ESA Backs Off Legal Threat to Game Blogs

It takes a lot to admit you were wrong, especially in public.

So this morning GamePolitics has to give props to the video game industry's trade association, the ESA. Yes, they screwed up, but they seem determined to make amends.

Readers may recall a couple of weeks back that the ESA took offense to a parody t-shirt being sold by online retailer T-Shirt Hell.

Game blog Bits, Bytes, Pixels & Sprites wrote the first story about the offending shirt, which used the ESRB's "E" rating graphic as the backdrop for a somewhat off-color joke. Kotaku picked the story up as well.

The ESA was unhappy with the parody of one of its trademarks, and sent a menacing cease-and-desist letter to T-Shirt Hell, which has apparently blown them off. The shirt remains for sale. 

Unfortunately, the ESA also made similar threats to Bits, Bytes, Pixels & Sprites and Kotaku for simply covering the existence of the shirt. BBP&S, a one-man shop, decided that discretion was the better part of valor and removed its story. Kotaku, with the resources of the Gawker Network at its disposal, told the ESA to go pound sand.

But BBP&S is now reporting that the ESA has undergone an epiphany. General Counsel & Senior VP Gail Markels contacted the site yesterday:

The ESRB Rating Icons are valuable trademarks of ESA, and we must be vigilant in protecting them against unauthorized commercial uses, lest our trademark rights become diluted. At the same time, we also understand and respect the First Amendment rights of those who, like bitsbytespixelssprites disseminate news and information.

That said, we have taken a second look at this issue and concluded that bitsbytespixelssprites was reporting on a product in the marketplace, and is not involved in distributing or marketing this product, and thus did not engage in any conduct sufficient to trigger the issuance of the cease and desist letter we sent. Please accept our apologies. I am happy to discuss this with you further if you so desire.

BBP&S editor Danzuke was gracious in victory:

It’s better to be friends with the people that report the news than to try and make enemies. They never should’ve bothered me in the first place about it but I’m truly and honestly appreciative of the ESA for the letter...

No word from Kotaku yet, and the ESA has not responded to GP's requests for comment on the original story.

That's okay. We're just glad the ESA saw the light and did the right thing. 

UPDATE: Kotaku is now reporting that they received the same change-of-heart letter from the ESA.