Netflix won't let the Logan Square venue at 2367 N. Milwaukee Ave. stay open past the six-week mark.
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Netflix Ends Unauthorized 'Stranger Things' Bar With A Super Classy Letter
Netflix won't let the Logan Square venue at 2367 N. Milwaukee Ave. stay open past the six-week mark.
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The pop-up shop is in clear violation of copyright law however Netflix has handled this in one of the best ways possible. In the letter it states, "You’re obviously creative types, so I’m sure you can appreciate that it’s important to us to have a say in how our fans encounter the worlds we build.". Netflix has the means that they could have shut down the entire gig as soon as it opened but they respected the ingenuity and creativity of it's creators enough to let it stay open it's original length while being firm on the closing date and their valid creative reasons for their own intellectual property. It's also awesome to see that even the Senior counsel of Content Branding can still get his job done while still having fun and being good natured. It in a small way makes me believe that there are still good companies out there who remember that there are still people who deserve the benefit of the doubt.
While the shop is in clear violation as Kyrie mentions, it was handled very diplomatically by Netflix. The article reports netflix saying "We’re not going to go full Dr. Brenner on you, but we ask that you please (1) not extend the pop-up beyond its 6 week run ending in September, and (2) reach out to us for permission if you plan to do something like this again." I appreciate that they took the time to craft a response in the lexicon of the show, and by putting their demand for a shut down in compassionate and respective terms, they certainly won bonus points. They clearly need to protect their brand and own marketing rights, but they are still allowing the bar to stay open despite having the right to pull the plug effective immediately. I don't think such an approach is always the best--when it comes to theaters I think any violation of copyrights should be handled swiftly and harshly, but here this approach seemed more humane, possibly due to the sheer size of netflix and its creative power and their flexibility in such a delicate situation.
Honestly, I think this situation went as well as it could’ve and I’m very impressed with how Netflix handled it. This is the most fun cease and desist letter I’ve ever seen, and I didn’t ever think that would be a sentence I could write. Netflix managed to ask them to stop while seemingly like friendly creators rather than a cold corporate entity crushing the fans of its show. They also simply asked they close it as planned rather than force them to shut down sooner, and additionally the acknowledged that they understood their people were only doing this in the first place because of their love for the show. It is completely justifiable for Netflix to not want the pop-up bar to continue, it is their show and they didn’t authorize it. If they had asked them to shut it down immediately I think Netflix would’ve been justified, but I also don’t think that would’ve been the best thing for them. By going about it in a friendly and comedic way, Netflix has managed to get what they want without upsetting the creators of the pop-up bar, and at least based on this article, generating some good PR for themselves in the process.
The studio's way of handling this potential copyright nightmare was amazing. I worked in a copyright law office for eight years and saw many Cease and Desist letters pass over my desk and absolutely none of them were this kind and thoughtful. More often than not an office will have a basic template draft where you put in the information of the offending party, print it out, and send it off. The fact that the time was taken to write this jaunty letter peppered with references to the beloved show that accepted the originally planned run while kindly and firmly asking it not to continue is a big deal. It's always sad to me when fans run into copyright issues for an IP they love and are treated cruelly by the owner of that IP simply for trying to express their emotional investment in it. It's good to see that Netflix took the high road in this case.
The way this situation was handled by Netflix was truly incredible and upheld a very professional standard. Both sides seemed to understand the others perspective. By acknowledging the creative integrity of the world created within Stranger Things, it seems that "The Upside Down" team was compliant with the rules after they were explicitly presented to them. They should have known in the first place that they were going to violate the copyright laws in place, however Netflix took a positive stand in allowing the company to keep running through the 6 week period without any true repercussions.
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