Oh I love how legal eagles representing companies get so far off target that you can't even hear the wooshing sound as they fly past at high speed.
So, for those who don't know, Minecraft is a game that is basically one big sandbox. It allows players to create just about anything, from roller coasters to walk through recreations of the Star Ship Enterprise. So what has made it fall foul with legal representatives?
Users have been making Putt Putt Golf courses.
Apparently this dire infringement of the "Putt Putt" brand name (which I didn't even know was a thing up till now) has caused the game's creator Mojang to fall afoul of the Putt Putt company. Never mind that there is a BIG disclaimer in the terms and conditions of Minecraft that the creators take no responsibility for whatever their users, with their fiendish imaginations, can concoct. I'm sure not even the kings of litigation for unauthorised use of names, Disneyland, would take action against what some users are making.
I've said it before, I'll say it again. Legal companies and copyright law need to join us in the 21st century. The old way of tracking down people blatantly profiting off someone elses work doesn't work for people who are merely taking inspiration from something and sharing it, without personal profit, with others. You are not being ripped off Putt Putt, if anything it is free advertising and if it gets just one person to visit one of your courses then it works to your advantage.
So Putt Putt, via your legal representatives, I hereby award you this weeks "Clever Geek of the Week" award.
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