About Fighting is Magic

[longgone 873]

I decided to write something 'bout the recent events. It's full of some my true feelings, and a bit of satire & overreactiveness. It's set to the IRA song Man Behind the Wire

 

 

 

 

Money-sucking business boys

Came to take away our joy

But everyone must stand and fight

Sound the call to arms!

 

‘Twas a Friday full of happy

To be ended a sweet dream

“Stop this or we’ll sue your butts off

Best regards, the Hasbro team”

 

See the outrage on the websites!

See the caps lock on the screen!

Everybody tryin’ to save it

How could Hasbro be so mean?

 

Money-sucking business boys

Came to take away our joy

But everyone must stand and fight

Sound the call to arms!

 

Hasbro have you lost your mind now?

Is there something you can’t see?

This fine game could raise the profits

It could give you more money

 

“Ah nay to that crap!” says ye firmly

“We got to enforce our rights”

I take the next thing you’ll do is

Take down videos with all might

Money-sucking business boys

Came to take away our joy

But everyone must stand and fight

Sound the call to arms!

 

Now men and woman of all sizes

Take out pens to write their word

A petition they plan to sign

For ‘tis mightier than the sword

But will it even be effective?

Can it get the point across?

I doubt it to be successful

Do not fret o’er such a loss

 

Money-sucking business boys

Came to take away our joy

But everyone must stand and fight

Sound the call to arms!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Veylon 255]

I kind of groan in resigned disgust any time I see a big fan project start up. Because this is how it always ends. Somebody (or, in this case, a team) who loves the franchise is going to throw however many hundreds of hours - and maybe a good chunk of money - into their magnum opus only to inevitably have it taken away some weeks or months down the line. SMBX, Chrono Resurrection, that Zelda movie; the list goes on. I don't hold much hope that Children of the Night will make it either.

 

The lesson here is, unless you've got actual, legally-binding permission to do a fan-project, do not do a fan project. It can only end in tears.

[O.S.U. 33]

@Veylon

 

Do not be mistaken.

 

Fans are NOT in the wrong here. The way the copyright laws are and how over-defensive any business is (for good reason), the flow of fan-made material is being looked at in the wrong light. With how the U.S. is, a country that got used to using the law to drive out competition and keeping only the 'strongest' in power, they just don't know how to take all of this. Yes we have had many fandoms, but none quite like this one.

 

We have to make a stand, we have to make it clear we are NOT doing anything wrong. We need a defense of our own and a level ground were we can see eye to eye with Hasbro and its gun-ho legal department.

Edited February 9, 2013 by OneStepUp

[HailthornX 47]

@Veylon

 

Do not be mistaken.

 

Fans are NOT in the wrong here. The way the copyright laws are and how over-defensive any business is (for good reason), the flow of fan-made material is being looked at in the wrong light. With how the U.S. is, a country that got used to using the law to drive out competition and keeping only the 'strongest' in power, they just don't know how to take all of this. Yes we have had many fandoms, but none quite like this one.

 

We have to make a stand, we have to make it clear we are NOT doing anything wrong. We need a defense of our own and a level ground were we can see eye to eye with Hasbro and its gun-ho legal department.

How are they wrong for protecting their IP? As the previous poster posted, this sort of thing isn't anything new. I've seen many get shut down.

[Crispy 5,563]

Quick repost from Tumblr on the subject.  Kyro found it.

 

 

Look, I don’t like this any more than the next fan but there is something you clearly do not understand.

 

The way copyright law is written, Hasbro is forced to do this or they risk losing their rights over the product. They are not doing this out of malice in an attempt to “destroy the fandom” they are doing this to protect their intellectual property.

 

Fighting is Magic has gotten too big, it’s one of the potential headliners at the largest fighting game expo in the world and it has turned many a head in the games industry as to it’s popularity. If the people who monitor and control the PRO-IP act catch on to this it will be called into question whether Hasbro will be allowed to maintain rights to My Little Pony or not.

 

And that has already happened once. Hasbro lost the rights to nearly all of the G1 Ponies save Applejack and Pinkie Pie through a technicality in copyright law which allowed one of their partner companies to metaphorically sweep the rug from under Hasbro’s feet.

 

I don’t pretend to be an expert on IP law, but I know that is what they are doing here because I’ve seen it done before many a time. For example, Blizzard once had to force a Starcraft 2 MOD to cease production until an arrangement could be made because they believed that it was a fangame being made outside their engine. They had to do that to protect their IP, little things can slip under the radar but once something gets too big large companies are quite literally forced into doing this.

 

You guys can moan and complain about them trying to “destroy the fandom” all you want but that is clearly not their intent here, literally the only thing that would allow this project to carry on production would be if Hasbro took the team on and made it an official, licensed game.

 

And even then production would need to be re-started because you can’t use the engine they built the game on for commercial purposes.

 

I’m as sad as you are to see this game go, but I’m sorry, your petition will do nothing to change Hasbro’s mind. They had no choice but to do this, and they will continue to do it to any project that gets large enough to be a threat to their IP rights.

Edited February 9, 2013 by Crispy

[O.S.U. 33]

How are they wrong for protecting their IP? As the previous poster posted, this sort of thing isn't anything new. I've seen many get shut down.

Art is Free. I'll keep saying it over and over again and it'll never get old.

Nothing wrong with being protective, but stomping out creativity is wrong.

 

If you've seen it happen so many times before, have you not felt bitter about it? Has it not felt awkward in the least? Have you not gotten upset when something you've worked so hard on, fails in one way or another or just doesn't even get finished because someone else feels 'your' in the wrong for doing what your doing?

 

We create MLP fan-art because we love the show, and we love those who've brought it to us, even if we have mixed feelings about their methods. We create because its what we do. Creativity is a gift not commonly shared with much else on this rock we live on. It shouldn't be broken so easily. All im saying is, we need some kind of defense against 'their' defense. See what i mean? Something that lets us be fans.. lets us be creative.

Edited February 9, 2013 by OneStepUp

[Veylon 255]

 

We have to make a stand, we have to make it clear we are NOT doing anything wrong. We need a defense of our own and a level ground were we can see eye to eye with Hasbro and its gun-ho legal department.

There is such a ground; it's in the courtroom. But, as the infringers, it's up to the fans to prove their case, not Hasbro. Hasbro is basically going to say "this is my thing, you have no right to it." What counter-argument do you have that wouldn't harm your rights to your things?

 

The only way that fan works can have legal standing is if they are paying a licensing fee to the franchise owner, the same as company-produced works. Gameloft did this. The Fighting is Magic team could've contacted Hasbro, run a kickstarter, and gotten a license free and clear.

 

Going bigger, fans as a whole could run a kickstarter, buy the entire franchise, and release it into the public domain. There wouldn't be any legal barriers then.

 

One of the perils of being a fan of something that someone else owns is that ultimately you have no power over it.

[Doctor-Whooves 288]

I'm only worried about Double Rainboom. People have been trying as hard as possible to get that episode up, and it would be terrible if Hasbro shut it down.

[Harmonic Revelations 8,835]

I kind of groan in resigned disgust any time I see a big fan project start up. Because this is how it always ends. Somebody (or, in this case, a team) who loves the franchise is going to throw however many hundreds of hours - and maybe a good chunk of money - into their magnum opus only to inevitably have it taken away some weeks or months down the line. SMBX, Chrono Resurrection, that Zelda movie; the list goes on. I don't hold much hope that Children of the Night will make it either.

 

The lesson here is, unless you've got actual, legally-binding permission to do a fan-project, do not do a fan project. It can only end in tears.

Black Mesa made it all the way through, and even got Steam Greenlight. Do you even know what this means? It means that Valve is officially the best company ever.

[Betez 1,734]

Very nice song, ~HI~. I had never actually heard of Fighting Is Magic until a few days ago, and I'm still a little confused as to what it is. However, it does suck that Hasbro ruined this. But it seems like it wasn't gonna make much more progress anyway, since I thought one of the guys on the development team quit or something.

[HailthornX 47]

Art is Free. I'll keep saying it over and over again and it'll never get old.

Nothing wrong with being protective, but stomping out creativity is wrong.

 

If you've seen it happen so many times before, have you not felt bitter about it? Has it not felt awkward in the least? Have you not gotten upset when something you've worked so hard on, fails in one way or another or just doesn't even get finished because someone else feels 'your' in the wrong for doing what your doing?

 

We create MLP fan-art because we love the show, and we love those who've brought it to us, even if we have mixed feelings about their methods. We create because its what we do. Creativity is a gift not commonly shared with much else on this rock we live on. It shouldn't be broken so easily. All im saying is, we need some kind of defense against 'their' defense. See what i mean? Something that lets us be fans.. lets us be creative.

And I'll say it again, you're using someone else's ideas and concepts for your "art." Fighting is Magic is one of those things that must have been considered an infringement on the IP. As with all other fan made games. But I don't see them telling you you can't draw, make music, ect.

 

If I was working hard on anything, I'd make sure it was something original. Then nobody can take it away. And you can still be creative without using someone else's IP. Nobody is trying to stamp out TRUE creativity.

 

Did I like how Fighting is Magic looked? You bet. I thought it would have been great when finished. But at the same time, I'm not going to blame Hasbro for protecting something they rightfully own nor would I personally put so much work into something that could be taken away.

 

This is my objective take on it.

[O.S.U. 33]

gah, i wish i had more time in the day for this stuff...

 

@Veylon and HailthornX: Don't get me wrong, im not saying Hasbro doesn't have the right to protect what it owns. Actually, im very much in favor for it. In fact id like for them to protect it. And at the same time, i want fans to be able to be fans and enjoy creating what they would like without the fear of Hasbro or anyone else saying they can't do it because its not theirs.

 

I feel that Hasbro's actions (even though completely by the book and in all well intent) a bit more of an abuse of the law to stamp out what they will never be able to do. Think about it.. if Hasbro got into the works of making a MLP fighting game, would it even be worth playing? *points at Racing is Magic*

 

Even if the original content belongs to someone else via copyright, Fans still have freedom of speech and press. Mane6 expressed themselves through 'Fighting is Magic' and made it very clear to not claim any profit. Even if they didn't follow the book word for word (and can you blame them? Not many people know every single law, clause, paragraph, and line about the inner workings to this sort of thing), they should be allowed a better defense then to just give up because Hasbro's Legal department got there jimmies in a rustle.

 

As much as i would like to keep trying to put my hoof in my mouth here. I can't say im very knowledgeable about any of this. I don't intend to keep it that way either. I also don't intend to make any enemies here. I understood very well before i joined here that everyone sees things differently and your voice is just as important as my own. I also suck at explaining myself clearly and its hard for me to get my point across.

 

Id much rather make a friend and make a difference. I have a lot of research to do, and not enough time to do any of it. Im considering going on vacation from work just so i can jump into this stuff and really get my words right.

 

You both alright with me going on my little tirade?

[Fhaolan 4,483]

As a note, Fighting is Magic was probably specifically targeted by Gameloft, not Hasbro itself. Gameloft has the video game license for MLP. From their perspective if they didn't bring Fighting is Magic to Hasbro's attention officially as a trademark-infringing work, then they risked loosing that license due to... I can't remember the legal term but a company I worked for once got bit by it... 'failing to exploit the license to it's fullest extent'. Basically the Mane6 group would prove that Gameloft fumbled the ball by grabbing a market share (free or not), and Hasbro would pull their license. Hasbro would then be in a poor position to make money off of that license because they wouldn't be able to get anything out of Mane6 as a not-for-profit. So for Gameloft, convincing Hasbro to sent the Cease & Desist is a lot easier that trying to beat Fighting is Magic to the market with a similar game.