I am quoting this post here, because I probably wouldn't have said this better.

 

But let's take a few steps back and put some things into perspective...

Back when I started in 2002, the scene was very different. There were very few homebrewers (Daniel being the best known at the time), there was no publishers, no boxed games, no cartridge shell mold. Homebrewers at the time were producing the games themselves, they would program the game, then assemble the cartridge using recycled old games, and sell the games themselves with probably a simple label attached.

 

So I ask, what were my motivations when I started? Did I look at the state of things and think, man, there is a great commercial opportunity here! Soon this thing is going to thrive, no one is paying attention, and I will make lots of money! Definitively not! I just had this game that I spent a few years working on and I wanted to share that with the rest of the people that loved the CV. Now, there are many ways to share, but I chose the "what if scenario" mentioned above. I wanted to give others the experience of buying a CV game just like it was 1983 again, because that was the experience I loved back in the day. It wasn't just about a new game, it was about reading the richly illustrated manual, marveling on the box cover. So in 2002 I went the extra length to create professionally printed box, manual, custom cartridge shell. And most importantly, an arcade port, because for me that was the big deal behind the CV, and I know many here share that.

 

When I was about to release Space Invaders, Taito contacted me. I tried to work on a deal, just to be ignored. And I understand their reasons. I also know from multiple sources that Namco is well aware about Pac-Man Collection. Try to contact them and you don't get even an answer. I would have no problem working with any of those companies to paying them a fair share, problem is, they don't care. The money they will make isn't worth the lawyer fees they will have to pay to put a license together. And yet when possible I worked on deals, like I did with Coleco.

 

Now fast forward to 2017. The scene has changed. Homebrewers are widely accepted now (it was like that in 2002, believe me), a lot of people entered the hobby, and some other people took notice. They saw commercial opportunities. Publishers abound, paying to get games done (and I am not implying this is a bad thing at all, just point out that the whole "homebrew" space evolved and expanded). Coleco Holdings never cared and now they care, because they see money in this.

 

At this point I must get into some personal stuff. I work for a big IT corporation. I make $100k a year. If you do the math, my wage is fairly decent, I am happy with that. If Opcode was a business to me, it would only make sense if I was making close to the same wage. Well, not even close. My best Opcode year ever was a bit over 1/10 of that (and that was when I was only doing 3rd party games). Considering the number of hours spent, I would make way more money working for Uber, or delivering pizza for the matter, and those don't require the level of skill I apply within Opcode games, neither all the stress.

 

Recently I was called a bootlegger by a fellow retro gaming publisher. No worries, he isn't from the ColecoVision scene.

 

I first heard of that gentleman last year, after making a certain announcement, and it seems I hit a nerve.

He says he is NOW a by the book guy. Good for him. And of course he is entitled to an opinion. So let me give my opinion.

 

My opinion is that I don't have a formal video game company, I don't have people in my payroll, I don't have trademarks, I don't have an accountant, annual targets, and I don't make a living from all of this.

 

My approach and motivations for Opcode were explained above, I don't see the need to repeat again.

 

So yeah, my games aren't licensed. On the other hand I never pretended that they were, I always gave the original creator credit, and I will be glad to stop working on any of them if requested by the original copyright owners. All the accusations so far are coming from people that see money as their motivation to be here. I also accept the fact that it is now possible that soon real homebrew authors will be a thing from the past, as more companies move into this hobby to monetize on the retro gaming fad.

 

EDIT: in case I couldn't communicate my point, in short terms I am saying that in the past it was about "wouldn't it be cool if the ColecoVision had got a port of X arcade game", and now it is about trademarks, money, licenses, competition, exchanging barbs, and lots and lots of drama.

 

Now that is out of my chest, and I will leave it here.

[TPR]

I'm going to pull out a couple of sentences from Eduardo's post above because I feel they are VERY on point...

 

When I was about to release Space Invaders, Taito contacted me. I tried to work on a deal, just to be ignored. I would have no problem working with any of those companies to paying them a fair share, problem is, they don't care. The money they will make isn't worth the lawyer fees they will have to pay to put a license together. And yet when possible I worked on deals, like I did with Coleco.

 

Coleco Holdings never cared and now they care, because they see money in this.

 

Considering the number of hours spent, I would make way more money working for Uber, or delivering pizza for the matter, and those don't require the level of skill I apply within Opcode games, neither all the stress.

 

So yeah, my games aren't licensed. On the other hand I never pretended that they were, I always gave the original creator credit, and I will be glad to stop working on any of them if requested by the original copyright owners. All the accusations so far are coming from people that see money as their motivation to be here.

 

And here are my thoughts from Eduardo's excellent post...

 

The money they will make isn't worth the lawyer fees they will have to pay to put a license together.

 

There is so much truth to this statement right here. You can try to argue what is "right or wrong" until you have breathed all the oxygen out of the air and suffocated the entire community, but the only party that can pass a true judgement is the holders of the intellectual property. I can tell you there were many, MANY instances from what I worked in the video games business where we saw similar things happen, and the company chose not to pursue it because it wasn't detrimental to their bottom line. When a company chooses to ignore something like this, that is the same as getting an unwritten, unofficial "approval" because they simply do not care. And that is the reality of the situation.

 

Coleco Holdings never cared and now they care, because they see money in this.

 

Coleco Holdings and Chris Cardillo foolishly believe there is a huge business aka lots of money in "making games for a system that hasn't seen a retail shelf in 30 years." This is where they are wrong. But instead of coming forward and saying "Hey guys, we were wrong, why don't you just use our logo just like you have been for the past decade when we didn't care and continue to have FUN making games for this small niche community as though it's still 1982, and we'll focus on our newer future products" they continue to fight because they are cowards who do not possess the ability to be a man, do the right thing, apologize and admit they were wrong.

 

Considering the number of hours spent, I would make way more money working for Uber, or delivering pizza for the matter, and those don't require the level of skill I apply within Opcode games, neither all the stress.

 

This statement right here. In fact, I'm going to quote it again...

 

Considering the number of hours spent, I would make way more money working for Uber, or delivering pizza for the matter, and those don't require the level of skill I apply within Opcode games, neither all the stress.

 

This right here is probably the #1 reason why I support the homebrewers and the community. Having spent 22 years of my life working for actual console video game publishers I know first hand the amount of hard work and dedication that goes into making a boxed cartridge video game. But when I did it, I worked with teams of sometimes up to a hundred people that put everything together and shared the burden of all the work.

 

The fact that Opcode is doing this on their own, out of passion for a community, for the love of a defunct retro video game system, bringing in little to no personal income, and having to put up with so much abuse from people like Cardillo and even some other homebrew communities (guys, really, we should all be in this together), and yet he STILL continues to do this, is far more respectable than any game I've ever worked on! In fact, I feel so strongly about this that I'm going to give Eduardo an award...

There you go, Eduardo, you've deserved it!

 

Seriously, though, when you stop and think about the amount of hours and dedication that the homebrewers are putting into games, and Eduardo is 100% correct that he could be making more money by delivering pizza, please take that into consideration and continue to support the work they are doing!

 

Eduardo is also right that the accusations are coming from people who see money as their motivation, and those people should NOT get our support. They are not in it for the same reasons that people like Eduardo are. I said it yesterday, but I don't mind repeating myself...

 

Do NOT support anything from Coleco Holdings LLC, do NOT attend their joke of an expo, do NOT support them on any social media, do NOT buy any products they produce. If you follow then on Facebook, UNLIKE their page. If you follow them on Twitter, UNFOLLOW them! DO NOT SUPPORT THEM IN ANY WAY!

 

Support the homebrewers, the fan sites, and the people who really make this up this community. Here are some links to check out INSTEAD of the Coleco Holdings LLC pages where you can find higher quality content created by people who ACTUALLY CARE about this community:

http://www.opcodegames.com

http://www.collectorvision.com

http://www.teampixelboy.com

http://ccjvq.com/newcoleco/

http://www.gooddealgames.com/inventory/Colecovision.html

http://www.colecovision.dk

http://www.cvaddict.com

http://colecovision.ca/

http://colecovisionspodcast.blogspot.com/

http://www.colecovisionzone.com/

 

Thank you.

[phattyboombatty]

And this is exactly the problem and fuels my frustration. I would like to think that true members of AtariAge would be supporting the parties being victimized by Chris Cardillo and Coleco. When I see posts from people that makes me question that, it's important to remember...

 

Everything you say can be used against you.

 

I'm not going to comb through this thread to find instances of discord among us, but I haven't seen that really. I'd like to say that everyone here is with you. Hope you don't read into things too much.

 

People in this forum are intelligent. When they comment on certain aspects of "the law" and potential trademark matters, they are just having discourse. Sometimes it piques our brains, and it becomes incredibly technical. There are some great debaters here.

 

We are with you buddy. That is all.

 

Back to the "rage against"...

[phoenixdownita]

Do NOT support anything from Coleco Holdings LLC, do NOT attend their joke of an expo, do NOT support them on any social media, do NOT buy any products they produce. If you follow then on Facebook, UNLIKE their page. If you follow them on Twitter, UNFOLLOW them! DO NOT SUPPORT THEM IN ANY WAY!

Reality is that if they do commercially come out with something people may find interesting or entertaining and is in stores they usually go (WalMart, Toys'r'us or even on Amzn) they will buy it assuming the price is right for them, it's not a human rights campaign kind of boycott you're calling for, I hope that part is clear to you. In the end it seems (and correct me if I am wrong) it all boils down to not use any of their logos or TM stuff (whatever that may be, I am not even sure) on homebrew/ports without permission (and for unauthorized ports I don't think permission can even be granted). That's it? Right? Do I miss something? There's no need to agree to any of their terms to publish to the old CV platform or was there ever?

 

I do think Cardillo went nuts over this, I do think there were a few reasons I can at least understand as to why he thought you were a main actor (when you're not) at least initially in order to get whatever he is after, honestly from your first account I thought he made up all the part about "producing" this and that etc.. turns out he did not just dream all of it and I am glad you cleared that out. I am not turning this words against you I really wanted to understand where he got that from, now at least we all know.

 

He's after a commercial venture so of curse he's out for money .... what else? So are AtGames with their retro lines, retro bit etc...etc....etc....

 

AND I do NOT have allegiances to anyone but myself and my family and rightfully so, at the same time I am extremely truthful and I do not deceive lie or cheat, I DO want to have the FREEDOM to say things the way I see them and be corrected if my statements are FACTUALLY wrong and for that I like AA as it allows me exactly that ... anything else is immaterial to me.

I crossed the line in a couple of occasions (not in this thread even if you decided to censor one of my posts, not that it was anything bad) by being waaaaayyyy too blunt, and I have been wrong in the past, in this instance I was more interested in understanding where that attack against your fanpage/site came from and how it COULD have come to be. I think that part is clear enough.

[opcode]

The fact he keeps referring to the ColecoVision as their platform implies they have a sort or control or saying on what is published. So yeah, at least initially they tried to establish terms to publish to the old CV. In fact in their last statement two days ago, they were still referring to the CV as their platform.

[TPR]

I really wish you had a better understanding of the situation because if you did you probably wouldn't be posting the things that you have. That's all I'm going to say about your posts, which I find questionable and frustrating at best. And that said, I will not be responding to anything further you have to say since your comments seem to (purposely?) miss the points that have been made and I do not feel like wasting my time repeating myself over and over again to someone who just said they don't have any allegiances which I translate into that they don't really care one way or the other and are only here for the sake of drama just to stir the pot, which is NOT the reason why I'm here.

 

So enjoy your popcorn, as it would appear that's really all you're interested in.

 

Reality is that if they do commercially come out with something people may find interesting or entertaining and is in stores they usually go (WalMart, Toys'r'us or even on Amzn) they will buy it assuming the price is right for them, it's not a human rights campaign kind of boycott you're calling for, I hope that part is clear to you. In the end it seems (and correct me if I am wrong) it all boils down to not use any of their logos or TM stuff (whatever that may be, I am not even sure) on homebrew/ports without permission (and for unauthorized ports I don't think permission can even be granted). That's it? Right? Do I miss something? There's no need to agree to any of their terms to publish to the old CV platform or was there ever?

 

I do think Cardillo went nuts over this, I do think there were a few reasons I can at least understand as to why he thought you were a main actor (when you're not) at least initially in order to get whatever he is after, honestly from your first account I thought he made up all the part about "producing" this and that etc.. turns out he did not just dream all of it and I am glad you cleared that out. I am not turning this words against you I really wanted to understand where he got that from, now at least we all know.

 

He's after a commercial venture so of curse he's out for money .... what else? So are AtGames with their retro lines, retro bit etc...etc....etc....

 

AND I do NOT have allegiances to anyone but myself and my family and rightfully so, at the same time I am extremely truthful and I do not deceive lie or cheat, I DO want to have the FREEDOM to say things the way I see them and be corrected if my statements are FACTUALLY wrong and for that I like AA as it allows me exactly that ... anything else is immaterial to me.

I crossed the line in a couple of occasions (not in this thread even if you decided to censor one of my posts, not that it was anything bad) by being waaaaayyyy too blunt, and I have been wrong in the past, in this instance I was more interested in understanding where that attack against your fanpage/site came from and how it COULD have come to be. I think that part is clear enough.

[Ikrananka]

In the end it seems (and correct me if I am wrong) it all boils down to not use any of their logos or TM stuff (whatever that may be, I am not even sure) on homebrew/ports without permission (and for unauthorized ports I don't think permission can even be granted). That's it? Right? Do I miss something? There's no need to agree to any of their terms to publish to the old CV platform or was there ever?

It has already been stated by ALL of the homebrew publishers that they will NOT use any of Coleco Holdings trademarks on what they produce in the future. Having taken this action,Coleco Holdings have no other rights to dictate ANYTHING to the homebrewers.

 

I do think Cardillo went nuts over this, I do think there were a few reasons I can at least understand as to why he thought you were a main actor (when you're not) at least initially in order to get whatever he is after, honestly from your first account I thought he made up all the part about "producing" this and that etc.. turns out he did not just dream all of it and I am glad you cleared that out.

You seem to be missing the point. Even if TPR had been a producer or not, the appropriate course of action by Coleco Holdings would have been to send cease and desist notices to the relevant homebrew publishers. Instead they targeted someone they claim to have understood to be a producer, but not by sending TPR a cease and desist notice, but by infringing on his legal fair use of images of items containing the trademark.

[opcode]

In fact a quick visit to their website, FB page, etc, shows that they try to associate themselves as much as possible with the old Coleco, like they were the continuation of that company, which we know isn't true, and kind of deceiving IMHO. "Since 1982", "From the company that brought you this and that", and things like that.

[Ikrananka]

In fact a quick visit to their website, FB page, etc, shows that they try to associate themselves as much as possible with the old Coleco, like they were the continuation of that company, which we know isn't true, and kind of deceiving IMHO. "Since 1982", "From the company that brought you this and that", and things like that.

 

It is this intentional deceit which greatly irks me. They talk about confusing consumers - well talk about the pot calling the kettle black !!!!!

[opcode]

You know what my secret dream is? My secret dream is to grab the Imagic name, then get the big box that will come with it, with all the Atari and Imagic games, and Rob Fulop. Ah, Rob Fulop.... I am not sure what I will do with Rob? Should I leave him on the shelf or get him to work on new games? Still to be decided.

[phattyboombatty]

In fact a quick visit to their website, FB page, etc, shows that they try to associate themselves as much as possible with the old Coleco, like they were the continuation of that company, which we know isn't true, and kind of deceiving IMHO. "Since 1982", "From the company that brought you this and that", and things like that.

 

 

Your honor, I rest my case.

 

EDIT: All I'm stating here, is that it appeared (in 2005) that they were NOT associating themselves with C Industries, but now they ARE. I just thought that was interesting that they would recently start attaching themselves to the former company. I guess this was just Techno Source that was disclaiming that. No malice intended here.

Edited June 10, 2017 by phattyboombatty

[DuggerVideoGames]

As I already stated to somebody else in the FB groups: if you're not aware of what the real issues are, then I recommend you do some reading. There's 57 pages of information which are greatly encapsulated in Pat's three videos.