Below is a list of apps which are controversial in the sense that they sparked legal battles.
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Starbucks: The company sent six complaints about “coffee card manager” apps that help Starbucks card owners check their balance or reload their cards, noting that the programs use Starbucks logos and designs without permission. Some of the apps were taken down, while others changed their names to generic names and designs. The app formerly known as a “Starbucks Card Widget,” for example, has now renamed itself to
My Coffee Card.
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Motorola: Motorola asked that four apps be taken down. Three of them are history, but a fourth—
Motorola Droid Updater, a free app by Drippler, is actually using Motorola’s name because it’s a company-specific news app, offering to advise users on the “latest rumors, news and updates” on Motorola Droid phones. Using a company name as part of news reporting isn’t a trademark violation, obviously, and Google apparently declined to remove this one.
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BNP Paribas, TD Ameritrade and JP Morgan Chase: Several banks asked for apps to be taken down, with mixed results. BNP Paribas and TD Ameritrade both appear to have removed mobile banking apps using their names. But JP Morgan Chase’s attempt to remove Jeff Peiffer’s $5
Android Banking app as a trademark violation failed—Peiffer had simply listed the company’s name as one of several online banking services that his program supports.
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RIAA: The Recording Industry Association of America asked for dozens of apps to be taken down. The apps all appear to be related to ringtones, but the recording industry trade group has had mixed success in winning takedowns. Part of the problem is that RIAA seems to have lumped together apps that are providing illegal material with apps like MP3 search engines that aren’t necessarily illegal.
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Nintendo: The gaming company tried, but failed, to take down eight apps that are using the likeness of Mario Bros. characters, even though on the face of it, unlicensed use of Mario looks like a pretty clear copyright violation. The problem may be that Nintendo’s takedown notices were unclear and failed to list specific URLs. A search for apps that Nintendo wanted taken down—like Mario Sounds by Bayland Blue and
Mario Soundboard by Flojobo—shows they’re still available. An unauthorized
Pokemon Game Ultimate Edition is still up, as well.
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Atari: Atari wanted to take down two “clones” of the classic 80s arcade game
Missile Command, called
Missile Shield and
Ballistic Defense. But Google hasn’t delivered on the demands of Atari lawyers, at least not yet. I wouldn’t be surprised if the app makers contested these takedowns, because the images are different and as much as Atari might like to “own” the idea of crazy rockets tumbling down a screen towards six vulnerable human cities… I’m not sure that should be copyrightable. (Although I’m sure many lawyers would disagree.) In any case, the games are still up, as is a clone of Atari’s
Asteroids game.
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Hachette Group: The publisher filed one complaint that successfully led to the takedown of more than a dozen “apps” that appear to have simply been programs that displayed pirated e-books, including books by Nicholas Sparks, financial guru Robert Kiyosaki, and the
Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. These apps are all down (but cached versions are still available on the internet.)
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LinkedIn and U.S. Bank: A few companies tried to take down apps that simply made mobile browsing easier but Google didn’t fall for that. LinkedIn, for example, tried to have this
LinkedIn Mobile app removed, even though the description says it isn’t affiliated with LinkedIn. U.S. Bank asked Google to take down developer
Kevin Williams’ app, which he described as simply a portal to the “quite hard to find” mobile version of the U.S. Bank website. Both apps are still up.
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Cartoon Network: The network demanded a takedown of
Unicorn Dash on copyright grounds, an app it found too similar to the network’s own online game,
Robot Unicorn Attack. The app was taken down.
