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Will Atari bust you down for selling stuff with their name and logo?


bigfriendly

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You see Atari merch all over the internet. I've even bought some over the years but over on Redbubble they won't let you post anything with the Atari name or logo. And Redbubble is covered with all kinds of merchandise that is copyrighted so I'm guessing Atari said something about it. I even had a design taken down that had a picture of an Atari joystick that didn't have anything written on it. Is this one of those things were Atari just reaches out every so often and cracks the whip on certain people for peddling stuff with their name on it?

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40 minutes ago, bigfriendly said:

Is this one of those things were Atari just reaches out every so often and cracks the whip on certain people for peddling stuff with their name on it?

Yes.

 

@ZeroPage Homebrew even got problems because he had mentioned the name of his cat "Atari", which is depicted on his merch.

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19 hours ago, bigfriendly said:

You see Atari merch all over the internet. I've even bought some over the years but over on Redbubble they won't let you post anything with the Atari name or logo. And Redbubble is covered with all kinds of merchandise that is copyrighted so I'm guessing Atari said something about it. I even had a design taken down that had a picture of an Atari joystick that didn't have anything written on it. Is this one of those things were Atari just reaches out every so often and cracks the whip on certain people for peddling stuff with their name on it?

Taking down a shirt with a picture of the joystick has no standing. They are just simply abusing people by doing this and its not okay. They are hoping no one fights back. Its okay to enforce one's trademarks however at some point people have to accept merchandise that was made 40 years ago is off patent and is in the public domain, this includes the joysticks and the original console. 

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17 minutes ago, Starwander said:

Taking down a shirt with a picture of the joystick has no standing. They are just simply abusing people by doing this and its not okay. They are hoping no one fights back. Its okay to enforce one's trademarks however at some point people have to accept merchandise that was made 40 years ago is off patent and is in the public domain, this includes the joysticks and the original console. 

I agree with you. And Redbubble won't take down designs that have an original NES console or NES gamepads as long as the name is not on them. That's again why I figured that it must have been Atari that said something to RB. 

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31 minutes ago, Starwander said:

Taking down a shirt with a picture of the joystick has no standing. They are just simply abusing people by doing this and its not okay. They are hoping no one fights back. Its okay to enforce one's trademarks however at some point people have to accept merchandise that was made 40 years ago is off patent and is in the public domain, this includes the joysticks and the original console. 

 

Good think you aren't a lawyer...because you have no idea what you are talking about.

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They must not have a lot of power to enforce they're copyright considering there's literally another company using the name Atari and getting away with it aka Natsume Atari (would be pretty cool if they ended up acquiring Natsume though, it would make Atari much more connected to Japan then it ever was historically)

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7 hours ago, JPF997 said:

They must not have a lot of power to enforce they're copyright considering there's literally another company using the name Atari and getting away with it aka Natsume Atari (would be pretty cool if they ended up acquiring Natsume though, it would make Atari much more connected to Japan then it ever was historically)

 

Again...  good thing you aren't a lawyer...  although you might want to google Natsume Atari and learn about the history...

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1 hour ago, PowerDubs said:

 

Again...  good thing you aren't a lawyer...  although you might want to google Natsume Atari and learn about the history...

Oh I know about Natsume's history, it's just funny how in 2013 they changed they're name to Natsume Atari and no one ( not even Atari themselves) as noticed it, recently Natsume announced a new game called Reynatis and a lot of people on X were wondering why the name Atari popped up next to Natsume's.

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3 hours ago, PowerDubs said:

 

Oh sure... he feels like something should be free - so he can sell it and profit from it.

 

That's a moral argument.. got it.

 

;)

Collectors are the lifeblood of what they have left at this point. People that make homebrew stuff serve to continue keeping people interested. Going against them simply earns bad will in the community and hurts them in the long run. There is a huge difference between someone pirating a new game that is being sold by the company and what these people are doing. You may feel there is no legal difference however its not ethical. Harassing UrQuan3, a member here, because he was 3D printing holders for Atari 2600 games when these holders contain no graphics or trademarks simply because he dare use the name "Atari' in his listing isn't right. It isn't realistic to ask a collector to formally license a trademark when they are making a hand full of something. How would that even work? These people are not large corporations that have deep pockets with lawyers standing by. You just have to accept as a company that fans will use your IP occasionally. Everyone that sees that shirt with the controller that had a Atari 2600 would look at it and hopefully have found memories. Hopefully it leads them to purchase the new console from Atari and its games  

 

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11 hours ago, Starwander said:

It isn't realistic to ask a collector to formally license a trademark when they are making a hand full of something.

 

You just have to accept as a company that fans will use your IP occasionally.

 

 

They can make whatever they want- for themselves as a fan.  As soon as they make 'a hand full' and sell it however is when the rules kick in.

 

They don't 'harass' people... they are doing what the rules tell them they HAVE to do- protect their stuff, or lose it.

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49 minutes ago, PowerDubs said:

 

They can make whatever they want- for themselves as a fan.  As soon as they make 'a hand full' and sell it however is when the rules kick in.

 

They don't 'harass' people... they are doing what the rules tell them they HAVE to do- protect their stuff, or lose it.

Please read the post by UrQuan3 here on AtariAge. If you feel that was okay, what they did, then I guess we will have to respectfully disagree and end it there. 

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8 hours ago, Starwander said:

Please read the post by UrQuan3 here on AtariAge. If you feel that was okay, what they did, then I guess we will have to respectfully disagree and end it there. 

 

You need to read what the laws are- and what the requirements are.

 

Don't disagree with me- as I'm not the one that writes the law.

 

A company creates things...and files to protect those things.. those protections have stipulations.

 

If you created something- you'd want to protect it to.

 

You'll find most people complaining about such things have never started a business and created anything.   Just like people complaining about the cost of food at a restaurant, etc..  go do it and lets see how you think in 5 years.

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10 hours ago, Trinity said:

Two words,

 Lars Ulrich.

Cannot stand him.  I gladly buy music on physical media constantly.  His feeling that me storing it the tracks I bought on my laptop for personal use only lumps me in with Napster sharing is my issue.

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Will they?  Not necessarily.

Can they?  Definitely

 

Heard of a few friends getting CAD letters from a certain musician for example for using a logo.  Fortunately I probably won't get in trouble for having it tattooed on me. 

 

 

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Would Atari shut down my YouTube channel The Atari Report if I ever decided to bring it back and recommence filming episodes of all of the various series I had planned on doing if I did bring it back???

 

I mean how the F*** far will this “copyright” bullshit go having read your comments???

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1 hour ago, BIGHMW said:

Would Atari shut down my YouTube channel The Atari Report if I ever decided to bring it back and recommence filming episodes of all of the various series I had planned on doing if I did bring it back???

 

I mean how the F*** far will this “copyright” bullshit go having read your comments???

well, brand registration is not a universal thing. there are certain category that you need to register your brand for. if you did not register the brand for a certain category, then you don't have a protection in this area.
so, if you make a new channel, and atari did not register for that particular category, then this is not protected. however, if it is not clear that this channel is not the official atari brand, then you might still get in trouble.
if you have a disclaimer in your videos at the beginning that makes clear that you are not Atari, then I guess you are safe. however, this needs to be dicussed with a lawyer and my information should not be considered as legal advice 🙂

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