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Oct 14, 2011  Lady Goo Goo is one of the 52 characters on Moshi Monsters - a website that allows children to adopt and name creatures. The singing infant became a. In the Moshi Monster game, users choose between six virtual pet monsters they name and nurture. The monsters have to be fed and played with. Players can also buy clothes and other items for the monster. Based on your personality which Moshi monster are you more like and have the strongest bond with? Find out by taking this exciting quiz.

Moshi Monsters was a British website aimed at children aged 6–12,^[1] with over 80 million registered users in 150 territories worldwide.^[2] Users could choose from one of six virtual pet monsters (Diavlo, Luvli, Katsuma, Poppet, Furi and Zommer) they could create, name and nurture. Once their pet had been customized, players could navigate their way around Monstro City, take daily puzzle challenges to earn 'Rox' (a virtual currency), play games, personalize their room and communicate with other users in a safe environment, although this has been disputed.^[3] Moshi Monsters officially closed on 13 December 2019.

History[edit]

The game was created in late 2007 by Michael Acton Smith, and developed in 2008 by entertainment company Mind Candy and officially launched in April 2008.^[4] As of December 2009, there were at least 10 million players registered.^[5] In March 2010, Mind Candy announced that there were 15 million users and by September 2010, that number had surpassed 25 million.^[6] In June 2011, it was announced that there were 50 million users.^[7] On 13 December 2019, Moshi Monsters shut down permanently.

Gameplay[edit]

Monsters[edit]

The monsters are the characters that the user plays as. They are given a name by the user when they register at the website. There are six types of monsters. Poppet, Katsuma, Furi, Diavlo, Luvli, and Zommer.

Moshlings[edit]

The monsters (in-game pets) keep their own pets, called 'Moshlings'. They come in a variety of themed sets, including Arties, Beasties, Kitties, and Spookies. Those who aren't paying members can keep two 'Moshlings' in their room whilst paying members can keep up to six and visit other pets in the zoo.

Moshi Monsters Lady Goo Goo Dress Up

Other[edit]

Merchandise[edit]

Since its digital popularity, Moshi Monsters has grown commercially to include physical products, including games, the Moshi Monsters Magazine (number one selling children's magazine in the UK in 2011),^[8] a best-selling DS video game,^[9] a number 4 music album, books, membership cards, bath soap, chocolate calendars, trading cards, figures of many Moshlings, mobile games, and a Moshi Monsters feature film. Eight Moshi Monster toys were included in McDonald's Happy Meals in the United States and Canada in December 2013.^[10]

DS game[edit]

In 2011 Mind Candy released a Moshi Monsters based Nintendo DS game. the game is themed around moshlings and collecting and caring for them.

Mobile games[edit]

In July 2013, Mind Candy released Moshi Monsters Village on Google Play,^[11] a 3D city-builder published by GREE and developed by Tag Games. After GREE UK shut down,^[12] Mind Candy decided to take over the game as publisher, leaving the development to Tag Games. The game was relaunched on Apple devices on 18 December 2013 immediately ahead of the release of the movie.

In December 2013, Mind Candy published the companion app Talking Poppet, also developed by Tag Games.

In February 2014, Moshi Karts was released on iOS by Mind Candy.

In June 2014, Moshling Rescue a 'match three' game based on the Moshling characters was released on iOS and Android.

In early 2015 Mind Candy released an app called World of Warriors which was shut down in October 2018.

In November 2016, they released the Moshi MonstersEgg Hunt app, alongside a companion storybook of the same name.

Music[edit]

In March 2012, Mind Candy confirmed a major partnership deal with Sony Music.^[13] The deal followed the recent launch of Mind Candy's own music label, Moshi Monsters Music. The deal will see Sony Music handle the distribution aspects of Moshi Monsters' music releases, starting with the debut album Moshi Monsters, Music Rox!Jason Perry, formerly with the UK rock band A and head of Moshi Music, is driving the new album. The Moshi Monsters series features music from Sonic Boom, Beatie Wolfe, The Blackout, Portia Conn, and songs such as 'Moptop Tweenybop' and 'Merry Twistmas'. Two albums are available on iTunes and Google Play, as well as on disc. One album contains the songs from Moshi Monsters: The Movie, and another album has some of Moshi Monster's first songs. Not all songs are available to buy on various platforms.

Movie[edit]

In 2013, Mind Candy announced a Moshi Monsters film. In September 2013, Issue 34 of the Moshi Monsters Magazine included a Moshi Music DVD with a short trailer. On 10 October 2013 a short preview of the trailer was broadcast on ITV Daybreak. Later that day, the trailer was released on MSN. The film was released on 20 December 2013 in the UK and 20 February 2014 in Australia. The DVD and Blu-ray were released on 14 April 2014 in the UK and 3 April 2014 in Australia.^[14]

Lady Goo Goo injunction[edit]

In October 2011, Ate My Heart Inc, representing the musician Lady Gaga, were granted an interim injunction by the High Court of Justice of England and Wales to stop Mind Candy, parent company of Moshi Monsters, from releasing music on iTunes by a Moshi Monster character known as Lady Goo Goo. The songs intended for release included the parody 'Peppy-razzi', similar to the Lady Gaga hit 'Paparazzi'.^[15] Justice Vos of the High Court ruled that Lady Goo Goo could appear in the Moshi Monsters game, but that Mind Candy could not release, promote, advertise, sell, distribute, or otherwise make available 'any musical work or video that purports to be performed by a character by the name of Lady Goo Goo, or that otherwise uses the name Lady Goo Goo or any variant thereon'.^[16] Lady Goo Goo was later replaced with a new Moshling named Baby Rox, who is not a parody of any particular celebrity.

Decline in popularity and relaunch[edit]

The creator of Moshi Monsters, Mind Candy, suffered a loss of £2.2m in 2013 due to a drop in sales from Moshi Monsters. The company's financial reports have shown that the profit declined by 34.8% from £46.9 million in 2012 to £30.6 million in 2013.

In 2015, Mind Candy revealed that they were preparing to relaunch Moshi Monsters for a younger audience of four- to seven-year-olds, initially as animation with apps and toys to follow. However, no changes have been made to the Moshi Monsters site since then, apart from the removal of the forums section.

Since 2015, the decline of Moshi Monsters and the site's creator Mind Candy has continued. The peak of Moshi Monsters' popularity was in 2012 at £46.9m, and it has continued to decline. In 2018, total revenues were £5.2m, compared with £13.2m in 2014.^[17]

The Moshi Monsters website was shut down on 13 December 2019.^[18]

Criticism[edit]

In 2015, both Bin Weevils and Moshi Monsters were told to change the wording of their in-app advertisements by the Advertising Standards Authority, who said that the adverts and phrases such as 'The Super Moshis need YOU' pressured users to buy certain items inside the game. Mind Candy said that it took its responsibilities 'very seriously with regards to how we communicate with all of our fans, especially children.' It went on to say that Mind Candy had 'been working with the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) to ensure that we adhere to best practice and have made changes to the Moshi Monsters game accordingly. We will continue to work with the ASA in any way possible.'^[19]

References[edit]

1. ^Mike Butcher (2 May 2013). 'As Moshi Monsters hits 5 years, can it pull off three new games?'. TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 16 April 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2014. Moshi Monsters started out as an online world of adoptable pet monsters for boys and girls aged 6-12 back in 2008.
2. ^Moshi Monsters founder: 'I was Mr Stress, now I'm Mr Calm'Archived 3 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine, Business Insider
3. ^'Moshi Monsters - Welcome to Moshi Monsters, Parents!'. www.moshimonsters.com. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
4. ^Online World Atlas: Moshi Monsters – Pt. 1, Overview', Worlds in Motion. Retrieved 23 October 2010. Archived 7 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
5. ^(4 December 2009). 'Millions and millions of big monstersArchived 2017-11-07 at the Wayback Machine', The Independent. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
6. ^Yiannopoulos, Milo (8 September 2010). 'Moshi Monsters is leading the way on child safetyArchived 2017-11-14 at the Wayback Machine', The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
7. ^Barnett, Emma (7 June 2011). 'Moshi Monsters hits 50 million membersArchived 2017-11-07 at the Wayback Machine', The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
8. ^ABC Figures Reveal Moshi Monsters Magazine is the Best Selling Children's Magazine in the UKArchived 28 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Bloomberg
9. ^Moshi Monsters video game breaks chart recordArchived 4 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine, ToyNews
10. ^'Moshi Monsters gets QSR promo at McDonald's'. Archived from the original on 12 July 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
11. ^'Moshi Monsters Village - Apps on Google Play'. play.google.com. Archived from the original on 19 May 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
12. ^Ingrid Lunden (8 July 2013) https://techcrunch.com/2013/07/08/japans-gaming-giant-gree-retrenches-in-europe-shuts-down-uk-office-to-focus-on-development-in-the-u-s-for-western-market/Archived 9 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine
13. ^'Sony Music partners with Moshi Monsters - News - Music Week'. www.musicweek.com. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
14. ^'Moshi Monsters (2013)'. Archived from the original on 20 April 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2018 – via www.imdb.com.
15. ^Neither Mind Candy nor the Goo Goo Dolls can lay claim to being the first to whose given name has been appended the epithet 'Goo Goo'. For that honor one might turn at the very least to Lt. Gen. Leslie Richard ('Dick' or 'Goo Goo') Groves, Jr., a World War II-era US Army Corps of Engineers officer who oversaw not only the construction of the Pentagon for the US Department of Defense but also the Manhattan Project that created the atomic bombs that won World War II for the Allies and literally saved the world from autocracy. Chances are, too, there were other 'goo goos' in the US Army before Groves.
16. ^Sweney, Mark (13 October 2011). 'Lady Goo Goo injunction'. TheGuardian.co.uk. Archived from the original on 30 September 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
17. ^'MIND CANDY LIMITED - Filing history (free information from Companies House)'. beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 12 July 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
18. ^''Moshi Monsters' is shutting down because it runs on Flash'. engadget.com. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
19. ^Rawlinson, Kevin (26 August 2015). 'Ad watchdog rebukes Moshi Monsters'. Archived from the original on 6 July 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2019.

Summary

Lady Gaga gets interim injunction to block release of Lady Goo Goo song.

Background

Ate My Heart Inc is a company owned and controlled by Lady Gaga. It has CTM registrations for LADY GAGA covering sound, video and audio visual recordings, entertainment services and the streaming of audio and video material on the Internet.

Mind Candy operates the successful online children’s game called Moshi Monsters, and its subsidiary Moshi Music exploits sound recordings and songs associated with the game.

The game has since 2009 featured a character called Lady Goo Goo, reminiscent of Lady Gaga. Moshi Monsters features a number of other parody characters (such as Broccoli Spears and Avril Le Scream). Important characters can achieve moshling status in the game.

Ate My Heart only became aware of the Lady Goo Goo character in April 2011 when the defendants applied to register LADY GOO GOO as a trade mark. They then also learnt that the defendants intended to release as a single a song called The Moshi Dance, sung by Lady Goo Goo (the “Song”), with a scheduled launch date of 18 September on iTunes. The song had been released on You Tube in June 2011 and was alleged to resemble Lady Gaga’s song Bad Romance.

The claimant sought an interim injunction to stop the defendants releasing the Song on iTunes and requiring it to be taken down from You Tube. The claim was for trade mark infringement under Articles 9(1)(b) and 9(1)(c) of the CTM Regulation. It was accepted that the use of the Lady Goo Goo character in game could continue.

Moshi Monsters Lady Gaga Lyrics

The Judgment

Mr Justice Vos applied the principles which govern the grant of interim injunctions in cases such as these.

Was there an arguable case?

Moshi Monsters Lady Goo Goo

Article 9 1 b – similar mark/likelihood of confusion

The Judge took the view that there was a strongly arguable case that both players of the game and older people exposed to the Song would think there was a commercial connection between Lady Gaga and Lady Goo Goo, perhaps because they would think Lady Gaga had adopted the Lady Goo Goo moshling. (Indeed, there was precedent as Lady Gaga had sponsored an unrelated game in the past.)

He seemed to have been influenced by the similarity in names, and that “goo goo ga ga” is a known baby phrase, Lady Gaga had made her name in the music field and she uses the term “Little Monsters” in her tweets, as well as the fact that the You Tube tag for the Song actually included a reference to Lady Gaga. There was some evidence of confusion in blogs, but it was not unequivocal.

Article 9 1 c – mark with a reputation/use without due cause/ unfair advantage/detriment

The Judge took the view that the LADY GAGA trade mark had the necessary reputation to found a claim and that there was the necessary link between LADY GOO GOO and the registered mark.

In addition, he thought there was a good arguable case that the use of LADY GOO GOO damaged the distinctive character of the LADY GAGA mark. Referring to the Judgment of the CJEU in the Interflora v M&S case, he was of the opinion that consumers may not be able to tell that Song did not emanate from Lady Gaga. As the You Tube release used the Lady Gaga tag and the Lady GooGoo moshling looks a bit like Lady Gaga consumers might also think the Song was approved.

He also thought that there was a real risk of tarnishment of the LADY GAGA mark, relying heavily on the fact that consumers would think the origin to be Lady Gaga, but not explaining how he envisaged that tarnishment would occur.

The Judge also thought that the use of LADY GOO GOO in the context of the Song – as opposed simply to the name of the character in the game – did amount to taking unfair advantage of the LADY GAGA trade mark. As he put it, there was an arguable case for “coat tailing or free riding once one moves out of the Game and into free distribution of popular music under the name LADY GOO GOO”, particularly as no other game characters had released songs under their names.

Parody

The Judge pointed out that there is no defence of parody to trade mark infringement. Nonetheless, it may be possible to argue that pure parodic use of a trade mark is use “with due cause” and hence not an infringement. However, the Lady Goo Goo character had morphed beyond parody into something else and was being used to enhance the commercial success of Moshi Monsters and to sell records. Accordingly, the parody argument was unavailable.

Damage

The defendants argued that the claimant had not suffered any real damage thus far, and that damage was unlikely to occur. Mr. Justice Vos did not agree and was of the view that damages would not be an adequate remedy for the claimant because the kind of damage concerned – dilution and damage to a brand’s reputation – is impossible to quantify.

The defendants argued that an injunction would cause them significant loss as they had already spent a significant amount of money producing and promoting the Song. The Judge accepted that the defendants would lose a major opportunity if the Song were prevented from being released and that it would be difficult to assess how much would be lost in financial terms.

Balance of convenience

Status quo

The Judge took the view that the status quo lay in allowing the defendants to continue to use LADY GOO GOO as the name of a character in the game, but not for the release of the Song in iTunes or its presence on You Tube. The Song release was a new departure and a commercial venture and the You Tube release was the wrong side of the line between game character and “Lady Goo Goo becoming a musical star in her own right”.

Balance

In the Judge’s view, the balance of convenience lay in the claimant’s favour and he granted an injunction.

Both parties could well suffer unquantifiable damage, but the claimant had the better argument on the merits which tipped the balance. Although he had initially thought this “was just a case of parody which nobody could think anything to do with Lady Gaga”, he had in fact formed the view that there was a real likelihood of confusion. If the injunction were not granted, Lady Goo Goo may become an important pop star in her own right which could severely damage Lady Gaga’s reputation being damaged.

In view of the potential damage which the defendants would suffer if the injunction turned out to have been wrongly granted, however, he ordered the claimant to pay £350,000 into Court as a condition of the grant of the injunction.

Whilst not conclusive it was clear that the defendants’ conduct had not helped them – they had initially denied that Lady Goo Goo was anything to do with Lady Gaga and that the Song bore no resemblance to Bad Romance, but later accepted otherwise. The Judge was of the view they should have been more candid from the beginning.

Comment

The case is interesting as it is one of the few cases in which a parody “defence” has been raised. It appears that the Court will have some sympathy with parodic use of a trade mark, but not once it strays into the realms of having a commercial purpose which competes with a rights holder’s rights.

However, the line between commercial and non commercial parodies is not always easy to draw, and it is interesting to note that the claimant accepted that the Lady Goo Goo character was unobjectionable in the game, despite the fact that the game is a money making exercise (through subscriptions and merchandising).

Lady Gaga Songs

In his recent Report, Professor Hargreaves recommended the introduction of a parody defence to copyright infringement. Whilst it remains to be seen what shape that defence will take, some commentators had thought that this move would pave the way for a more liberal attitude towards parodies generally in respect of all IP rights. The decision in this case suggests that this may not be the case.