Honestly, I'm sorry it's stressing you out that much. I'm not being sarcastic or anything. I wouldn't let it bug you that much. People are silly on the internet. Heck, I'm not claiming to be some great expert or immune to being silly on the internet. I try not to be, but hey, I'm human. I try not to let things bug me that happen online too much (although sometimes they do and I know it's silly but that doesn't help. Totally get that). I don't like MSE's responses because of his attitude and the thin excuses. I get and can respect someone trying to protect their work, but he's going about it in the wrong way. Yes, I understand he's not doing anything illegal, but he's certainly not helping himself. Again, I don't wish him ill or want him to lose all his money and I even hope he gets back on Amazon provided he's being upfront about not doing anything against the TOS there. He's allowed to earn a living and protect his work. That's fair and that's fine. What he's doing now though is beyond that and that is what personally bothers me. If he was being more narrow and trying to trademark distinctive logos or series titles, I wouldn't care even slightly. However, he throws about weak arguments like "No, one's done Dragon Slayer in 70+ years!". That's completely untrue and 10 seconds of Google shows otherwise. The Dragon Slayer movie was back in 1981; admittedly fairly old by movie standards, but certainly not 70 years. The Dragon Slayers' Academy is a series of children books that shows up immediately when you put in "Dragon Slayer books" and it ran from 1997 to 2012. I'm glad he's finally getting it and pulling the too-broad ones and putting in more correct trademarks for specific logos. I'm certainly not going to raise an eyebrow at that and it's not as if I'm going to go around trying to ruin the guy for anyone else. If someone says "Hey, have you read this book?" I will say if I have or I haven't and give an opinion if asked, but otherwise, I'm more than happy to leave MSE to his business and wish him success. Just because his books aren't my cup of tea that doesn't mean they don't do it for someone else and that's 200% cool with me. If people love the LitRPG-ish Dino Harem than they do! Different strokes for different folks and I respect that. The only thing bugging me is him trying to claim trademarks and ownership of things that are clearly not his. He's more than welcome to claim the ones that are his. Zero problems with that!
That's the big if... We just don't know, and we probably won't ever know. That said, he hung with some less than reputable people in the past, so who knows. I do know I enjoy having LitRPG Forum so things like this conversation are moderated and don't get out of control (reddit) or get shut down (other litrpg groups)... All that said, we should probably get this thread back on track to deal with the LitRPG trademark problem. Anything else can go in the Aspiring Writers' Guild? Thanks!
From what Kong posted on facebook, and this being a supplemental trademark, I'd say (without much specific knowledge of US Law) that this case is more or less closed: LitRPG is in wide use right now ("wide" as in "a lot more than just to denote Kong's work"), so in 4 years it's either going to be a common tag (without Kong having the slightlest chance of proving that most people think of him when they think "LitRPG"), or a fad nobody remembers (and if Kong is still around and still wants to use the term, it won't matter; it would be more or less as if he changed his name to "Alleron LitRPG", so to speak). Also, as others have noted, for those wishing to take action: AFAIK, the best defense in this case is really a good offense, meaning "use LitRPG as often as possible" (to dilute Kong's association with the term). That being said, IMHO the most important part is: in 4 years, either LitRPG will become a common term (and nobody will be able to "claim it by association", so to speak), or it won't matter (so who cares? =)
It's more about, you know, sitting on your porch, and enjoy a cold one maybe alone or maybe in good company, depending how company affects your Cold One Enjoyment stats, and, you know, just wait until you see the coffin of somebody you may not be particularly fond being carried down the street? =) Basically, and just my opinion, but: trademarks must be enforced (trademark holders don't have an option here); Mr. Kong publicly said he doesn't plan to enforce it (so even if he secretly plans to, his public statement counts against his trademark claim); but most importantly, if by 2021 the genre is thriving and generally known as LitRPG then even more authors than today will be associated with it, further diluting Mr. Kong's claim (in other words: the only value of claiming LitRPG would be for other authors wanting to use the term; that means that either a lot of authors already would be using it, making the trademark void, or nobody wants to for whatever reason and therefore LitRPG ceases to have value).
Yeah, his bid to TM "LitRPG" is doomed. It's in too wide of use already, and it's a frigging GENRE not a series name. I don't fret over it anymore.
You quoted me, but other than telling me about BC's visiting habits (how do you know this?) - I don't see how the rest is addressed to me. In your reddit comment, you mention you're friends/close with MSE. Defending him is likely to get you downvotes, just like defending Kong would on r/litrpg. I wouldn't take it personally. If you take anything personally on the internet it will probably eventually kill you. It's one of the reasons I limit my internet arguments to 1 post max. I just don't care that much to convince people. Ranting posts, on the other hand, that's got no max count.
The thanks was to @Paul Bellow for putting this thread back on track. @Jason Maskell - I know because I talk to a number of authors on Facebook and Discord and other places. Blaise is on the GameLit Discord daily. The rest wasn't specifically addressed to you but to the thread general. I'm over Reddit for now. I'm done trying to explain to anyone - that includes here.
This is a good sign. Amazon included a LitRPG button on their latest audiobook sale. Maybe a sign that they're starting to recognize the genre, and not care so much about the TM. Good news?
Trying to show his name as the "official" LitRPG site? Hrm... Does not bode well. I need to contact some people and see what's up with the attorneys... @Dawn Chapman you hear anything?
Nothing to worry about imo. Kong is going to do what Kong wants to do. Just because he says his site is official doesn’t make it any more true than him being “The Father of LitRPG.” The guy has an ego and he’s gonna stroke it with every fiction he creates every chance he gets.
I wonder if it's actually passion for the genre or potential moneymaking at this point - the thing in his screed about wanting to have influence on a potential movie (even if it's not his book???) makes me side-eye it.
I don't think they'd turn The Land into a movie. It has no plot, just one thing happening after another after another with no real sense of why, or why we should care. I think Hollywood would be more likely to pick up something that has clear beats and plot points. Maybe something like Hero of Thera. He can want to influence a movie all he wants. Lots of people want that, but the bottom line is that no one's going to first buy a script, and then produce it if it has no story.
