Hasbro getting sued! pony theme at risk?

[Simon 4,554]

G4 isn't ending over this, it's a settlement grab. Stuff like this happens all the time.

 

There's an old adage in negotiations that whoever throws out the first number is going to get screwed. Same is true in lawsuits. When they file the complaint, they have to give the absolute largest number they think any court could possibly award them, otherwise they're risking a loss of money. After all, they don't have the financials from Hasbro yet, they don't know how much money has been made off the font, so the original complaint is a dartboard figure... something wildly high so that they can file the lawsuit and get to discovery and negotiation where they'll get a better idea of how much money they can grab.

 

Could the mistake cost Hasbro a couple million dollars if they truly used their font without obtaining the proper licensing? Sure. That's not going to shut down FIM though. At the very most, what Font Bros will get if they're able to prove Hasbro violated their copyright is some sort of reasonable compensation equal to an approximation of what profits the font itself brought Hasbro. That doesn't mean every dime the show ever made, that means a small fraction.

 

Hasbro on the other hand will shoot for what the licensing would have cost them if they did it properly in the first place, which is probably more realistically a few thousand dollars. Generally neither party wants to go to court because that costs a fortune, so they'll arrive at some number in the middle, fire whoever forgot to license the font, and call it a day.

 

That being said, that's assuming they even have a legitimate claim. Their licensing agreement on Font Bros actually does permit a lot of commercial usage with a standard license, including using a font for logos with just a normal $20 license. If Font Bros can't show usage in violation of the agreement, they won't get a cent.

 

And they'll have to show they actually do own the font, which is also going to be up in the air.  For one, Font Bros didn't make the font.  The font was made by a design company called Harolds Fonts who distributes their fonts through Font Bros. Under the licensing agreement on Harold's Font's website, fonts purchased directly from Harold's Fonts come with an unlimited usage license. If that font was sold on Harold's Font's website prior to being placed on Font Bros, then Font Bros will have to show it was in fact purchased through them or there will be a huge hole in their case. Even if they show that, the font itself is described as a derivative work. It says right on the product description that the font was inspired by the fonts used in the title sequences of The Parent Trap. They're going to have to show that they do in fact own the font that Hasbro used to make a valid copyright complaint.

 

End of the day, this isn't the death of Hasbro or Generation 4 or FiM. At the absolute worst, Hasbro will lose a bit of money. Accidental copyright violations happen, courts aren't out to destroy franchises over a font. The only person who should really be concerned about this is whoever chose that font for the logo without obtaining a license

 

 

It's on this Font Bros. webpage and was acknowledged as far back as 2012. Something's screwy.

 

If Hasbro was smart, they'd file a counter-suit for Trademark violation claiming that Font Bros used their My Little Pony trademark in the marketing of the Generation B font without permission. If nothing else it'd enable them too get some really useful financial data from Font Bros in discovery to help tear apart their valuation.

[Veil 259]

Rip My little pony friendship was magic.

[Justin_Case001 4,857]

*Sigh*  This is yet again another of example of why we can't have nice things.

[Shanks 10,811]

The font was made by a design company called Harolds Fonts who distributes their fonts through Font Bros. Under the licensing agreement on Harold's Font's website, fonts purchased directly from Harold's Fonts come with an unlimited usage license. If that font was sold on Harold's Font's website prior to being placed on Font Bros,

It sounds like Harold's Fonts might be able to sue Font Brothers, it would be the satisfying dose of karma if they did get sued, not to mention the hilarious irony.

 

 

If Hasbro was smart, they'd file a counter-suit for Trademark violation claiming that Font Bros used their My Little Pony trademark in the marketing of the Generation B font without permission. If nothing else it'd enable them too get some really useful financial data from Font Bros in discovery to help tear apart their valuation.

And they could use it to send a message to other companies what will happen if they screw with them. As much as I don't like it sometimes you got to hit someone where it hurts to get them to stop.

[Trinitron Keys 89]

Hasbro has been around a long time, and with that comes lots of good lawyers and a strong legal team. I doubt a company as small as Font Brothers could end G4, at worst, it would just be a logo revamp ushered in at the start of a new season. Lawyers don't work cheap for businesses, and your business needs to have substantial income to bring them on board.

[simba86 1,541]

it will look bad on font bros because they knew and they let hasbro use it for years, and now all of a sudden they have a problem with it, 

[Photon Jet 5,489]

G4 isn't ending over this, it's a settlement grab. Stuff like this happens all the time.

 

There's an old adage in negotiations that whoever throws out the first number is going to get screwed. Same is true in lawsuits. When they file the complaint, they have to give the absolute largest number they think any court could possibly award them, otherwise they're risking a loss of money. After all, they don't have the financials from Hasbro yet, they don't know how much money has been made off the font, so the original complaint is a dartboard figure... something wildly high so that they can file the lawsuit and get to discovery and negotiation where they'll get a better idea of how much money they can grab.

 

Could the mistake cost Hasbro a couple million dollars if they truly used their font without obtaining the proper licensing? Sure. That's not going to shut down FIM though. At the very most, what Font Bros will get if they're able to prove Hasbro violated their copyright is some sort of reasonable compensation equal to an approximation of what profits the font itself brought Hasbro. That doesn't mean every dime the show ever made, that means a small fraction.

 

Hasbro on the other hand will shoot for what the licensing would have cost them if they did it properly in the first place, which is probably more realistically a few thousand dollars. Generally neither party wants to go to court because that costs a fortune, so they'll arrive at some number in the middle, fire whoever forgot to license the font, and call it a day.

 

That being said, that's assuming they even have a legitimate claim. Their licensing agreement on Font Bros actually does permit a lot of commercial usage with a standard license, including using a font for logos with just a normal $20 license. If Font Bros can't show usage in violation of the agreement, they won't get a cent.

 

And they'll have to show they actually do own the font, which is also going to be up in the air.  For one, Font Bros didn't make the font.  The font was made by a design company called Harolds Fonts who distributes their fonts through Font Bros. Under the licensing agreement on Harold's Font's website, fonts purchased directly from Harold's Fonts come with an unlimited usage license. If that font was sold on Harold's Font's website prior to being placed on Font Bros, then Font Bros will have to show it was in fact purchased through them or there will be a huge hole in their case. Even if they show that, the font itself is described as a derivative work. It says right on the product description that the font was inspired by the fonts used in the title sequences of The Parent Trap. They're going to have to show that they do in fact own the font that Hasbro used to make a valid copyright complaint.

 

End of the day, this isn't the death of Hasbro or Generation 4 or FiM. At the absolute worst, Hasbro will lose a bit of money. Accidental copyright violations happen, courts aren't out to destroy franchises over a font. The only person who should really be concerned about this is whoever chose that font for the logo without obtaining a license

 

 

 

If Hasbro was smart, they'd file a counter-suit for Trademark violation claiming that Font Bros used their My Little Pony trademark in the marketing of the Generation B font without permission. If nothing else it'd enable them too get some really useful financial data from Font Bros in discovery to help tear apart their valuation.

That'll sure put everypony's fears to rest. Thanks for explaining the situation to us.

[throwaway22212 37]

With all the evidence stated in this thread, it's easy to say Hasbro will win