Also guys, just to put this out there, we have not been sued by HBO over SuperAgent. I don't know where this rumour is coming from, but the contest will go on and the app is still on the store as of 21:16 GMT. Keep playing!
You are being sued by the real Ari though! http://www.forbes.com/2009/12/18/ari-emanuel-iphone-technology-wireless-super-agent.html
What is up with this world, who the hell could have a copyright on a damn name, I don't understand that.
The names of characters in theatrical works have always been subject to copyright. There are also some special rules for using the image or name of a real-life person for commercial purposes, so... there ya go.
Characters in theatrical works are not subject to copyright law. This is my area of practice, it seems what WME are saying is that FactorySix used their name to 'promote' the app. FactorySix say they didn't and WME have yet to provide proof for this. This guy, Ari Emanuel, basically sues everyone and is frequently sued himself. Nuts. Great for the developers though, they'll probably get a crap load of sales out of this.
Sorry for the delay in replying here. The facts of the case are: FactorySix received a 'cease and desist' letter from lawyers representing Ari Emanuel and William Morris Endeavor. The letter asked us to 'cease and desist' using Mr. Emanuel's name and/or William Morris' name in connection with the promotion of our game. The letter referenced a news report in which we allegedly used the name of Mr. Emanuel to promote our game. This news report, and the agency it apparently issued with in the United Kingdom, cannot be found, despite the fact that we asked a press monitoring agency to look for it. There is no record of it and there is no record of the agency who supposedly issued it. We can't only assume it was not real. We responded to Mr. Emanuel et. al's lawyers telling them as much. We have refuted the claims we are using either the good name of Ari Emanuel or William Morris Endeavor to promote our game. We are not using it nor did we ever intend to and we can only assume that most people reading this have never even heard of Mr. Emanuel and hence, the last point in our letter, why would we bother using his name trying to promote an app to people who don't know who he is? We have received no response to our letter. Journalists who picked up on this story also received no response. I will update this post as soon as anything else happens. Happy Christmas! Rick
