How many fanmade projects has Hasbro actually taken down?

[Freewave 1,145]

I know MLP routinely takes down entire MLP episode uploads (no surprise as they're sold on itunes) but what fanmade creation shave they taken down? 

 

The Short list:

* FimFamPhilosiphy

* MLP Online

* Pony Archive

 

Anything else??  That's not that big a list....anything else i'm unaware of?

[Harmonic Revelations 8,836]

Hasbro has brothers, we can't talk about them in here..lest we risk our safety...

 

 

No, actually, I think that's about it, honestly. That list pretty much sums up everything that was major.

Edited February 9, 2013 by Harmonic Revelations

[Betez 1,734]

It's only a matter of time before Hasbro takes away Feld0's servers and shuts this website down. It'll have been fun while it lasted.

 

It is quite sad, really. I thought thy has just taken down Fighting is Magic. I had no idea how many other things they had taken down as well.

[Anadu Kune 668]

technically witchcraft was taken down by youtube's really crappy identification program. Hasbro didn't directly take that down sam with fimfamphilosophy. Does Equestria girls count? Wasn't it just a site that looped the song over and over? Im not sure that really constitutes a project. Pony archive was inevitable. The only ones Im legitimately upset about are MLP Online and Fighting is Magic. 

[FoxyCryptid 4,330]

Hold on here, let me clear this up.

 

Pony Archive was because it was blatantly illegal, we don't need that when we have Youtube to use.

 

FiW wasn't C&D'd, it was Youtube's content ID system and they're looking into other video sites and getting it back up, same for Equestria Girls, it was caught by that system. That goes for all the Youtube content, Hasbro even said they'd allow the fan vids back up if it was appealed.

 

And we haven't even heard final decisions on FiM yet.  

Edited February 10, 2013 by Shoboni

[Shanks 10,816]

It's only a matter of time before Hasbro takes away Feld0's servers and shuts this website down. It'll have been fun while it lasted.

 

It is quite sad, really. I thought thy has just taken down Fighting is Magic. I had no idea how many other things they had taken down as well.

I highly doubt they would be so stupid as to do that, as I don't see how a simple forum violates copyright or trademark laws but if they say were to do something that stupid assuming they even had the power to do that it would backfire on them spectacularly.

[FoxyCryptid 4,330]

I highly doubt they would be so stupid as to do that, as I don't see how a simple forum violates copyright or trademark laws but if they say were to do something that stupid assuming they even had the power to do that it would backfire on them spectacularly.

 

People are forgetting another toon with a big and active fanbase, Transformers, is owned by them as well and had no problems. 

Edited February 10, 2013 by Shoboni

[Millfox 28]

As far as I know Equestria online has fallen a part due to discrepance in the developer team. A large chunk of devs has left and are now working on Legends of Equestria. 

 

Fighting is magic is pretty much the only fanmade project they have taken down so far. Hopefully it will get resolved. 

[Collector(GameDev) 34]

People are forgetting another toon with a big and active fanbase, Transformers, is owned by them as well and had no problems. 

 

I guess because Transformers just isn't as big as My Little Pony's brony fan base and they didn't have any fan games of them being made. Just a thought.

[Ion 279]

Hasbro has done similar things with people making fan-made content for Magic the Gathering (Hasbro owns Wizards of the Coast) including taking down a Pony themed Magic set.

 

Recently they have begun trying to take down several Tumblr's with MTG related fanart. 

Edited February 10, 2013 by Ion

[FoxyCryptid 4,330]

Hasbro has done similar things with people making fan-made content for Magic the Gathering (Hasbro owns Wizards of the Coast) including taking down a Pony themed Magic set.

 

Recently they have begun trying to take down several Tumblr's with MTG related fanart. 

 

Companies that own trading games card have to be really careful, since those cards are used in official games they have to make damn sure there ain't fake cards everywhere. 

Edited February 10, 2013 by Shoboni

[O.S.U. 33]

I've got a plan in mind that might help this pretty dire situation we are all facing. Its really ugly at the moment and needs a lot of work, but i believe it has the potential to make a HUGE difference not just for Mane6's situation or MLP's Fandom, but every fandom as a whole. I don't get much time to sit and do a lot online because of my job, so im sacrificing a few hours sleep to help in this effort. I'll be posting a topic shortly when i get my words straight, like i said, its ugly and not very flushed out, but in time it'll shine!

[FoxyCryptid 4,330]

I've got a plan in mind that might help this pretty dire situation we are all facing. Its really ugly at the moment and needs a lot of work, but i believe it has the potential to make a HUGE difference not just for Mane6's situation or MLP's Fandom, but every fandom as a whole. I don't get much time to sit and do a lot online because of my job, so im sacrificing a few hours sleep to help in this effort. I'll be posting a topic shortly when i get my words straight, like i said, its ugly and not very flushed out, but in time it'll shine!

 

That's nothing dire about it, Hasbro is being right nice compared to some other companies, like Disney, who once threatened a day care for having Disney characters on the walls. 

[O.S.U. 33]

That's nothing dire about it, Hasbro is being right nice compared to some other companies, like Disney, who once threatened a day care for having Disney characters on the walls.

Breaking the hearts of fans who put a lot of effort in anything related to the fandom they love is DIRE in my book. Who knows how the members of Mane6 feel about MLP now... they may hate it or feel very upset whenever MLP is mentioned. I can't stand to think about it, every time i do i get upset and it makes me just as mad as when i first found out 'Fighting is Magic' got shut down.

[FoxyCryptid 4,330]

Breaking the hearts of fans who put a lot of effort in anything related to the fandom they love is DIRE in my book. Who knows how the members of Mane6 feel about MLP now... they may hate it or feel very upset whenever MLP is mentioned. I can't stand to think about it, every time i do i get upset and it makes me just as mad as when i first found out 'Fighting is Magic' got shut down.

 

How are they any better then the crews of the countless other fan games and movies that have gotten the corporate boot over the years? You can't act like this is something only we have to deal with.

[O.S.U. 33]

How are they any better then the crews of the countless other fan games and movies that have gotten the corporate boot over the years? You can't act like this is something only we have to deal with.

They aren't, im not just talking about MLP here. You'll see in a bit when im done with writing my topic. Or at least i hope i get it posted before i have to go to work. Never enough time for stuff like this Dx

[cuteycindyhoney 13,316]

Everyone who is talking about it being dire or Hasbro being evil, flip it around and look at it the other way. What if you had the copyrights to something that ended up being really popular, would you just sit back while everyone and his cousin jumped on the bandwagon and used YOUR characters in any way they could think of? Hasbro is actually being quite fair. It was Youtube's recognition software that shut down several pony related channels, not Hasbro. Hasbro is being amazingly tolerant of fanfics and original works. The Fighting is Magic game was direct challenge to the license given to a gaming company to produce a pony game. Even if free, "Fighting" would steal revenue from the official game. Think of how many people would download something free, rather then buy the official release. It was well within Hasbro's legal rights to send a cease and desist order over it. Just be thankful that Hasbro is being so easy going about it. They could be like Fox. I don't know if they're still doing it, but for years they actively hunted down "X Files" fanfics, and sent C and D orders to the authors every time they found a new one. One of my favorite authors, Anne McCaffrey also sued to stop fan made products. Someone was selling "Fire Lizards" at science fiction conventions. Those are her literary copyright, and she only sued to stop someone from making monetary gain on HER work, not to make money on a lawsuit.

Edited February 11, 2013 by cuteycindyhoney

[VelvetDivan 96]

Cuteycindyhoney is right.  It's easy in situations like this to view the big faceless corporation as the enemy, but take a step back for a moment and view it objectively if you can.

 

Company A hires creative people to create an engaging world with interesting characters its target demographic can relate to.  They succeed, and beyond their expectations, even.

 

Fans, enthusiastic about the world they've been shown, and not satisfied with the rate Company A is producing material for them to devour, create their own stories, music, characters, and more...using Company A's intellectual property.  While the CEO and shareholders didn't design the characters themselves, they hired the people who did, and their creative team's work belongs to Company A.  While they have every right to blast many people who steal their material, Company A lets almost everything slide, because a) it would be ridiculously expensive to prosecute so many cases, and the rewards would be pitiful given who's violating copyright, and the activity is only helping spread recognition of their brand.

 

But then, some of the things the fans start doing with the world Company A created begin to worry the company.  Some projects start to look like polished products that infringe on things the company is already developing, or has plans to develop in the future.  Others are things they simply find extremely distasteful, using their characters in ways they never intended.  Some of these things Company A feels it cannot ignore, because they would damage its bottom line, and even its reputation.  So they pursue legal action.  

 

 

It really comes down to being able to empathize with people, and understanding their point of view.  While it doesn't seem to make much sense to us for a big company to shut down a fan project that was never intended to make any money, the truth is the company was left with little choice.  If Fighting is Magic hadn't been so high profile they might have been able to ignore it, but it was featured in widely-read publications.  A company that can't/won't defend its intellectual property is doomed to lose it, and the CEO in charge of the company during that period will certainly be ousted.  This is people's jobs, their entire careers on the line, their futures.  Would it have been cool to have that game?  For sure.  I was looking forward to it.  Is it worth ruining someone's life over?  Ayyyy-nope.

 

 

I'm a writer, and I've had my ideas co-opted by others before.  I've had my work stolen whole-sale and reposted with another's name attached.  It is painful to see your ideas stolen.  Even when money isn't involved, it hurts.  In this digital age it's so easy to copy and paste that the value of the originator has become almost negligible.