Everyone's favorite Creative Commons Dens picture. (flickr.com/pahudson)

"What if x does it?" is a favorite question among VCs when interviewing entrepreneurs. The x is usually Google or Facebook. Add Foursquare to that list. The start-up scooped Foodspotting by adding pictures, Dealburner by adding instant deals, and this week it scooped Miso, GetGlue and Filmaster by adding event check-ins, including check-ins to movies.

The founder of Filmaster writes:

So, Foursquare introduced event check-ins, including movie theater check-ins. Now you can not only check in to a cinema like to any other building but also check-in to a specific movie in that cinema. The listings are provided by MovieTickets.com.

VentureBeat dooms GetGlue and Miso, popular media check-in apps. As a founder of the first cinema check-in app, Filmaster Mobile, my first reaction was obviously fear. How are we going to compete against that monster?? Then came pride. After all, we did it first and I guess the fact that Foursquare is copying means we did something right. Eventually, I started thinking: how do we benefit from this move? This is what I came up with.

Different goals, different use cases and the quality of recommendations will differentiate the services, the founder, Borys Musielak writes. "I see it now as a chance, not a threat," he says. "The more people learn that you can actually check-in to single screenings, the harder they will look for alternatives. And this is where Filmaster comes in handy." Chin up, kids.