My Little Pony: Fighting Is Magic

[O.S.U. 33]

Hey guys, im back. Woke up to all this and spent the whole day at work absolutely RABID. Im really willing to fight this matter 120%

 

There's nothing that hits home more then seeing something amazing get lobotomized by stupid legal actions. Especially when you have a group who put all their heart into making it.

 

If there's anything I understand about the Law, is that its filled with loop holes. If it wasn't, there would be no need for lawyers. The important part is to never give up hope, and find your own way to play by the rules. Lauren's on the right track and i got a few more ideas. The only problem is getting a hold of the DEV team and finding out EXACTLY what the C&D order stated. We gotta Analyze the 'buck' out of it before any action should be made, ESPECIALLY abiding by it.

 

@Kamil: Petition signed!

 

p.s. DONT GIVE UP MANE6, WE ARE ALL HERE FOR YOU!! FLUTTER ON!!!

Edited February 9, 2013 by OneStepUp

[RaptorART 258]

like everyone else said...really surprise it took em this long to send in a C&D order

I was looking forward to this game more than some Xbox 360 titles to be honest

 

I have some faith that Mane 6 will figure something out

though it sucks to have 2 years go down the drain like that

 

I'm all for making "creature designs" and sending them in to Mane 6 to use

gonna draw some stuff up once i get in my new PC

they have the physics figured out

the only part will be to re-draw everything from scratch if they decide to do something "else"

 

creatures I'm thinking about would be like this

or maybe a Torch hound...

 

 

 

Edited February 9, 2013 by RaptorART

[GoldenShield 46]

As I've been parroting ever since I heard about this, if you look up American copyright laws and take a look at fair use laws in regard to copyright you will find that there is a very strong defense for Fighting is Magic due to it's nature as a non-profit game. I'm not going to go into specifics because I've already done that a few times today explaining it to other people and it is unbelievably tedious to write over and over again. Seriously, this can be easily fought and won if we just try.

[Shift 4,272]

And it was right after Flutters theme came out ;.;

 

As GoldenSheild said, we need to band together. This battle can be easily fought, and it appears GoldenSheild has some remarks on why Fighting is Magic can continue.

[Freewave 1,145]

Maybe they can modify the game so it is a true parody, change the names and colors of the characters. They might have a definite right to exist for non-profit parody then. But again they've been given a cease & desist letter so this is a legal matter now and they might not want to deal with financial repercussions. Don't know if Hasbro is interested in obtaining this release as is for free (much like The Rolling Stones kept ALL the profits for Bittersweet Symphony), allowing a modification, or squashing it so it never sees the light of day. Balls in Hasbro's court but we can let them know that we're not happy with their decision. If they changed Derpy's voice because of a few outraged mothers then they may reconsider if we let them know we aren't happy either. Please represent ourselves well and don't flip out though. Derpygate brought out too much emotion and we just need to avoid being childish about how we react.

 

 

Edited February 9, 2013 by Freewave

[Feather Spiral 1,892]

I personally see no reason to boycott them over this. I'm not going to stop enjoying something I like because of this. Yes I was very much looking forward to the true release of the game, but since it was never released in the end nothing has changed other than Mane6 wasted a lot of time and there will be a lot of disappointed fans.

 

The reasoning isn't "I'll stop enjoying stuff sold by jerks", but rather "you don't care for my feelings and your fans' efforts, I don't care for your merchandise and financial needs".

I also get the feeling you're underestimating the amplitude of this project. It wasn't just "a lot of time" it took, but also keen observation and attention to detail so each character fits the canon, a lot of coding, plenty of testing and fixing, BGMs and effects...

It's like saying Lord of the Rings or Okami or Star Trek took a lot of time, and leaving it at that. It's true on its own, but if you say "if it hadn't come out, nothing would've changed except the wasted time", you're dead wrong.

 

Production of this game has been public knowledge for basically a year now. I find it way to coincedental that the plug is pulled on it just when Hasbro announces it has a new MLP marketing campaign in the works.

Oh.

OOOOOH

So THAT's what it's all about.

 

Sad part is, since they're a company that draws profit from the franchise, they can afford better lawyers to lie for them. As opposed to the Mane6, whose financial situation I'm unaware of but surely isn't so rich.

[khaine21x3 789]

SO...anyone agree that we should lobby governments to financially destroy the CEO and shareholders of Hasbro?

 

We could even take it up a notch and lobby all governments outside US/EU to declare them as international terrorists and lobby to have them extradited to countries where they can face a decade or two in prison.

 

am i kidding? No

[AndyDash 5]

Maybe Mane6 should open a kick starter to help them get a good lawyer. I guarantee that us fans of Fighting is Magic would give them some financial support.

[khaine21x3 789]

Maybe Mane6 should open a kick starter to help them get a good lawyer. I guarantee that us fans of Fighting is Magic would give them some financial support.

 

They can't win because the law isn't on their side but they could just upload it on foreign soil to foriegn servers so Hasbro can't do anything about it.

 

That makes me think of another way we could pressure them into bending over -

 

1.starting to use their IP and unauthorized mass production of merchandise in countries where they have no control then making sure those items lands in America and compete with their products

 

2.90 minute long adult oriented pony movie with clop scenes posted on streaming servers based on countries they can't do DMCA takedowns on.This will severely damage their reputation as being a corporation catering to little girls and he MLP brand so they will want to negotiate.

 

Those two are less radical methods that will require no lobbying.

Edited February 10, 2013 by khaine21x3

[Feather Spiral 1,892]

less radical methods

Allow me to doubt that description, sir.

 

And uh, why are people starting to hate on every single Hasbro employee in existence? It's not like they had a discussion within the company and reached a complete consensus.

 

*brony community*

*talking about seriously harming a company's employees*

...really? <_<

[khaine21x3 789]

@@Feather Spiral,

 

I didn't say anything about harming the employees, you probably confused me with members of 4 chan or something.How do you know it's not the Hasbro CEO and shareholders who are responsible?

 

There are lots of LEGAL way we can hurt their pockets and make sure they end up homeless.

[Millfox 28]

It seems there are several petitions running right now. This is probably not that good since it spreads resources. Link to the other one. 

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/526/847/063/allow-the-continuation-of-the-development-of-mane6s-mlp-fighting-is-magic/#13605056723132&action=fb_connect&fb_id=0

[Feather Spiral 1,892]

I didn't say anything about harming the employees, you probably confused me with members of 4 chan or something.How do you know it's not the Hasbro CEO and shareholders who are responsible?

I know, that's why I said "people" and not "you". If you look at other replies, you'll notice there are some that overtly express hatred of all Hasbro employees. Edited February 10, 2013 by Feather Spiral

[Soundgarden 2,758]

Wow, Hasbro are being douchebags here, not only do they kill this whole project at the ending stage of development but for what reason? Legal issues? Do Hasbro loose anything on this game being released? It's 100% free, so I don't see why Hasbro should kill this project

[Thunderbolt 35]

I'm throwing the bullshit flag on Hasbro. The Game designers spent 2 years working on the non-profit game, hear the term "non-profit"? They aren't making any money off of this, so I don't see why after 2 years of work on the game does Hasbro order the team to cease and desist. 

[RaptorART 258]

I think some of you are missing the point by quite a bit here

ok let me explain the simple version of why this happened

there are 2 main reasons

 

1. Game got to big and everyone knew about it thanks to EVO

2. regardless of "non-profit" its Hasbro's characters, and those characters are fighting in a semi-violent game

so a show geared at little girls, having a 2d super popular fighter..anyone else see why now?

its not that complicated

 

now then, you could probably KEEP the game "IF" you were to change the appearance and "names" of the characters

the game isn't totally a lost cause, but to continue onward you would have to do some MAJOR TWEAKING

[Millfox 28]

There's a ton of other places and content which is WAY more inappropriate, that they're not trying to take down. Hasbro legal department is just being dicks. Perhaps they're doing it on purpose. 

[Prismatic 49]

When I first heard about this game I was not really very content with the notion.  Granted the first thing that came to mind was SEGA's Sonic the Fighters in if I am not mistaken the reason why it was not widely released in the states was because SEGA of America felt that it would damage Sonic's image.  That and even outside of StF how SoA does things is a bit different of Sonic's character than SEGA of Japan.  Which is why I felt that Fighting is Magic to be a bad premise because the idea of ponies beating either other up (even if some are used in the show itself albeit for a different context) doesn't really bode well with the image Hasbro wishes to represent.

 

The other consideration I had was there are many famous bronies that like to plaster their public image on the pony brand.  I always felt that while there is nothing wrong with creating games, fan art, music and all if someone is trying to make themselves a staple of the fandom there is always going to be some consequences of it.  Then again I am a quiet pony.

 

Edit: Forgot to mention I was not fond of how the project was managed but I'll probably elaborate on that later.

Edited February 10, 2013 by Prismatic

[Sean Skyhawk 12]

Not to divert the topic, but looking at this all, well suffice it that it's not the first time I've heard of stuff like this.

 

We magicians faced a similar issue with the US Playing Card Company a couple of years back. Basically, the Bicycle Back design is also held under similar trademark rights by its parent company, much as the characters and setting of "Fighting is Magic" are to Hasbro.

What this essentially meant was a stipulation that the back design and other elements could no longer be modified for commercial purposes. Such as, you can't go to PS and make a rainbow version of the Bicycle Rider Back design for the purposes of a new product. THAT led to a lot of butthurt from the magic community, since many effects relied on the use of gaff designs that did JUST THAT. One example would be Paul Harris' effect, Twilight Angels, seen

:

You can see how much outrage this caused. One company that should have been hit hard would have been Ellusionist, and seeing that they haven't received C&D's yet from the USPCC for their Red Gaff and Ultragaff Decks (which thrive off of this principle alone), let alone their entire original line of playing cards*, I can only assume they were able to make a deal with their sponsors to legally circumvent the regulations. Big pockets, I assume.

As for other companies, this was quite a blow for a couple of months. Not to mention... at around the same time, the company was moving from Cincinnati to Erlanger in Kentucky, just across the river, leading to the hiatus in a LOT of magician-popular lines of decks such as Tally-Hos. And we had changes in box design, the short-lived pip "upgrades", cessation of producing standardised gaffs such as double-backs and the like? Bronies, I feel your pain, I witnessed similar things in my field even before MLP became popular.

Though there was some hope. Two months before MLP Season 1 came out, the USPCC, having worked with greats like Richard Turner, Paul Harris, and others, released a new deck design that not only satisfied our niche demographic, but also was free from any future possibility of trademark issues. This was the Bicycle 809 Mandolin Back with Traditional Cut cards. I will confess... I thought the design looked a little... girly for my tastes, though the quality far outstripped the cards in the common market. Then again, who am I to judge? I watch cartoon ponies now and have pony toys. Ironic...

 

See for yourself.

I think what we see here might be a bit of a clue as to what would happen in the near future. Though I don't have the schadenfreude to point at the bronydom and go like "HA! At least OUR sponsors never set their army of lawyers against us!" I can sort of be thankful it didn't go this far for us magicians.

 

Nonetheless, the magic community has even less leverage over the USPCC's PR than you do for Hasbro's. That even then such a solution can be found says a lot. And for us bronies, I also think the situation could be resolved relatively cleanly. Because of this popularity and the resulting power that comes with it, I am pretty confident that we as a whole have if we stand together on this issue, I still hold onto the hope that a similar resolution can be made concerning Mane6, FiiM, and this whole legal battle... who knows? Perhaps Hasbro can follow in the USPCC's footsteps and make a fair compromise for once. Because what I've seen in these comments and those in other places hint at one feasible option being the very same one that led to the creation of the licensed Bicycle Mandolin backs.

Well, signing off now

The Peregrine Skyhawk,
about.me/skyhawkillusions

P.S. My take on the Twilicorn manufactroversy? Two words: Twilight Angels.

 

PPS: Oh, and having seen Lauren's take on the situation and subsequent offer, that essentially makes her our, well, Paul Harris to use to analogy. It definitely helps that great women and men can reach out to help even the meekest of the disenfranchised

_{*though I did notice they've recently eschewed traditional designs and focused more on their newer original patterns starting from Arcane, then Artifice, Infinity, Sultan Republic, Fathom, and now LTD Blue, as opposed to their classics like the Black Tiger, Ghost, Viper, 1800 and Masters/Shadow Masters line.}

Edited February 11, 2013 by Sean Skyhawk

[Feather Spiral 1,892]

um

 

himanuts mentioned a commercial campaign.

Would you say the C&D order was issued because Hasbro's financial department thought it might compete with a paid service they made?

 

They might decide to not be the corporate bastards we think they are, and take it back after their own thing is done.

Not very likely, but there's still this flicker of hope.

 

so a show geared at little girls, having a 2d super popular fighter..anyone else see why now?

because the idea of ponies beating either other up (even if some are used in the show itself albeit for a different context) doesn't really bode well with the image Hasbro wishes to represent.

I don't see how that is a valid point. Unless you can point out gaming/cartoon creepypastas (Tails Doll, Ben Drowned, Squidward's Suicide...) or saucy/gory fanfics/games/movies (Cupcakes, Shed.mov, Story of the Blanks...) being removed, because all of that can be said to "hurt the companies' images". And honestly, I think that's

content which is WAY more inappropriate, that they're not trying to take down.

Edited February 11, 2013 by Feather Spiral

[Hakureimiko 96]

People who are saying petitions don't work. Well sometimes they do, for example we were able to get Xenoblade to come to the states because of petitions.

[khaine21x3 789]

People who are saying petitions don't work. Well sometimes they do, for example we were able to get Xenoblade to come to the states because of petitions.

 

Try getting zun to put touhou on steam trolololo.I think that's a different case since the petition probably shows that there is a potential market for the product outside japan, allowing fighting is magic to go on doesn't make hasbro any profit and it might damage their toy sales that are meant for 6 year old girls.

[Tiina Brown 67]

It do seem like it was the charity fundraiser to get accepted as an added game in that ... (forgotten its name) massive fighting game tournament .... that ended up as the last straw.

 

I say, Roll with the punch, before the cease and desist, the Mane6 said in a comment about above mentioned fundraiser, that even if they would get forced to C&D, like they now was, they now knew they could do it.

Even Fyre-Flye(is that the right spelling?) Lauren Faust herself seems interested in making oc's especially for a revised version of the game, probably knowing that this is the best way, currently.

 

I would not mind lending my OC to a new version (Ninja, weaker than AJ but also more agile, can shoot fireworks against opponent, likes grabs, and use smoke to disappear and attack from below or above. Outside of Fight, likes singing, dancing, having fun ... but also studying magic?)

 

I suggest that the new version has backgrounds and at least a few characters from well-known fan fiction and such, and also a few well-known fan-ocs ....

I'd suggest places like .... i keep forgetting the names! ... someplace in Fallout: Equestria, Fluttershy's SHED ... with "Fluttershed" as a hidden character, perhaps? .... and a Ponyhammer environment too, of course

I'm certain you can think of more.

Keep supporting the remains of the Mane6 now, ok?

*cheering*

O      O

I -_- I  O___ -_- O  O -_-___O

Edited February 11, 2013 by Tiina Brown

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

I wouldn't mind lending my primary OC to help. I might just have to turn him down just a bit. If not, then I could lend my secondary. 

[Haven Celestii 9,385]

I think some of you are missing the point by quite a bit here

ok let me explain the simple version of why this happened

there are 2 main reasons

 

1. Game got to big and everyone knew about it thanks to EVO

2. regardless of "non-profit" its Hasbro's characters, and those characters are fighting in a semi-violent game

so a show geared at little girls, having a 2d super popular fighter..anyone else see why now?

its not that complicated

 

now then, you could probably KEEP the game "IF" you were to change the appearance and "names" of the characters

the game isn't totally a lost cause, but to continue onward you would have to do some MAJOR TWEAKING

Im not getting why everyone points at EVO as having something to do with this.

 

Yes, they just so happened to be planning on being at it when it happened, but they already knew about it I'm sure considering how talked about is been. EVO was just a random happening that happened to be placed at the same time.

And it's been decently big for a while. I mean, they hype for it is kinda ridiculous for it not to be.