Houghton Mifflin Interactive Corp. (HMI) and Parable , an Internet multimedia company, launched a promotion featuringCurious George Things on the Web, offering fans bona fide interactivecollectibles of their favorite character.
Houghton Mifflin Interactive Corp. (HMI) and Parable, an Internet multimedia company, launched a promotion featuring Curious George Things on the Web, offering fans bona fide interactive collectibles of their favorite character.
Fans are invited to freely take, share and reuse Curious George Things (multimedia creations) on personal Web pages or offline.
“Curious George is one of the best loved characters in children’s literature and multimedia,” said Conall Ryan, president and publisher of HMI. “We are thrilled to provide this opportunity for the Internet community to enjoy Curious George.”
Using Parable’s patent-pending Thing technology, HMI said it incorporated copyright and locking features into Curious George Things to be able to share the classic brand on the Web in a secure way. Financial arrangements were not disclosed.
“The need to protect brand integrity is an obvious issue on the Internet, and Curious George is an excellent example of a classic brand that cannot be compromised. Protecting the integrity of a brand is made a non-issue with Things,” said Eric Bedell, president and CEO of Parable. “By using our technology, HMI can maintain control of their intellectual property while providing fans with fun and interactive collectibles of this great character.”
Currently, there are seven Curious George Things located on The World of Curious George that are free for the taking. In the future, HMI plans to expand the collection of Curious George Things to include content from new HMI multimedia titles. Curious George Things are also available through Parable’s ThingWorld and through a network of distribution sites that includes GeoCities, Lycos, theglobe.com and Tripod.
Houghton Mifflin Interactive, a subsidiary of Houghton Mifflin Co., publishes children’s, reference and family digital adaptations of Houghton Mifflin books and original CD-ROMs and on-line works.
