Atlas Entertainment, which scored a box office hit this year with Sony Pictures’ “Uncharted,” has taken legal action to block a crypto firm from marketing a new coin tied to the movie based on the hit PlayStation video game.
Atlas Entertainment insiders were shocked last month to see online references to an “Uncharted” coin with PR materials that referenced Atlas Entertainment, used the company’s logo and even referencing Atlas’ historic movie credits such as “The Dark Knight” and “Wonder Woman.”
Last week, Atlas Entertainment attorney Bert Deixler, of Kendall, Brill & Kelly, sent a cease and desist letter to Net Savings Link and Silverbear Capital, two entities cited in the PR materials that alerted Atlas to the unauthorized use of its moniker. Net Savings Link issued a press release on April 6 announcing the launch of the UNCHARTED token, which asserted that “Uncharted is backed by Atlas Digital Entertainment, a subsidiary of Atlas Entertainment.”
“This partnership intends to have NSAV and UNCHARTED explore the infinite possibilities of NFT as a creativity infrastructure and to subvert existing content and value sharing models with community co-creation,” the April 6 release stated.
The release appears makes a subtle distinction in spelling the token in all capital letters, while references to Atlas use the conventional spelling with only a capital U. But the use of Atlas’ name is unquestionably unauthorized, per Atlas leaders Charles Roven and Alex Gartner. It’s notable that there is no mention of Sony or PlayStation — both larger entities that would have drawn more immediate scrutiny of the claim.
The press release was distributed through the Globe Newswire, which subsequently removed it after contact from Atlas’ legal team. Atlas moved quickly to call out the infringement especially as they have high hopes for “Uncharted” to endure as a family-friendly movie franchise.
“Atlas Entertainment has demanded that an over the counter traded public company, NET SAVINGS LINK, and UNCHARTED GAME, an entity of unknown status, immediately cease and desist from associating Atlas Entertainment or its affiliate, Atlas Digital, with a game and crypto coin completely unrelated to both Atlas and the movie ‘Uncharted’ which Atlas produced for Sony Pictures based on the Playstation/Naughty Dog game. Atlas and its endeavors are not the same as those falsely claimed to be related to Net Savings Link, Silverbear Capital Inc or their Uncharted game and crypto coin,” Atlas said in a statement.
Net Savings Link and Silverbear Capital did not respond to email requests for comment on Atlas’ legal action.
