Are my projects going to be destroyed by Hasbro?

[Zacharias 191]

Learning about the execution of the Fighting is Magic project made me really upset for many reasons other than feeling pissed that now all the work of those people has been thrown into the thrash.

I'm really concerned that this might happen to all the projects I'm participating in as well, and I need your advice on what I should do if anything...

 

The first project is my own. It's basically turning an old NES rom file into a Pony fangame to be played on emulators (or on an actual console if you own a NES PowerPak) and I never wanted to charge for it. I've spent more than a year and a half on it, and now I could be told to delete it or go to jail at any moment?

 

The second project is a Sonic-esque fangame that's being developed in Gamemaker 9. I'm in charge of the music and sound effects for this one. This game is going to be completely free as well.

 

The third project is a Visual novel homebrew for the Sega Genesis where I'm also in charge of the sound design. We're planning to release two separate versions of this once it's done. There's going to be a ROM file to be played on emulators (or flash carts if you own one) and obviously this is going to be free.

But we also want to give a chance to those who would like to own our game as a real Genesis cartridge, however we'd have to charge for this because building a working cartridge requires a couple tools. It needs donor cartridges to be "sacrificed" as well as EPROM chips to burn the game on, not to mention the shipping (I mean REAL shipping, gosh...) and we're not a charity and we're not rich to spend on who knows how many cartridges ourselves. But you get the point. We don't want to charge for the software or its contents (that's why there's going to be a ROM file released), only the production of the cartridge itself, and of course, you wouldn't have to order a cartridge to play the game in the first place...

 

So do you think all these will be shut down as soon as the gain a little bit of popularity?

Edited February 9, 2013 by Zacharias

[lardbobobo 1,591]

Bah, what Hasbro has done is nothing more than bullying. But ooooh if they don't get rid of it they could lose their trademark waaah, no they won't. If it gains popularity there's always a chance that Hasbro's gonna come up and try to close it, but if you're feeling particularly ballsy you could actually tell them to piss off and if you really want to be safe you could just have the files hosted overseas, probably somewhere where they don't care about copyright yet.

 

Stop brohoofing this. As much as I hate to admit it, I was wrong.

Edited February 10, 2013 by Lord Bababa

[PonyEcho 1,610]

:epicfacehoof:

 

Can we stop this notion that Hasbro stomp there hooves on everything

 

Youtube and Hasbro are responsible for MLP episodes being take down because of copy right and people being able to profit and Mane6 the team behind fighting is magic violated terms which enabled Hasbro to issue the cease and desist.

 

I mean a company trying to not get ripped off by fan who want nothing more then to get special treatment from them over actual laws. shocking

You are free to go about your project but any plans to profit from it will get you shut down and it would be your own fault if that happens.

 

PonyEcho out  

Edited February 9, 2013 by PonyEcho

[Zacharias 191]

Bah, what Hasbro has done is nothing more than bullying. But ooooh if they don't get rid of it they could lose their trademark waaah, no they won't. If it gains popularity there's always a chance that Hasbro's gonna come up and try to close it, but if you're feeling particularly ballsy you could actually tell them to piss off and if you really want to be safe you could just have the files hosted overseas, probably somewhere where they don't care about copyright yet.

Well I live in Central Europe and there has only ever been a horrible dub of the show on TV for about two weeks on a kids channel and couple G1 looking toys, but not much else... so I'm not sure really.

[Killian Jones 2,653]

If you didn't get a license and Hasbro discovered your project, they have no other choice. Failing to protect their trademark of My Little Pony or any of it's characters in video games will result in them losing the trademark alltogether. They have to tell you to cease and desist, cause if they don't they themselves lose control over who makes My Little Pony games.

 

And guess what, Bethesda can make a The Elder Scrolls: My Little Pony game if they wanted to, cause the trademark for My Little Pony is in the public domain at that point.

 

Hasbro had to defend their rights.

 

If you truly want to hate anyone, hate America's trademark law. It is archaic and forces these situations.

[lardbobobo 1,591]

If you didn't get a license and Hasbro discovered your project, they have no other choice. Failing to protect their trademark of My Little Pony or any of it's characters in video games will result in them losing the trademark alltogether.

That's not true. I've talked with lawyers about this in the past and have got involved in some legal shit regarding youtube videos awhile back. They aren't going to lose their trademark.

 

That being said, if it's for profit that's another story but for nonprofit nope.

[Leafeon 2,701]

Bah, what Hasbro has done is nothing more than bullying. But ooooh if they don't get rid of it they could lose their trademark waaah, no they won't. If it gains popularity there's always a chance that Hasbro's gonna come up and try to close it, but if you're feeling particularly ballsy you could actually tell them to piss off and if you really want to be safe you could just have the files hosted overseas, probably somewhere where they don't care about copyright yet.

*This.

 

All the work should be protected under a law that states all parodies are okay. However, creative commons is stupid. Anything well known may be considered not a parody, and can be terminated, unless the owners go to court.

[Killian Jones 2,653]

That's not true. I've talked with lawyers about this in the past and have got involved in some legal shit regarding youtube videos awhile back. They aren't going to lose their trademark.

 

That being said, if it's for profit that's another story but for nonprofit nope.

 

Copyright and trademark are different, copyright law has to do with the using materials in other works. Even if it is derivative and doesn't use the complete thing, like using MLP Songs in a YouTube video.

 

Trademark has more to do with expanding IP rather then using existing works.

 

Now from what i understand, certain kinds of trademarks are protected in different ways. And to be fair, this is a similar case to Bethesda vs Mojang involving The Elder Scrolls being mistaken with Scrolls. 

 

I am not saying the situation is screwed, but it is dire. Because working out an agreement at this stage is difficult.

 

Also remember, nonprofit doesn't matter, even if you profile yourself as nonprofit, you are still selling a product, albeit for free. It remains a product, and Trademark law doesn't specify anything on profit vs nonprofit.

[lardbobobo 1,591]

Copyright and trademark are different,

This is exactly what the lawyer told me and this is one of the reasons I was talking with him to begin with. What Hasbro has done is nothing more than bullying, and further more if they really wanted to protect their trademark they should go after all the profit sites that offer pony porn.

 

-edit-

 

Actually you know what, trademark law and copyright law are insane and you might have a point regarding this. That being said, I think it's time for a change and the only way this is going to happen is if we fight for it.

Edited February 9, 2013 by Lord Bababa

[kirbyboi 587]

Hey, don'y worry about it. They look good, and I don't think Hasbro gonna patrol the internet searching for things to remove. So, just carry on with your projects! Just be sure to give copyright to Hasbro, and I think you'll be fine.

[Killian Jones 2,653]

This is exactly what the lawyer told me and this is one of the reasons I was talking with him to begin with. What Hasbro has done is nothing more than bullying, and further more if they really wanted to protect their trademark they should go after all the profit sites that offer pony porn.

If you want this to happen, you should make Hasbro acutely aware that pony porn is being sold for profit directly from users. To be fair, the only reason Mane6 wasn't hammered down in the first place was probably because Hasbro tried looking the other way.

 

The sudden departure of two staff members may not be coincidence. It may be that Mane6 brought too much attention to themselves without having a licence, and now they paid the price. Any place without one can potentially get shut down, if Hasbro's hand is forced to act.

 

Hasbro really isn't bullying, given how much leniency they have given the fandom in the past. Allowing the episodes to be shared on YouTube. They aren't as evil as you might think, law departments and the law kind of is.

 

And I will remain by the point, this whole situation could have been avoided had they gotten a licence. EFN has a licence and cannot be C&D this way. 

[lardbobobo 1,591]

Alright Tich, I really hate admitting defeat but you got me this time. Well played.

 

I think it's time for there to be a change with copyright and trademark laws, however. 

[Killian Jones 2,653]

Alright Tich, I really hate admitting defeat but you got me this time. Well played.

 

I think it's time for there to be a change with copyright and trademark laws, however. 

I cannot agree more with this. 

 

Although it must be said, given the leniency of Hasbro, they could make acquiring a licence a little bit more straightforward as well. It wouldn't hurt them as much. And it would possibly lift so many things from this grey zone.

[Staticthor Draconus 958]

Learning about the execution of the Fighting is Magic project made me really upset for many reasons other than feeling pissed that now all the work of those people has been thrown into the thrash.

I'm really concerned that this might happen to all the projects I'm participating in as well, and I need your advice on what I should do if anything...

 

The first project is my own. It's basically turning an old NES rom file into a Pony fangame to be played on emulators (or on an actual console if you own a NES PowerPak) and I never wanted to charge for it. I've spent more than a year and a half on it, and now I could be told to delete it or go to jail at any moment?

 

The second project is a Sonic-esque fangame that's being developed in Gamemaker 9. I'm in charge of the music and sound effects for this one. This game is going to be completely free as well.

 

The third project is a Visual novel homebrew for the Sega Genesis where I'm also in charge of the sound design. We're planning to release two separate versions of this once it's done. There's going to be a ROM file to be played on emulators (or flash carts if you own one) and obviously this is going to be free.

But we also want to give a chance to those who would like to own our game as a real Genesis cartridge, however we'd have to charge for this because building a working cartridge requires a couple tools. It needs donor cartridges to be "sacrificed" as well as EPROM chips to burn the game on, not to mention the shipping (I mean REAL shipping, gosh...) and we're not a charity and we're not rich to spend on who knows how many cartridges ourselves. But you get the point. We don't want to charge for the software or its contents (that's why there's going to be a ROM file released), only the production of the cartridge itself, and of course, you wouldn't have to order a cartridge to play the game in the first place...

 

So do you think all these will be shut down as soon as the gain a little bit of popularity?

i have only 1 thing to say to you

ROW ROW, FIGHT THE POWER

 

 

ITS JUST HASBRO BEING HASBRO, THEY FEAR THAT THE MANY COMPUTER SAVY GENIUSES WE HAVE COULD PUT THEM OUT OF BUISNESS, THEY WILL JUST HAVE TO FACE FACTS THAT IF IT ENDS UP ON THE INTERNET, ANYPONY WILL BE ABLE TO DO WHATEVER THEY WANT WITH IT. I CAN BET YOU THAT SEVERAL FELLOW BRONIES AND PEGASISTERS ARE CURRENTLY WORKING WHERE MANE6 LEFT OFF. SO I SCREAM AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS

ROW ROW, FIGHT THE POWER

[Zacharias 191]

Ok, so I'm basically bucked either way...maybe I should just stop wasting my time right now then and never do anything creative about anything. (I also had an idea about trying to "resurrect" the Crash Bandicoot series with a fangame but I guess not)

[Shanks 10,811]

Fighting is Magic is one of the few cases in which I have seen Hasbro actually issue a cease and desist and I have heard people on here say that it is because if Hasbro didn't issue the cease and desist that it would cause them to lose their trademark which is very confusing to me. Can someone explain why they would lose their trademark if they didn't take action over Fighting is Magic but how they have not already lost that with how many other numerous fanworks they could have taken against against but didn't? I have done some research about copywrite laws and trademarks but have not run into a situation like this so any explanation from someone who knows a bit more about this than me would be appreciated. Is there some kind of bogus loophole in copywrite or trademark law that does this because that is what it is sounding like?

[Staticthor Draconus 958]

Ok, so I'm basically bucked either way...maybe I should just stop wasting my time right now then and never do anything creative about anything. (I also had an idea about trying to "resurrect" the Crash Bandicoot series with a fangame but I guess not)

QUITTERS NEVER PROSPER

 

announcing it online is where you mess up, if you keep it secret, it stays safe

plus im pretty sure crash bandicoot is no-longer copyrighted

[Prismatic 49]

The way I felt about it was that the Mane6 was really bringing too much attention to themselves solely based it was an MLP game (as Faust tweeted last night she was more than helpful in wanting to come up with a new slew of characters for their game).  I've mostly felt that it was the only 'thing' that made FiM what it turned about to was ponies.  One of those cases to where if it didn't have ponies it would be just any old fighting game.

 

Nonetheless as long as one isn't trying to make a 'fan project look official' and just as a small single pony project I would guess it would work but it's risky.

 

Anyways, I'm OK with what Hasbro did.

Edited February 9, 2013 by Prismatic

[Shift 4,271]

Hasbro only stomps it's hoof if you don't say that MLP is owned by Hasbro and you own nothing.

 

So just say that and your fine.

 

Yesterday there was a huge uproar about this, so if you have anymore questions just go to the last few pages of MLP: Fighting is Magic and C'mon bronies, *insert rest of title here*.

[GoldenShield 46]

Actually, there is a great argument for fair use as far as Fighting is Magic goes since it's a non-profit game that doesn't infringe on Hasbro's existing ability to exploit their original work (the show) and extends the original work by being a game (it extends it because Hasbro haven't made a MLP: FiM based game) as well as not harming any future prospects for Hasbro to market a game of their own because Hasbro never will and have no plans of making a 2D fighter of their own. It's just such a difficult process to fight a large company like Hasbro on the issue, especially when you're a small group of people with little resources other than your own talent like the Mane6 are.

 

As for your projects, as long as they aren't anything big Hasbro won't care and you will be fine (take a look at all of the other, smaller Fan-Made games that have been released by people no problem). The only reason that this one was hassled by those corporate jerks is that it drew too much attention to itself because it was such an impressive and big project. From what I've heard of your project ideas, I doubt you will suffer any problems unless they draw an astounding amount of publicity like Fighting is Magic did.

[Bucky McGillyCuddy 956]

I didn't realize that Fighting is Magic was canned. That's quite sad news and i imagine the developers are pretty devastated. It actually looked like a really well built game. To bad they didn't 'lose' a copy soon after getting the C&D letter. 

Edited February 9, 2013 by Bucky_McGillycuddy

[Freewave 1,145]

Biggest problem with Mane6 is they put out a superior product that looks like an official release, got it featured in a game magazine before it was completed, it's against the point of Hasbro's product (fighting vs friendhsip is magic), i believe they also sought funding, the characters are direct replicas and not parodies, and it could threaten their Hasbro's future video game possibilities and how they show off themsleves. If you make something that's not big and transparent you should be fine, Mane6 took too many chance with what they did. I somewhat don't blame Hasbro for protecting what's theres but hope that a compromise can be reached. I hope either Mane6 can hand over the project to Hasbro for something official, or maybe change it in apsects so it IS a parody (change the characters colors, names, etc), or just leak what they have done. But they shouldn't have been so transparent about in advance of its release (2 years of hype) if they weren't on solid ground.

Edited February 9, 2013 by Freewave

[SBaby 660]

I didn't realize that Fighting is Magic was canned. That's quite sad news and i imagine the developers are pretty devastated. It actually looked like a really well built game. To bad they didn't 'lose' a copy soon after getting the C&D letter. 

 

If they were to 'lose' a copy, it would only end up coming back to them and getting them in legal trouble at this point.

 

My advice to anyone making a fan game or planning one is this.  Continue making your game, but don't publicize it until it's either completed, or close to completion.  If you have any videos of it on youtube or anything on a site about it, take it down until the game is completed.  Once your game is completed, release it as a direct download. 

Edited February 9, 2013 by SBaby

[Killian Jones 2,653]

Fighting is Magic is one of the few cases in which I have seen Hasbro actually issue a cease and desist and I have heard people on here say that it is because if Hasbro didn't issue the cease and desist that it would cause them to lose their trademark which is very confusing to me. Can someone explain why they would lose their trademark if they didn't take action over Fighting is Magic but how they have not already lost that with how many other numerous fanworks they could have taken against against but didn't? I have done some research about copywrite laws and trademarks but have not run into a situation like this so any explanation from someone who knows a bit more about this than me would be appreciated. Is there some kind of bogus loophole in copywrite or trademark law that does this because that is what it is sounding like?

Hasbro can turn a blind eye. But if they were made aware in such a way that they are known to be aware. Then they have only two choices, losing the trademark, or shut them down. This is per US trademark law, not some arbitrary rule someone came up with.

[SkyGust 71]

I don't understand. If they let people make it, how do they loose control over it? Is the FBI going to go to Hasbro and say "These people made a game based on your show. Im taking the company" Who is going to take control over it?