

Proposed Minecraft fan film canceled on Kickstarter by Notch - frik
http://www.polygon.com/2014/2/7/5391312/minecraft-film-canceled-on-kickstarter

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tinco
This is crazy, how can someone publicly raise money for a project, when he
hasn't even negotiated property critical to the whole idea of the movie?

Just think of the negotiation position of both parties. How much money did the
guy budget for the rights? What if Mojang wanted more? This is just bad
business practice and Notch is right for nipping it in the bud.

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skore
Absolutely their right. Pretty sure they would have made a very good deal with
the film author and everybody would have benefited.

> We don't allow half a million kickstarters based on our ip without any deals
> in place. :/

Using the term "IP" leaves a sour taste in my mouth, though.

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deletes
Apparently one of the co-creators of the freddiew channel on youtube. They
make really good videos, with film level cgi.

[https://www.youtube.com/user/freddiew/videos?view=0&flow=gri...](https://www.youtube.com/user/freddiew/videos?view=0&flow=grid)

Too bad they didn't talk to Mojang first.

~~~
frik
If you mean me, no, I am unrelated.

I just read about the announcement of the film the other day. And saw a
cryptic Twitter message from Notch today. A quick "Google News" search turned
up this story. I searched on HN if the news was already there, and then
submitted it.

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yaddayadda
From the polygon article and the short video on the Birth of a Man's
Kickstarter page, this seems like massive IP overreach. It's like an artist
advertising their favorite paint by making a painting of the paint and then
the paint company saying they can't use the paints in commercial ventures. For
example, Devoe paint prohibiting Jackson Pollock from allowing museum showings
of #5
([http://www.nga.gov/feature/pollock/painting5.shtm](http://www.nga.gov/feature/pollock/painting5.shtm)).

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TazeTSchnitzel
Well, it's Mojang's right.

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onli
To cancel a film based in a virtual scenario created by them? Then that is not
necessarily true. Depends on the jurisdiction.

~~~
TazeTSchnitzel
Trademark issues might be a problem, though.

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sillysaurus2
A surprisingly poor move from someone who historically has been a game
development hero.

Before reading the article and understanding the campaign, I initially thought
Notch axed it because this guy wanted to create a film about Notch. It would
be reasonable to cancel such an endeavor: leaving your legacy up to filmmakers
is not a wise move, as Woz recently discovered. Since that's the only scenario
in which this cancellation would be reasonable, I assumed that was the reason.

Actually not. This is purely a creative work which has been completely sunk
for no reason other than "You didn't run it by me ahead of time." It was
clearly a work of passion. Watch the video:
[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/878782324/birth-of-
man-...](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/878782324/birth-of-man-a-
minecraft-feature-film)

Yes, it's Notch's right to cancel this artist's dream. It's also his right to
add in-game purchases to Minecraft, and force people to pay extra for the
privilege of using diamond pickaxes. Both of those decisions wouldn't reflect
favorably upon him, however.

EDIT: My main problem with this move is that the film didn't involve Notch in
any way. It's unrelated to him except insofar as it uses his game as a setting
for an artistic work. It seems like the primary motivation for the
cancellation was rooted in greed.

~~~
citricsquid
The Minecraft brand and IP are constantly being misappropriated by others for
commercial gain, the Minecraft IP is owned by Notch and he has every moral and
legal right to protect it. There are numerous deals that are in place that
allow third parties to make use of the Minecraft IP for commercial gain, Jinx,
Think Geek, Lego, Danilo, 57Digital, 2PP, Sony, Microsoft, deal after deal
after deal... Notch has set a clear precedent: If you want to make a
commercial venture with the Minecraft IP, work with his company and if they
can make it work, they will. This is not a "creative work", it's a commercial
work. The creator of this project has previously made creative works involving
the Minecraft IP and posted them on Youtube with no opposition from Notch,
here's one:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPFD2PVtKQE](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPFD2PVtKQE)

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frik
Minecraft Movie 'The Birth of Man' Nixed by Notch:

[http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/02/07/minecraft-movie-
the-b...](http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/02/07/minecraft-movie-the-birth-of-
man-nixed-by-notch)

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jamesbrownuhh
If it's not yours, you need permission. It's not really that hard to
understand.

