Book publishing company sues Netflix over 'Black Mirror: Bandersnatch'

Netflix’s first interactive movie, ‘Black Mirror: Bandersnatch’ is now under fire as Chooseco, a book publishing company specializing in children’s books has sued the OTT platform over copyright infringement.

Chooseco sued Netflix for infringing on the company’s ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ trademark, and have filed a complaint at the United States District Court for the District of Vermont.

The hit film relies on multiple endings that the viewer can choose for themselves, leading to a different route for the character and thus a different ending. Chooseco has a problem with this and their complaint that is now available online reads: “On December 28, 2018, Netflix released a much-hyped, and upon information and belief widely viewed an interactive film called Black Mirror Bandersnatch on its digital streaming platform. In the first few minutes of the movie, the protagonist refers to a fictional book in the diegesis as a Choose Your Own Adventure book. Netflix has no license or authorization to use Chooseco' s trademark and, upon information and belief, used the mark willfully and intentionally to capitalize on viewers' nostalgia for the original book series from the 1980s and 1990s.”

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It continued: “The film's dark and, at times, disturbing content dilutes the goodwill for and positive associations with Chooseco' s mark and tarnishes its products.”

In the complaint filed, they have also mentioned that Netflix has been attempting to license the Choose Your Own Adventure name since 2016. The publisher suggests that it has earlier sent cease-and-desist notices about its trademark “on at least one occasion” regarding a different TV show.

Netflix was earlier in a soup as last year, the Satanic Temple had filed suit against the streaming giant, alleging that Netflix had used a copy of the church’s proprietary statue appeared in the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina series.