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Instagram also insisted we change our name from Instapainting.com to something else or remove all Instagram references (we used filestack.com which includes Ins

Instagram also insisted we change our name from Instapainting.com to something else or remove all Instagram references (we used filestack.com which includes Instagram as an upload option). When I complied and removed the Instagram reference they then decided to extend it to all Facebook references (like button, Facebook upload, etc) on the grounds that people might get the insta prefix confused with Facebook since it owns Instagram.

dandare 11y ago
I see you complied, did it hurt your business?
- chrischen 11y ago
  Somewhat hard to measure. Not allowing uploads from Facebook or Instagram through file picker.io probably had no effect since almost no ones uses it, but not having a like button may have had some effect. Google also considers likes for search ranking. It would have been much worse if we already had a Facebook following. To compensate we focused on Twitter and other ways to gain SEO.
charlesdm 11y ago
I have built apps that integrate closely with known popular video streaming services (hint, hint), and I've dealt with both their legal departments. 1. Most people are clueless about the law / their rights. Companies will try and bully you into taking your site down, without any legal basis. 2. Read up on nominative fair use of a trademark. You are allowed to make use of a competitors trademark, even for commercial purposes. 3. You probably didn't have to make any of those changes. While I'm not a lawyer, both legal departments backed off after sending them a well-argued reply to their bullshit (sorry, that's the only way to describe it) arguments. I do work with an excellent IP law firm, but I didn't even have to contact them to handle this. 4. I highly doubt a tech company would sue you in a meritless case. Even a simple case will cost them $30-50k. The in house lawyer contacting you is often a paper pusher that has to scout the internet for "possible infringements" of the mark. They'll need to get approval to sue you, and risk vs. reward will be considered. If you're based outside of the US, even better. They'll usually have to sue you in your local jurisdiction. 5. Obviously, be prepared to fight if they do come after you.
- arethuza 11y ago
  My understanding is that a small percentage of legal disputes involving lawyers result in a court action actually being raised and only a small percentage of court actions actually run - most of these settle "at the door of the court".

dandare 11y ago

I see you complied, did it hurt your business?

chrischen 11y ago
Somewhat hard to measure. Not allowing uploads from Facebook or Instagram through file picker.io probably had no effect since almost no ones uses it, but not having a like button may have had some effect. Google also considers likes for search ranking. It would have been much worse if we already had a Facebook following. To compensate we focused on Twitter and other ways to gain SEO.

charlesdm 11y ago

I have built apps that integrate closely with known popular video streaming services (hint, hint), and I've dealt with both their legal departments. 1. Most people are clueless about the law / their rights. Companies will try and bully you into taking your site down, without any legal basis. 2. Read up on nominative fair use of a trademark. You are allowed to make use of a competitors trademark, even for commercial purposes. 3. You probably didn't have to make any of those changes. While I'm not a lawyer, both legal departments backed off after sending them a well-argued reply to their bullshit (sorry, that's the only way to describe it) arguments. I do work with an excellent IP law firm, but I didn't even have to contact them to handle this. 4. I highly doubt a tech company would sue you in a meritless case. Even a simple case will cost them $30-50k. The in house lawyer contacting you is often a paper pusher that has to scout the internet for "possible infringements" of the mark. They'll need to get approval to sue you, and risk vs. reward will be considered. If you're based outside of the US, even better. They'll usually have to sue you in your local jurisdiction. 5. Obviously, be prepared to fight if they do come after you.

arethuza 11y ago
My understanding is that a small percentage of legal disputes involving lawyers result in a court action actually being raised and only a small percentage of court actions actually run - most of these settle "at the door of the court".