What asshattery is this?

[Jari]

From Joystiq: Epic threatens to curb stomp fan for Gears of War 'Munny' doll

Emilio Lopez's custom Gears of War doll certainly appears professionally made -- enough so that we expressed a desire to see it manufactured and sold at retail. The doll even came in a mock retail box when Emilio presented it to his cousin as a Christmas gift. But, like any other do-it-yourself Munny doll, Emilio's creation is merely a personal homage to Epic's game; not a mischievous business venture. Nevertheless, when Epic and its legal hounds caught wind of the doll, they issued a cease and desist order, claiming Emilio's creation is an unauthorized use of Epic's trademarks. Epic has requested that all trademarks be removed from the doll, packaging, and Emilio's website.

This is just insane. Go read the piece, they have nice scan of the letter sent by Epic's lawyers.

I say that we boycott Epic, until they release a video of Cliffy B personally apologizing to Emilio, on his knees and saying how he's Emilio's bitch.

I mean... WTF?


PS. Halkun, if you are reading this... any thoughts? Theoretically speaking, could Epic's case hold up in court?

[Otokoshi]

It's basically fan art that he displayed on the internet.  He only made one and it was a gift.

I say that we boycott Epic, until they release a video of Cliffy B personally apologizing to Emilio, on his knees and saying how he's Emilio's b*tch.

I like the idea.  Maybe it's just karma biting them in the ass, by the time GoW is out on the PC Crysis and BioShock will not be far behind.  From what I've seen, R6 Vegas has a better way of dealing with cover anyways.  To be honest I wasn't quite looking forward to Gears anyways.  Now after this I'm not looking forward to giving Epic any of my money.  Yes I believe an apology should be made to Emilio Lopez.

[Jari]

Lo and behold, Epic did apologize. That's nice.

Next step for Epic; teach lawyers to read.

Mark Rein's post implies something interesting and rather scary, though: are the legal teams operating totally autonomously? Because it would certainly seem that they didn't consult their client at all in this case.

[RW_66]

A lot of bigger lawfirms being employed by larger cleints often act like private security bodyguards.. i.e. beat you down and ask questions later. Often, lawfirms do retain the right to 'act without prior consultation' in matters that seem to be within their perview. Unfortunately, they don't often fully investigate the details, and stuff like this crap happens. 

C'est le via, c'est le guerre !