[losondro]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kickback

It actually went to court. The lawsuit was thrown out and Hasbro celebrated by releasing yet another Jetfire toy

And to add insult to injury they also included the faceplate of the original toy with the release.

[ArmorhideMB2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kickback

It actually went to court. The lawsuit was thrown out and Hasbro celebrated by releasing yet another Jetfire toy

And gave gerwalk mode to whirl

[Yellow Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kickback

It actually went to court. The lawsuit was thrown out and Hasbro celebrated by releasing yet another Jetfire toy

So basically HG humiliated themselves and Hasbro poured salt on the wound?

I like it.

[Sentai]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kickback

It actually went to court. The lawsuit was thrown out and Hasbro celebrated by releasing yet another Jetfire toy

I love Hasbro

So how long before Saban sees these people cosplaying various characters at Cons and says "Hey... we could sue them to!" That's what it's comming down to. The only thing I see this being is a straight moneygrab childish "You can't have it cause we do" thing and nothing more. I'm just waiting, patiently, for Toei to slap him down. Imagine what would happen if Toei went and sued everything that looked like Super Sentai. They'd do nothing else.

Saban is honestly making me wish Disney still owned MMPR.

[AlphaGrandCanine]

It's utterly depressing how little many of you know about IP infringement.

As a TF fan I'm all too aware. This is not the same as hasbro vs harmony gold, HG has been trying to sue anybody that went near macross for years, only problem is the didn't have the rights to macross, only a small part of the media. Saban's has distribution on PR in the west, same as Toei does in Japan/Asia. This is treading directly on the toes of some active licenses.

More than likely if saban's pursuit is successful they will block all distribution in certain areas, or force the makers to put in substantial changes. There are work arounds, but honestly I'd love to know what the hell people expect to happen when you steal virtually the entire concept of sentai/PR wholesale.

The power of the people is minuscule, we are mostly just nerds behind keyboards, you can tell yourself you will derail the juggernaut through force of will, but you won't, you'll keep buying the toys and watching the shows because that's what nerds do.

As shit as it is, saban has a duty to enforce it's ip protection, it's part of the deal. This game sadly got too close to the fire.

As for any other fan productions, soon as it becomes a major issue beyond some stupid artwork or YouTube vid, the hammer will drop there too.

It's just how it goes

[RatherOddRanger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kickback

- Why doesn't Saban go after the MMPR Film guys?

Well that's tricky. But the difference is there was no money being made off that fan film/webisode/whatever-it-is-now. Parody is totally legal as long as there's no profiting from it. Saban can (and should) cease & desist the MMPR Film project for using their terms, names, likeness, etc., without consent. He hasn't (because the FB page still exists with names, logo, trailers, etc.) and might be afraid of backlash from fans (the love/hate on that project is still 50/50 ... when I post negative things about it on Twitter or FB for TokuNation, I lose followers/likes).

The thing that keeps bugging me is that it's supporters seem to think because it's 'non-profit' that Saban Brands can't touch.
Legally Saban Brands can shut them down, I can't see there being that much of a backlash with so many angry comments on their FB wall about the delay and the lack of contact over kickstarter perks.

Also if a fan film states it's non-profit does mean Saban Brands can legally request to see it's accounts books to prove that the kickstarter money is being spent on the project itself and nothing else.
It's a practice that Paramount/Viacom have been doing for nearly a decade with all Star Trek fan films.
Heck many of them have had to declare to the IRS about thier own kickstarters about how much was made.

[ArmorhideMB2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlphaGrandCanine

It's utterly depressing how little many of you know about IP infringement.

As a TF fan I'm all too aware. This is not the same as hasbro vs harmony gold, HG has been trying to sue anybody that went near macross for years, only problem is the didn't have the rights to macross, only a small part of the media. Saban's has distribution on PR in the west, same as Toei does in Japan/Asia. This is treading directly on the toes of some active licenses.

More than likely if saban's pursuit is successful they will block all distribution in certain areas, or force the makers to put in substantial changes. There are work arounds, but honestly I'd love to know what the hell people expect to happen when you steal virtually the entire concept of sentai/PR wholesale.

The power of the people is minuscule, we are mostly just nerds behind keyboards, you can tell yourself you will derail the juggernaut through force of will, but you won't, you'll keep buying the toys and watching the shows because that's what nerds do.

As shit as it is, saban has a duty to enforce it's ip protection, it's part of the deal. This game sadly got too close to the fire.

As for any other fan productions, soon as it becomes a major issue beyond some stupid artwork or YouTube vid, the hammer will drop there too.

It's just how it goes

well arnt you a big bowl of sunshine

[Gryphman]

One thing people need to keep in mind is that this isn't Saban proper. It's their lawyers clearly getting a bit overzealous. The same thing happened with Hasbro awhile back, if you remember. I've known about this game for awhile, and they clearly don't have a case. The fact they're making this offer is proof.

[Thessair]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlphaGrandCanine

It's utterly depressing how little many of you know about IP infringement.

As a TF fan I'm all too aware. This is not the same as hasbro vs harmony gold, HG has been trying to sue anybody that went near macross for years, only problem is the didn't have the rights to macross, only a small part of the media. Saban's has distribution on PR in the west, same as Toei does in Japan/Asia. This is treading directly on the toes of some active licenses.

More than likely if saban's pursuit is successful they will block all distribution in certain areas, or force the makers to put in substantial changes. There are work arounds, but honestly I'd love to know what the hell people expect to happen when you steal virtually the entire concept of sentai/PR wholesale.

The power of the people is minuscule, we are mostly just nerds behind keyboards, you can tell yourself you will derail the juggernaut through force of will, but you won't, you'll keep buying the toys and watching the shows because that's what nerds do.

As shit as it is, saban has a duty to enforce it's ip protection, it's part of the deal. This game sadly got too close to the fire.

As for any other fan productions, soon as it becomes a major issue beyond some stupid artwork or YouTube vid, the hammer will drop there too.

It's just how it goes

Ayup. Not to mention that they have to be seen as legally defending their trademark/IP/etc., otherwise it could negatively impact future attempts to shut infringement down. Let one go and precedent could be set.

[ComicGuy89]

IP law is still mostly ridiculous, but the creators here seem to have reached a mutually agreeable deal, at least.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kickback

Not suing - threatening to sue unless Chroma Squad agrees to a royalties deal (ie: Saban gets 70%, Chroma gets 30%) that'll be written to continually reduce their profit as the game grows in popularity.

IE: The more games you sell, the less money you make, but you don't get sued.

I can't find where it says this. The creators seem happy with the deal with Saban, and I honestly can't think anyone would be happy with the deal above.

At any rate, I just don't think something like this should even happen in the first place. This continues to show why IP reform is so drastically needed. Ideas are derivative, they build off each other so unless they specifically called it Power Rangers I don't think this should be a case. It's true that not enforcing it can sometimes weaken IP by making a concept generic, such as how Mega Bloks can do LEGO-like bricks without getting it trouble, but honestly I just don't think this is a problem. Why should a creator have sole access to an idea or concept anyway? Mega Bloks and LEGO seem fine alongside each other, for example.

If creators get sole access to an idea, people can't experiment, improve and compete. Lots of creativity comes from, basically, ripping off others' works.