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Netflix Enters Deal to Acquire Finland's Next Games

Netflix is attempting to diversify into the lucrative video game sector. MARIO TAMA GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Netflix is attempting to diversify into the lucrative video game sector. MARIO TAMA GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
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Netflix Enters Deal to Acquire Finland's Next Games

Netflix is attempting to diversify into the lucrative video game sector. MARIO TAMA GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Netflix is attempting to diversify into the lucrative video game sector. MARIO TAMA GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

Netflix said Wednesday it plans to buy Finnish developer Next Games for more than $70 million, signaling the US streaming giant's intent to expand into the video gaming industry.

Next Games has been developing mobile games since 2013 based on popular television series such as "Stranger Things" and the "The Walking Dead" -- both hits that air on Netflix, AFP said.

"We are excited for Next Games to join Netflix as a core studio in a strategic region and key talent market, expanding our internal game studio capabilities," Michael Verdu, vice president of games at Netflix, said in a statement.

"While we're just getting started in games, I am confident that together with Next Games we will be able to build a portfolio of world class games that will delight our members around the world."

The deal will be financed in cash through the purchase of Next Games' shares and has already been recommended by the gaming company's board of directors, Netflix said.

Next Games' shares, listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange, soared nearly 120 percent following the announcement.

Next Games CEO Teemu Huuhtanen said in the statement that the firm has always been focused on becoming "the partner of choice for global entertainment businesses" to create gaming based on the world's most popular entertainment franchises.

"Joining forces with the world's largest streaming service, Netflix, presents an opportunity for a logical and exciting continuation of our strategy to craft interactive experiences for the world to enjoy," he said.

Netflix is attempting to diversify into the lucrative video game sector as it competes with other streaming platforms such as Disney+ and HBO Max.

The California-based group announced last September that it had acquired its first video game studio, Night School Studio, creators of the supernatural thriller "Oxenfree."

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Disney Sues Hong Kong Company It Says Is Selling Illegal Mickey Mouse Jewelry

Mickey Mouse balloons are displayed at Disneyland Paris in Chessy, France, June 8, 2018. (AP)
Mickey Mouse balloons are displayed at Disneyland Paris in Chessy, France, June 8, 2018. (AP)
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Disney Sues Hong Kong Company It Says Is Selling Illegal Mickey Mouse Jewelry

Mickey Mouse balloons are displayed at Disneyland Paris in Chessy, France, June 8, 2018. (AP)
Mickey Mouse balloons are displayed at Disneyland Paris in Chessy, France, June 8, 2018. (AP)

The Walt Disney Co. on Wednesday sued a Hong Kong jewelry company it accuses of selling illegal Mickey Mouse jewelry.

The international media and entertainment conglomerate filed a lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles against the Red Earth Group, which sells jewelry online under the name Satéur.

Disney says the marketing and branding of the rings, necklaces and earrings in Satéur's “Mickey 1928 Collection” violate its trademark rights and that the Hong Kong company is deliberately trying to fool customers into thinking the pieces are official Disney merchandise.

Satéur, the suit alleges, “intends to present Mickey Mouse as its own brand identifier for its jewelry merchandise and "seeks to trade on the recognizability of the Mickey Mouse trademarks and consumers’ affinity for Disney and its iconic ambassador Mickey Mouse.”

A message seeking comment from representatives of the Red Earth Group was not immediately answered.

The lawsuit is indicative of Disney's dogged efforts to protect its intellectual property from unauthorized appropriation. Although the earliest version of Mickey Mouse entered the public domain last year after Disney's copyright expired, the company still holds trademark rights to the character.

Lawyers for Disney argue in the suit that Red Earth’s online marketing efforts “extensively trade on the Mickey Mouse trademarks and the Disney brand” with language that includes describing the jewelry as great for “Disney enthusiasts.”

Such tactics indicate Red Earth was “intentionally trying to confuse consumers,” the lawsuit says. The impression created, it says, "suggests, at a minimum, a partnership or collaboration with Disney.”

The earliest depiction of Mickey Mouse, who first appeared publicly in the film short “Steamboat Willie” in 1928, are now in the US public domain. The widely publicized moment was considered a landmark in iconography going public.

The lawsuit alleges that Red Earth and Satéur are trying to use that status as a “ruse” to suggest the jewelry is legal, by dubbing it the “Mickey 1928 Collection” and saying it is being sold in tribute to the mouse's first appearance.

The centerpiece of the collection, the suit says, is a piece of jewelry marketed as the "Satéur Mickey 1928 Classique Ring,” which has a Steamboat Willie charm sitting on the band holding a synthetic stone.

But there is an essential difference between copyright, which protects works of art, and trademark, which protects a company's brand.

Even if a character is in the public domain, it cannot be used on merchandise in a way that suggests it is from the company with the trademark, as Disney alleges Red Earth is doing.

“Disney remains committed to guarding against unlawful trademark infringement and protecting consumers from confusion caused by unauthorized uses of Mickey Mouse and our other iconic characters,” Disney said in a statement Wednesday.

The lawsuit seeks an injunction against Red Earth selling the jewelry or trading on Disney's trademark in any other way, along with monetary damages to be determined later.