Twitch Streamer considering changing name due to Netflix Show stealing her brand.

[zombienerd]

Lydia Ellery is now considering changing her online handles due to hate mail, lost work, because Netflix's Squid Game has destroyed her brand.

 

 

 

 

Quote

 Ellery says she's lost two presenting jobs because of her inadvertent association with the show. "Looks like I might have to change my handle after all," she tweeted earlier this week. "I've lost two amazing presenting opportunities because people don't want to hire me with my 'squid game' handle. This is really getting me down now.

 

My thoughts

I'm curious if a trademark case could be brought.  Can a username be a trademark?  She's obviously losing out on income because this Netflix show used her name, one she's had for over a decade.

 

Sources

https://www.pcgamer.com/streamer-squidgame-losing-work-over-netflix-show-association/

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-59140585

[Anghammarad]

well my nic in the computer hacker and phreaker scene in the days was ShortCircuit... 

 

I didn't made a fuzz when LTT opened up a channel naming it that...

 

though I didn't use that nick in a very long time ^^

[Libnk]

That really is a shame. I love Lydia’s content, especially when she does co-op horror.

[zombienerd]

2 minutes ago, Anghammarad said:

well my nic in the computer hacker and phreaker scene in the days was ShortCircuit... 

 

I didn't made a fuzz when LTT opened up a channel naming it that...

 

though I didn't use that nick in a very long time ^^

The difference is that you didn't create a brand and make a living off the name, she did.  Only to have it taken by a TV show, destroying all of her search engine optimization, and causing her to be inundated with death threats.

[Taf the Ghost]

It really would depend on quite a few things as far as potential damages for the streamer, but I've gotta question the story a bit. I could see "abuse" definitely happening because it's both the Internet and automated bots would get up with crossover effects. (Always remember that all of East Asia hates each other, so anything getting big from one of them gets automated abuse.)

 

She really needs to name the companies that dropped events, because they need to be publicly mocked for being stupid.

[Spindel]

As OP kind of touches on. 

 

If she had trade marked her handle she could bring the case to court but I have a hard time seeing her being able to take this to court otherwise. 

 

Further isn't "squid game" a real children's game? 

Even if it's only a thing in Korea isn't it kind of impossible to actually trade mark a children's game that pre dates both the streamer and the show. Or is it trade markable in other countries just because it does not exist in them? 

[BuckGup]

She should be more flexible and roll with the punches. Instead of fighting it I would have sold the accounts for probably close to $250k and simply rebranded myself

[IceCold008]

Who ? lol

[Levent]

7 minutes ago, BuckGup said:

I would have sold the accounts for probably close to $250k and simply rebranded myself

Issue is most companies prefer just taking whatever they can with as little they can. I highly doubt paying for the accounts were ever an option.

 

That being said, if she don't want to deal with all the butthurt 12 y.o. I sadly don't see any option for her other than just rebranding. She could take this to court but legal fees alone would scare most people off and also lack of trademarks is a major turnoff for most legal representation. 

[Lightwreather]

I feel like the headline is a tad bit misleading.

It implicates that Netflix knowingly stole the name

[LogicalDrm]

-> Moved to Off Topic

 

This is not tech-related. Just being a creator on tech-platform doesn't qualify. This is brand/social issue.

[wanderingfool2]

51 minutes ago, zombienerd said:

I'm curious if a trademark case could be brought.  Can a username be a trademark?  She's obviously losing out on income because this Netflix show used her name, one she's had for over a decade.

She almost certainly doesn't have a trademark registered so the answer would be no.

 

Losing income is a bit hit or miss though.  While yes, she has maybe lost a few opportunities by the looks of things done right she could have capitalized on the opportunity.  Like the fact that she could have changed her business email away from using squidgame to stop the confusion with people she is contacting and then utilize the number of extra eyes to entice other sponsors and stuff...or if she really wanted to sell her handles to Netflix (or maybe try working with Netflix...like a special sponsorship or something)

 

I looked at some of the numbers as well for her.  Comparing to the rest of 2021, when squid games got popular she got 3 times the amount of followers than she normally does for the month.  Looking at her previous tweets as well, it appears as though she hit front page on reddit and newspapers...so it would seem as though she would have been more than capable of capitalizing on the notoriety.

[IPD]

Why does this smack of the same stuff that happened when Lady Antebellum changed its name to "Lady A" and ruined the livelihood of an independent artist who had been using that moniker for years and years?

[LAwLz]

Just some random thoughts in no particular order. 

 

1) Netflix didn't steal her name. Netflix named a show after an old Korean children's game. If my handle was "fetch" and Netflix made a dog show called "fetch" it's not like I can claim Netflix stole my handle. If anything, we both stole it from the same thing. 

 

2) Who the fuck is sending her death threats over this? Also, it's not Netflix's fault if people are doing that. Although I have a feeling this is not the case to begin with. She might be getting death threats (who on the internet doesn't get that?), but I seriously doubt it is because of squid game. If it hadn't been for squid game she would have gotten the same messages but for some other reason. It's like with bullying. Nobody gets bullied because they wear glasses. The bully might use the fact that they wear glasses as ammunition, but it's not like getting rid of the glasses would stop the bullying from happening. 

 

3) Give it a little time and this will blow over. I feel like in a couple of months nobody will be talking about Squid Game. It's just the current flavor of the month TV show. 

 

4) I got a feeling this girl is blowing things out of proportions in order to get some publicity. I had never heard of her before and it seems like I'm not alone. But because of this I have seen her name all over the place. LTT, multiple subreddits and so on. 

[Middcore]

It wouldn't have done her much good if she had trademarked the handle, really, because she would never have achieved the same level of notoriety as the Netflix series has, Netfix has the resources to drag out any legal dispute past the point where it would be worthwhile for her to keep fighting, and it wouldn't stop toxic fans of the show from sending her hate mail (interesting how some people's takeaway from the show was apparently "let's stan for a billion-dollar corporation"). 

 

I'm almost inclined to say she should try to ride it out because I honestly can't see the Netflix series still being talked about much 3 months from now, but if she's lost opportunities because of it I can understand why she feels like she may as well just rip the band-aid off. 

[wanderingfool2]

12 hours ago, LAwLz said:

Who the fuck is sending her death threats over this? Also, it's not Netflix's fault if people are doing that. Although I have a feeling this is not the case to begin with. She might be getting death threats (who on the internet doesn't get that?), but I seriously doubt it is because of squid game. If it hadn't been for squid game she would have gotten the same messages but for some other reason. It's like with bullying. Nobody gets bullied because they wear glasses. The bully might use the fact that they wear glasses as ammunition, but it's not like getting rid of the glasses would stop the bullying from happening. 

It's actually really disappointing with the threats.  Some of the examples shows of the threats seem to be based on the fact that people think she made the name only to attract the followers from the popularity of the Squid Games...ie. they are the people who think she's clout chasing by naming herself after the tv show.

 

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the amount of hate she has gotten has increased in exponential proportions to what she was getting before (despite only a 2x temp increase in subscribers).

 

13 hours ago, LAwLz said:

I got a feeling this girl is blowing things out of proportions in order to get some publicity. I had never heard of her before and it seems like I'm not alone. But because of this I have seen her name all over the place. LTT, multiple subreddits and so on. 

Agreed...although I do feel that it's her attempt at trying to get in while it's still popular

 

13 hours ago, LAwLz said:

Give it a little time and this will blow over. I feel like in a couple of months nobody will be talking about Squid Game. It's just the current flavor of the month TV show. 

Agreed, but I think there is a point to made though that if she is trying to attract sponsors or other deals in the future, people will be less likely to think she had her name first...or rather they will just think she created it after the squid games, which might actually cost her some deals.

[dalekphalm]

On 11/3/2021 at 9:58 AM, zombienerd said:

Lydia Ellery is now considering changing her online handles due to hate mail, lost work, because Netflix's Squid Game has destroyed her brand.

 

 

 

 

 

My thoughts

I'm curious if a trademark case could be brought.  Can a username be a trademark?  She's obviously losing out on income because this Netflix show used her name, one she's had for over a decade.

 

Sources

https://www.pcgamer.com/streamer-squidgame-losing-work-over-netflix-show-association/

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-59140585

I uh... really don't see the legal recourse here.

 

The TV Series is named after a children's game in South Korea called Squid (hence the name "Squid Game"). The game is far older than the streamer is.

 

The TV Series didn't steal her brand. Unless she's claiming she stole her brand from the Children's game, anyway.

 

It sucks that now she's having issues because by sheer coincidence, her gaming handle is very similar to the name of the show and pre-existing children's games. If it's impacting her business, she either needs to rebrand, or she just needs to get used to it.

 

She certainly can't blame Netflix for her problems.