Hasbro getting sued! pony theme at risk?

[simba86 1,541]

http://www.equestriadaily.com/2016/01/hasbro-being-sued-by-font-bros-america.html

hasbro is getting sued by font bros for using one of their fonts without paying, this is the font in question

 

it is possible that hasbro could have to pay millions of dollars in restitution for EVERYTHING they have used that font on in the last 5 years, pretty much everything they have used the G4 logo on! this might even force them to change the logo! do you think hasbro will licence the font or totally redesign the logo and theme?

[PiratePony 8,473]

do you think hasbro will licence the font or totally redesign the logo and theme?

 

I think they will licence, because I imagine recalling everything would cost too much. Do you know how much the suit is for? I'm sure they'll settle for much less than what they're asking, and it probably won't come close to what they make on the product. 

[Riganthor 483]

this is a verry risky trial not only for hasbro but also for MLP:FIM in general. Hell THIS CAN END G4.

[PiratePony 8,473]

this is a verry risky trial not only for hasbro but also for MLP:FIM in general. Hell THIS CAN END G4.

 

The complaint is pretty ridiculous.

https://torrentfreak.com/images/ponycomplaint.pdf

 

$150,000 or higher per infringement, destroy all merchandise...it's a little much. The assumption is that their font has directly lead to sales and thus they are entitled to damages.  Are they entitled? Maybe, but not that much. Plus I believe they had some sort of licence....why wait this long for a suit? To capitalize on the show's popularity and upcoming movie of course. 

 

End G4? No. Besides, all law suits have an escalated amount and settle for way less.

Edited January 26, 2016 by PiratePony

[simba86 1,541]

I think they will licence, because I imagine recalling everything would cost too much. Do you know how much the suit is for? I'm sure they'll settle for much less than what they're asking, and it probably won't come close to what they make on the product. 

they have not came up with a number yet, but they are wanting 150,000 dollar per infringment which would be many many MILLIONS of dollars, this is copied from the suit "Direct that Defendant be required to pay Font Brothers actual damages in the amount of $150,000 Dollars per infringement or Statutory Damages under Copyright Law, whichever is greater, for all gains, profits, and advantages derived by Defendant though its infringement of Lohner’s Copyright;"

 

and to make matters WORSE for hasbro, hasbro has be selling licences to third parties like hot topic and others to make pony themed merch with that font!

The complaint is pretty ridiculous.

https://torrentfreak.com/images/ponycomplaint.pdf

 

$150,000 or higher per infringement, destroy all merchandise...it's a little much. The assumption is that their font has directly lead to sales and thus they are entitled to damages. 

 

End G4? No. Besides, all law suits have an escalated amount and settle for way less.

odds are it will be a pretty big settlement, might be tied up for years in court though because hasbro has an army of lawers, even if they settle for a dollar per infringment we are still talking millions because how much pony merch have they sold in 5 years? not to menthion they use it everytime they air an episode

Edited January 26, 2016 by simba86

[Guest]

They will probably lose this lawsuit due to ridiculous demands. The courts generally throw out cases where the accusing party is making demands far beyond what they deserve. 150k per infringement is more money than Hasbro has.

[PiratePony 8,473]

they have not came up with a number yet, but they are wanting 150,000 dollar per infringment which would be many many MILLIONS of dollars, this is copied from the suit "Direct that Defendant be required to pay Font Brothers actual damages in the amount of $150,000 Dollars per infringement or Statutory Damages under Copyright Law, whichever is greater, for all gains, profits, and advantages derived by Defendant though its infringement of Lohner’s Copyright;"

 

and to make matters WORSE for hasbro, hasbro has be selling licences to third parties like hot topic and others to make pony themed merch with that font!

odds are it will be a pretty big settlement, might be tied up for years in court though because hasbro has an army of lawers

 

 

I'm curious what the licence would have actually been. Because Hasbro could argue that all they're entitled too is the licences fees, plus some sort of other damages.

 

By the way, federal cases take years even without a team of lawyers...it's just a slow system that clogged with frivolous lawsuits. Plus the federal courts handle civil and criminal cases alike. So it could be 4 years or more before trial, and that's just following the points from A to B to C. Hopefully it'll be a quick settlement and that be that. 

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

Looked at the comments on the article on EQD and I must say, the fact that you can copyright a font right off the bat is not a good thing. Fonts are supposed to be for just about everyone to use, and slapping a copyright is really just a bait so you can get easy cash. In this situation, Font Brothers is doing just that, trying to tear MLP for what it is. Hasbro will win this one and Font Bros is going down. 

 

EDIT 1: Besides, having such a high price as $150k per infringement. That's over 100 episodes of MLP:FIM plus all the toys, tags, signage, ads and even more. They're gonna shut things down, which will never work. 

Edited January 26, 2016 by C. Thunder Dash

[Ponies4Bronies 394]

Wait, could it really end G4?

[Meson Bolt 2,647]

I don't care what anyone else says, this is stupid. Suing someone for $150K just because of some "hidden fee" for using English letters? The world is full of *ssholes.

[Guest]

Wait, could it really end G4?

No. The chances of winning are unlikely. The most they will win is a single license which won't be much, Hasbro can pay that with ease.

 

 

I don't care what anyone else says, this is stupid. Suing someone for $150K just because of some "hidden fee" for using English letters? The world is full of *ssholes.

No no, what they want is 150K PER use. I.e. every toy or anything it's used on they think they are entitled to 150K which legally they are not. However Hasbro should have bought the rights to use the font in the first place though. It's kind of stupid that they didn't. Literally a simple one time purchase would have avoided this embarrassment. I wouldn't be too mad at these guys for suing Hasbro, I mean Hasbro more or less took their work without permission and didn't pay them. Fonts are created by people and people that want to get paid just like me and you. If Hasbro didn't like that they should have used a free font, there are tons out there.

 

I mean someone had to put work into designing those fonts, so I wouldn't be mad at them for expecting Hasbro to pay like everyone else, but the amount they believe they are out is ridiculous.

[RavenholmZombie 1,329]

 

 

do you think hasbro will licence the font or totally redesign the logo and theme?

 

I imagine that they're just gonna license the font and sweep this whole thing under the rug. 

[Mentis Soliloquy 3,024]

As a legal minded pony myself this won't get to court it will be settled out of court if hasbro's legal thinks their case has merit otherwise the chances of the font bros winning are low due to the time it took for them to file the suit, even after all that it won't kill G4 there will just be a re branding done. It will be interesting to watch and see me being a law nerd.

[Gestum 2,493]

I gotta agree with Front Brothers on this one. Hasbro did brake copyright laws and should face the consequences for it.

 

That said, their demands are completely idiotic and Hasbro will probably win the lawsuit.

[Guest]

This is almost like how the music industry once claimed Limewire lost them over $100 trillion in revenue. AKA: more money than exists in the world.

[Metemponychosis 1,236]

Hasbro has too much money to throw in the form of lawyers and whatnot... They'll never pay any real consequences.

 

That said... The whole thing is idiotic in my opinion. From the ideia of copyrighting a font...

[Limeblossom 482]

This is almost like how the music industry once claimed Limewire lost them over $100 trillion in revenue. AKA: more money than exists in the world.

Are they really believing that?

[Malinter 3,064]

Hasbro could just say it looks nothing like their font and win.

 

Kinda like how BMW tried to sue China for ripping off their car designs and lost. They just refused to admit they were the same car with just a different engine and name XD

Edited January 26, 2016 by Malinter

[MAIKUN 262]

Oh dear sweet Celestia! This is NOT good! We DON'T want G4 to end because of this! Right?

[Malinter 3,064]

Oh dear sweet Celestia! This is NOT good! We DON'T want G4 to end because of this! Right?

 

i doubt it. Hasbro has been waving the font about 5 years and its plastered all over the internet. Not like there was any way for Font Bro's to not see it and think "that looks like one of our fonts."

 

I think this would most likely bankrupt Font Bro's before making any dent in Hasbro's wallet.

[Guest]

Are they really believing that?

No that's why the case was thrown out even though the music industry technically had grounds to sue. They asked for such a ridiculous amount that the judge threw the case out.

[Katie Fire 158]

It's a little melodramatic to think it'l end G4

[cuteycindyhoney 13,283]

Hasbro has too much money to throw in the form of lawyers and whatnot... They'll never pay any real consequences.

 

That said... The whole thing is idiotic in my opinion. From the ideia of copyrighting a font...

Fonts have been being copyrighted for ages. Take Coca Cola. Their font seen on everything they produce, even has a name. It's known as "The Dynamic Ribbon Device". The name mainly (manely?) refers to the "swirl" under the text, but it also refers to how the letters look like they are made out of a continuous length of ribbon as well. Woe is any corporation that tries to use it without permission! 

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,152]

The chance of G4 ending over this is quite miniscule. If the judge doesn't throw this out of court then this will likely be settled.

 

Saying that while I can see the grounds for the suit, the amount their asking for is ludicrous. Period.

[ManaMinori 4,143]

What amuses me isn't the lawsuit, but the people who really think g4 will end because of this. Ludicrous