Coleco strong-arming homebrew publishers and fan sites

[DuggerVideoGames]

I also don't buy their excuse that they don't want lewd content. BULLSHIT. After all, they reported SO MANY IMAGES that weren't even remotely lewd.

[DuggerVideoGames]

 

If they are indeed re-releasing the Coleco tabletop games, they would have likely acquired the rights for DK and Frogger. That would explain their usage on promotional materials. Not saying that's the case 100%, but people really need to stop declaring people guilty without knowing the full story.

 

If they really had permission to use DK and Frogger, THEN WHY WERE THEY SO QUICK TO REMOVE THEM FROM THEIR FB COVER PHOTO AFTER IT WAS POINTED OUT? That in itself is an admission of guilt.

[Reaperman]

I don't know how much professionalism one could reasonably expect here.

my guess is a one-man-band trademark troll, and that'd be this guy

Probably not all that knowledgeable on all things coleco™, but one would think by his look that he'd know how facebook storms go.

 

Maybe he'll go away when he gets bored.

 

 

Edited May 21, 2017 by Reaperman

[goldenegg]

 

If they really had permission to use DK and Frogger, THEN WHY WERE THEY SO QUICK TO REMOVE THEM FROM THEIR FB COVER PHOTO AFTER IT WAS POINTED OUT? That in itself is an admission of guilt.

 

 

No, it's not an admission of anything. It could have been done for many reasons. You're simply projecting your negative feelings about the situation on to this action.

 

Regardless, even if he was using those other trademarks without permission, that doesn't mean people can use his trademark without permission. That's not how it works.

 

 

I don't know how much professionalism one could reasonably expect here.

my guess is a one-man-band trademark troll, and that'd be this guy

Probably not all that knowledgeable on all things coleco™, but one would think by his look that he'd know how facebook storms go.

 

Maybe he'll go away when he gets bored.

 

 

 

 

Really? Going for a personal attack? I thought the community here was better than that. I haven't been spending much time on here in the past year or so. Did something change?

Edited May 21, 2017 by goldenegg

[DuggerVideoGames]

 

 

No, it's not an admission of anything. It could have been done for many reasons. You're simply projecting your negative feelings about the situation on to this action.

 

Regardless, even if he was using those other trademarks without permission, that doesn't mean people can use his trademark without permission. That's not how it works.

 

 

 

 

Really? Going for a personal attack? I thought the community here was better than that. I haven't been spending much time on here in the past year or so. Did something change?

 

No, it's called using common sense. They used the DK and Frogger on their promotional material for MONTHS, and only changed their photo YESTERDAY after they were called out on their hypocrisy. Don't you find that timing too convenient? It's like those frauds who set their house on fire the day after they take out an insurance policy on their home. I'm projecting common sense.

[retrogamer73]

Lets be honest. The closest there will ever be to a resurgence of Coleco Tabletops are the ones Basic Fun have put out.

[StopDrop&Retro]

 

I seriously doubt he's hurting for money with dad's window business. If anything the opposite is the problem.

 

As they say- when God shuts a door, he needs a New Jersey rapper to install a window for him.

 

or something like that.

[DuggerVideoGames]

 

As they say- when God shuts a door, he needs a New Jersey rapper to install a window for him.

 

or something like that.

So God can't hit a curve ball or install a window. Dang.

[jblenkle]

I really question their mentality and sanity if they think a Rainbow Brite game will sell to today's ColecoVision crowd.

 

cant believe i just read 'Rainbow Brite was a huge pick up'. this is too much.

[Reaperman]

 

Really? Going for a personal attack? I thought the community here was better than that. I haven't been spending much time on here in the past year or so. Did something change?

 

You should report personal attacks with the appropriate button.

You could be right though--It'd be silly to think he knows squat about facebook, and it was wrong of me to assume otherwise.

 

For anybody interested, he's giving away a downloadable mixtape here.

Edited May 21, 2017 by Reaperman

[DuggerVideoGames]

 

You should report personal attacks with the appropriate button.

You could be right though--It'd be silly to think he knows squat about facebook, and it was wrong of me to assume otherwise.

 

For anybody interested, he's giving away a downloadable mixtape here.

We'll get right on it... after Rainbow Brite sells in the millions.

[moycon]

 

Really? Going for a personal attack? I thought the community here was better than that. I haven't been spending much time on here in the past year or so. Did something change?

Did you consider what Reaperman posted such a terrible personal attack that you felt some adult needed to address and dole out appropriate punishment towards the post?

 

If so, then I agree. Something seriously F'd up has occurred on this planet in the last year. Like maybe some grown men have regressed to a 6 year olds mentally.

I dunno. Something changed for sure. I really, really want a Colecovision Benny Hill game, so that actually kinda makes a lot of sense.

[TPR]

First of all, please stop the bickering back and forth. We are all in this TOGETHER! Don't forget that! Anything positive that comes out of this is a win for everyone! And please stop anything that could be construed as a personal attack. We aren't here to assassinate one's character over another. Keep the playing field fair and equal. Stick to the facts and keep them professional. That's not too much to ask, right?

 

"Strong arm the community into making you more money"

 

this, I don't buy. the kind of money thrown around on coleco homebrew, as i understand it, amounts to probably a few grand a year, total?

 

I don't exactly mean make money from the homebrewers. Sorry I was probably a bit unclear with what I posted. It was most likely a combination of complete frustration of having to deal with all of this for the last 2 days, which I never asked for and I feel I'm being unfairly blamed for a lot of things which I didn't do, namely be blamed for the use of trademarks on products I didn't create which Coleco Holdings LLC refuses to seem to understand. The other part of that combination is the fact that I'm currently hanging out at my favorite Barcade here in Orlando having a few beers and playing classic video games. I will post some pictures from this Barcade (Player One if you are interested) because I've had a few beers and I'm just sick of all this crap and beer + video game is far more interesting to me than anything Coleco Holdings LLC can throw my way....

 

 

Now that's out of the way, back to my original point...

 

Coleco is obviously in this to make money, and so is Chris Cardillo. Chris has his movies that he funds and his rap band. He's talked with me about both of these things in the past conversations I've had with him. Both of those things require funding. I believe that some of the desire to make money from Coleco Holdings LLC is so that he can fund those other ventures. Do I know this for a fact? No. It's just a hunch. Just like I use the money from by theme park business to assist in my retro gaming hobby. The only difference between Chris and myself and our two hobbies is that I'm not trying to make money from my contributions to the retro gaming scene, I'm just doing it because I happen to really like it and I'm a "super fan" (as Eduardo calls me, which I don't take offense to!)

 

Aside from all of that, here is a fact that still remains: Coleco Holdings LLC have not sent the email to Facebook retracting the posts that they claimed on my page. Why? Those posts were NOT just about "lewd games" or "a Nintendo license" they were 63 games made by 5 different homebrew developers. If they were only concerned about the "adult" games or the Nintendo licensed properties, why did the flag so many photos and why are they refusing to retract those claims? There *HAS* to be another agenda item here.

 

While I agree, there isn't a lot of money to be made from the homebrewers, but if you work on getting them out of the picture, and getting a fan site out of the picture that has almost five times the amount of followers that your corporate page has, then you win back a bit more "control" AND you can focus on where the spending from retro gaming fans goes. Or at least maybe this is the thought process by Coleco Holdings LLC?

 

Coleco Holdings LLC have made it pretty clear they are releasing some new products this year. New mini-arcades, new ColecoVision games, possibly even a new system, right?

 

And here we are a fan site, and we are featuring Opcode's games, CollectorVision's games, AtariAge's games and more to our 25,000+ people who have chosen to like our page. But what if we weren't around anymore? When you search "Coleco" or "ColecoVision" on Facebook, our page is the first result to appear. The official Coleco site is 2nd. Maybe the end goal for them is to push the fan sites and the homebrewers a little more out of the way by making it difficult for them to produce their games, so that more focus, and thus more money would be spent going directly to Coleco Holdings LLC.?

 

This is just a theory. I could be completely wrong. But why haven't they retracted those claims? Why did they claim so many different games and so many different publishers if their claim about the adult games and Nintendo game is sincere? Those are the facts that remain and have not changed since this story broke.

 

Chris can say as many times as he wants that it's just about the adult games or the Nintendo properties, but that DOES NOT REFLECT THE ACTIONS that were taken against the ColecoVision Fan page! And if those claims were made in error, why not just retract them?

 

None of these questions have been answered. So what is their REAL agenda here?

 

I'm going to go back to playing some Zaxxon and having another beer. Any Orlando area folks want to come join me?

[TPR]

I'm curious to see how they will respond to this, since I have now just made it even EASIER for them to retract those claims...

 

Those last couple of of sentences I wrote most certainly will give them an "out" if they want to show the community they support it. I would hope they take me up on this offer because the fact that it's gone on as long as it has now is beyond stupid, IMO.

[Tursi]

 

 

I'm going to go back to playing some Zaxxon and having another beer. Any Orlando area folks want to come join me?

 

Wish I was still in Orlando, that place looks awesome

[2600 Forever]

Very confusing.

 

 

[DuggerVideoGames]

Very confusing.

 

 

 

I see I'm not the only one to notice they can't spell courtesy correctly. Earlier, they had no clue how to use WHERE or WERE. As I stated long ago: he writes like a third-grade dropout.

[+GoldLeader]

 

Wish I was still in Orlando, that place looks awesome

 

 

 

I'm going to go back to playing some Zaxxon and having another beer. Any Orlando area folks want to come join me?

 

Robb, Tursi,

 

I like your style! If I were anywhere near Orlando...I'd be buying you both beers! And I'd meet you both at Zaxxon ! Cheers!

 

(Even if I have Zaxxon on my multicade and my PS2...LOL...Hardly the point)...

[Flojomojo]

A few things I've noticed:

 

1. TPM and Duggar seem to be smarter than CC, and aren't afraid to argue strongly to make their point. At least in writing.

 

2. It's easy to make a complaint about something on Facebook, but it's harder to take that complaint back. There's no button for it, and it would take words that would look like apologies or expressions of wrongdoing. CC isn't gonna do that. Facebook isn't a good place to have an honest conversation/argument anyway, not when both sides can delete and block dissenting opinions. Remember RetroVGS/Chameleon's Stalinist FB page that would "disappear" tough questions?

 

3. If Nintendo itself isn't doing anything with non-NES versions of Donkey Kong (http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/134790/the_secret_history_of_donkey_kong.php for more), it's delusional to think anyone else, least of all pissant "COLECOtm," has a shot at that intellectual property. CC may not like the idea of boobies being associated with his zombie brand name, but they're way more legal than his use of DK.

 

4. The takedown requests (and that's really all they are, unless CC wants to lawyer up), aren't just about the games with nudity. The unauthorized remakes of other old arcade games make "COLECOtm" look like a pirate brand. I see how that opens up some liability, and can certainly complicate rights negotiation for things like future Colecovision Flashback collections.

 

5. It would be smart for CC to step back and think about how to control what he can control, let go of what he can't control, and where he can find the wisdom to know the difference.

[enoofu]

We should all be adults and follow the below

 

"When consumers see or hear an advertisement, whether it’s on the Internet, radio or television, or anywhere else, federal law says that ad must be truthful, not misleading, and, when appropriate, backed by scientific evidence. The Federal Trade Commission enforces these truth-in-advertising laws, and it applies the same standards no matter where an ad appears – in newspapers and magazines, online, in the mail, or on billboards or buses"

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/media-resources/truth-advertising

 

Can complain here especially since they are claiming a 2005 brand and company is the one from the 1980's and are using it for misleading purposes

ftccomplaintassistant

https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/#&panel1-1

[SignGuy81]

 

Coleco claiming trademark infringement on these photos would be akin to Nintendo or Sega coming along and flagging photos found on the many fan pages, Facebook pages, websites, videos, or podcasts of their games. Think about how this would impact the fan community if you were no longer able to post a picture or video of anything that said “Nintendo”, “Sega”, “Atari”, etc, on it.

 

So this would kinda be like me taking a picture of my truck and posting it on Facebook. Ford could claim copyright infringement if the logo was visible? LOL

[lazzeri]

SIMPLY PUT we offered for the individual to continue their site so long as they agreed to post nothing PORNOGRAPHIC in nature.

The individual requested an 'unconditional' reprieve - nothing short.

Not only was this not handled in a professional manner, but the emails were borderline black mail in nature.

Coleco, a FAMILY focused company will not tolerate ANY products that share pornographic content.

 

As Mr. Kanye West famously said after meeting Ms. Kardashian for the 1st time: "What a huge a**".

[opcode]

I suggest we start looking at something else. Coleco has registered trademark for several arcade games they didn't produce, Bump'n Jump, Jungle Hunt, Omega Race and even Zaxxon. Zaxxon is the most curious one, because it still has an active trademark registered for Sega (thus two live registrations).

Now I will just point out something. Bump'n Jump and Burgertime current owner is G-mode in Japan. Coleco applied for registration for both, but only Bump'n Jump got approved. They dropped Burgertime on the first request for evidence. What did they submit for Bump'n Jump? The stock picture of the box of the original CV game, no kidding (by doing that they are fooling USPTO into thinking they are the same company as Coleco Industries). Burgertime didn't get approved because USPTO found the G-mode trademark. However Bump'n Jump has a different Japanese name and got through. Now if you check the Flashback, Bump'n Jump is in it, but Bugertime isn't. Many questions here, if they were in talk with G-mode and got an agreement to register the games, why did they have issue with the Burgertime registration. Is G-mode aware of the fact that there is another company registering their IPs? Am I reading too much in this? BTW, you can use USPTO database to check all of that.

[128Kgames]

Whether it's a legit claim or not, it's pretty easy to deal with. When you have to reference someone else's trademark, you just have to make it clear to a reasonable person that you are not the trademark holder. The Mystique game box posted earlier had it, for instance, but none of the homebrew releases did. We also had to do similar for the Dreamcast releases (to disclaim the mandatory 'produced or endorsed by Sega' message). Simply note that "ColecoVision" is a trademark of whoever the hell they are, and that there is no connection. Trademark law is about avoiding confusion. If it's clear that you are not them, and you have a reason to use the word, they don't have a case against you.

 

One example that says it better than I can: http://seattletrademarklawyer.com/blog/2012/3/25/ways-people-can-use-your-trademark-without-your-permission.html

 

Excerpt:

 

 

Problem solved, 'Nuff Said.

 

 

Please check TPR's post a few posts back and tell me what are Chris requests there. He says, that he would prefer if porn isn't promoted on the ColecoVision. For me that is a clear statement that what he wants is not so much about CV trademark use in game (otherwise they would have requested the publisher to remove the CV logo instead of filling copyright infringement claims against a fan page), but that he wants to control the content and what can and can't be promoted for the CV. He believes the CV is his platform. He seriously believe that.... funny

So it isn't about consumer confusion, it is about control. So your guidelines won't be enough for them.

 

Atari, a REAL company back in the day, couldn't control content back then; COLECO, now a FAKE company, doesn't have a chance.

 

So from now on I'm going to support our scene with the following quote:

 

"I'll give you my ColecoVision when you pry it from my cold, dead hands"

[TPR]

Interesting that Coleco Holdings LLC have been active this morning on their FB page responding to just about every post that has been made in that thread, but oddly enough have not responded to this one:

 

We are still waiting on the retraction email for the claims you made. Actually, here, I’ll tell you what, if your issue is really ONLY about the “adult” games and the Nintendo games, retract all the other claims you made besides those two. This is a compromise I can live with, how about you?

 

So what is their agenda that they won't do the one thing that could help bring all this to an end? What is their end goal with all of this? Because CLEARLY if it was just the adult games and the Nintendo properties, any smart businessman would have just submitted the retraction email or responded to this. I don't get it. There HAS to be a reason why they haven't submitted the retraction email.