TalonBot
05-19-2009, 09:22 PM
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.wow.com/media/2009/05/breanniimage.jpgThe amazing Breanni (http://www.wow.com/2008/08/19/15-minutes-of-fame-a-man-and-his-80-pets/) of WarcraftPets.com (http://warcraftpets.com), once loved so much by Blizzard that he got immortalized in the game (http://www.wow.com/2008/07/19/fansite-awarded-npc-honor/), has apparently gotten another of Blizzard's C&Ds. First, we saw iPhone apps pulled off of the App Store (http://www.wow.com/2009/05/06/two-more-wow-related-iphone-apps-off-the-app-store/) with what seemed like legal action, and then we heard that webcomic Shakes and Fidget (http://www.wow.com/2009/05/11/blizzard-legal-censures-shakes-and-fidget/) was contacted by Blizzard legal, and now Breanni has pulled down his merchandise store (http://warcraftpets.com/news/), as well as posted a "formal apology" to Blizzard. Breanni doesn't say exactly what happened, but he says that he "became aware" that what he was selling was violating Blizzard's trademark policy (http://www.cafepress.com/warcraftpets), and calls the store a "lapse in judgment," and says that he hopes to "continue to recieve Blizzard's blessing." It's almost like hearing one side of the conversation -- we don't know what Blizzard said to him (if anything), but he definitely sounds spooked.
This is a slightly different issue from the other C&Ds we've seen -- Breanni was making money from selling what we presume were actual images of Blizzard's copyrights and trademarks, so a store like that is pretty plainly in violation of copyright law (Mania's Pets calendar (http://www.cafepress.com/maniasarcania), for example, uses fan art rather than actual screenshots). But what's interesting here is, if they did contact him, why Blizzard has decided to do this now, and why they've only moved against Breanni. There are certainly lots of other places (http://shop.cafepress.com/design/16688792) to find Blizzard art printed on products for sale. We're not suggesting that Blizzard should just let it all go, obviously, but why now?
We've had requests for comment out to Blizzard ever since the first few iPhone apps were pulled off of the App Store about all of this recent C&D action, and we've added this one to the stack. If we hear anything back from them, we'll let you know.
[Thanks, John E!]Filed under: Analysis / Opinion (http://www.wow.com/category/analysis-opinion/), Fan stuff (http://www.wow.com/category/fan-stuff/), Blizzard (http://www.wow.com/category/blizzard/), News items (http://www.wow.com/category/news-items/), Fan art (http://www.wow.com/category/fan-art/)
Breanni of WarcraftPets.com closes store, posts apology to Blizzard (http://www.wow.com/2009/05/19/breanni-of-warcraftpets-com-closes-store-posts-apology-to-blizz/) originally appeared on WoW.com (http://www.wow.com) on Tue, 19 May 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).
Read (http://warcraftpets.com/news/) | Permalink (http://www.wow.com/2009/05/19/breanni-of-warcraftpets-com-closes-store-posts-apology-to-blizz/) | Email this (http://www.wow.com/forward/1550489/) | Comments (http://www.wow.com/2009/05/19/breanni-of-warcraftpets-com-closes-store-posts-apology-to-blizz/#comments)
More... (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WowInsider/~3/eiz0f-caEss/)
This is a slightly different issue from the other C&Ds we've seen -- Breanni was making money from selling what we presume were actual images of Blizzard's copyrights and trademarks, so a store like that is pretty plainly in violation of copyright law (Mania's Pets calendar (http://www.cafepress.com/maniasarcania), for example, uses fan art rather than actual screenshots). But what's interesting here is, if they did contact him, why Blizzard has decided to do this now, and why they've only moved against Breanni. There are certainly lots of other places (http://shop.cafepress.com/design/16688792) to find Blizzard art printed on products for sale. We're not suggesting that Blizzard should just let it all go, obviously, but why now?
We've had requests for comment out to Blizzard ever since the first few iPhone apps were pulled off of the App Store about all of this recent C&D action, and we've added this one to the stack. If we hear anything back from them, we'll let you know.
[Thanks, John E!]Filed under: Analysis / Opinion (http://www.wow.com/category/analysis-opinion/), Fan stuff (http://www.wow.com/category/fan-stuff/), Blizzard (http://www.wow.com/category/blizzard/), News items (http://www.wow.com/category/news-items/), Fan art (http://www.wow.com/category/fan-art/)
Breanni of WarcraftPets.com closes store, posts apology to Blizzard (http://www.wow.com/2009/05/19/breanni-of-warcraftpets-com-closes-store-posts-apology-to-blizz/) originally appeared on WoW.com (http://www.wow.com) on Tue, 19 May 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).
Read (http://warcraftpets.com/news/) | Permalink (http://www.wow.com/2009/05/19/breanni-of-warcraftpets-com-closes-store-posts-apology-to-blizz/) | Email this (http://www.wow.com/forward/1550489/) | Comments (http://www.wow.com/2009/05/19/breanni-of-warcraftpets-com-closes-store-posts-apology-to-blizz/#comments)
More... (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WowInsider/~3/eiz0f-caEss/)