Fighting is Magic gets ordered to Cease and Desist from Hasbro

[Entitled]

It really isn't any different. The Fighting is Magic game is taking characters and names from the show, as well as character designs, it's infringing on their copyright. Make Hasbro out to be the villain all you want, they are doing nothing wrong in this situation.

That is assuming that the extent of copyright granted to Hasbro is appropriate to begin with.

What they are doing is legal (so was Jesus's crucifiction), but that's about the nicest thing you can say about it.

Copyright was supposed to be about promoting the creation of art, and protecting artists.
Instead, it is used to destroy art, regardless of the wishes of the Hasbro employees who actually did create MLP, and to protect a single corporation's monopoly on the concept of pastel-colored horses.

 

[SacremPyrobolum]

The C and D letter was inevitable but even if they couldn't legally have sent one in the early days of development they could have at least warned them and say that they would be forced to take legal action should it get far. At least then could the developers not waste their time.

Again, Hasbro and other lawyers need to wait until the product becomes a threat before they take action. 99% of fan made projects like this game fail in their infancy, and if the C&D comes too early, then the developers can get away with it because they can claim the final product will be a lot different (changing assets to cover their tracks). So Hasbro waits until it is undeniably an MLP product before they strike.

And that's why I say they should have simply warned them about the action they would have to take if they actually went through with it. No lawyers, no official letters, just a warning outlining the reasons as to why they would have to to protect their copyright.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Christ people you're acting like Hasbro is book burning. (Godwined!)

Why is it every time something happens like this people are so quick to jump on the persecution bandwagon?

 

[Entitled]

Christ people you're acting like Hasbro is book burning. (Godwined!)

Why is it every time something happens like this people are so quick to jump on the persecution bandwagon?

I think it's worse than book burning, that would only destroy copies, while Hasbro is trying to destroy the act of creation itself.

Though I don't think that Hasbro as an entity is evil, it's just a corporation, a mindless system that is naturally trying to grab any position of control it can possibly use for maximum profit.

It is the law that allows such things to happen, and that decided that certain publishers should have a right to destroy art, that is evil.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Copyright protection is worse than Nazi book burning.

......

see what I mean about overreacting and persecution complex?

 

[Entitled]

Copyright protection is worse than Nazi book burning.

......

see what I mean about overreacting and persecution complex?

Stop godwinning your own arguments, there is absolutely no reason to bring the nazis into this.

Yes, on it's own, burning a pile of printed books, is less harmful than forcing a writer to stop writing a book.

That doesn't mean that everyone who ever used ANY form of copyright, is a worse person than anyone who ever burned a book.

 

[Something Amyss]

because of the amount of time and effort the developers put into trying to create the game just to have the rug pulled out from under them.

And why on Earth did they think it was a good idea to spend so much time building on the intellectual property of an amazingly litigious company?

Seems like they have nobody but themselves to blame.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Copyright protection is worse than Nazi book burning.

......

see what I mean about overreacting and persecution complex?

Stop godwinning your own arguments, there is absolutely no reason to bring the nazis into this.

Yes, on it's own, burning a pile of printed books, is less harmful than forcing a writer to stop writing a book.

That doesn't mean that everyone who ever used ANY form of copyright, is a worse person than anyone who ever burned a book.

You're the one saying that Hasbro is destroying an idea and that protecting their copyright by stopping this game's development is evil.

 

[Aaron Sylvester]

They should continue to release it via torrent/other ways. This is simply bullshit, Hasbro can't stop them if they continue to develop and release anonymously.

 

[Kopikatsu]

Unfortunately, the way copyright works is that you need to defend it in all relevant cases or you lose the protection. You can't pick and choose. If they ignored one unlicensed MLP video game, then potentially any video game company could release a MLP video game and cite Fighting is Magic in court.

I'd originally believed that, but apparently that's a myth. 'You must defend it in all relevant cases or you lose it' is actually how trademarks work, not copyrights.

Not defending a copyright can weaken it, but that's not really relevant in this situation. For example, someone started a hotel chain named Delta Hotels, and Delta Airlines could have sued to have the Hotel's name changed. They didn't, so now there are both Delta Airlines and Delta Hotels. They're not related, but someone might think they are.

 

[cerebreturns]

Just because you get away with breaking the law for 2 years doesn't mean the police are dicks for stopping it when they catch you or have enough proof.

That's right, and to you people who go 5 miles over the speed limit, cry harder, you deserve it.

 

[Entitled]

You're the one saying that Hasbro is destroying an idea and that protecting their copyright by stopping this game's development is evil.

Yes, I am.

And you are the one who somehow concluded that this means that Hasbro is worse than Nazis.

 

[GamingAwesome1]

And the build that was shown at EVO somehow magically got "leaked" onto 4chan.

Sure, guys, "leaked".

...I wouldn't count them out just yet, put it that way.

 

[Darren716]

because of the amount of time and effort the developers put into trying to create the game just to have the rug pulled out from under them.

And why on Earth did they think it was a good idea to spend so much time building on the intellectual property of an amazingly litigious company?

Seems like they have nobody but themselves to blame.

When they began making the game Hasbro seemed to like the fandom and never ordered any Cease and Desist orders so the developers probably thought they would be in the clear to start making the game after seeing how many other pieces of fan content had gotten large amounts of attention and weren't forced to shut down.

 

[Something Amyss]

When they began making the game Hasbro seemed to like the fandom and never ordered any Cease and Desist orders so the developers probably thought they would be in the clear to start making the game after seeing how many other pieces of fan content had gotten large amounts of attention and weren't forced to shut down.

Oh, ASSUMED benevolence. That's okay, then.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Hasbro can be a right arse at time (first Derpy, stopping that online game and etc). I mean if they didn't wanted them to make the game in the first place, they should of told them right at the start, now all the time and money invested in it are wasted.
The recent news that Faust herself will offer them new characters to work is an interesting move mainly cos I want to see these new OC from her. Still with Faust now getting involve, will Hasbro still try to stop them any further?

 

[drisky]

I would think this game would fall under fair use anyway, its non profit. They don't crack down on fan art or parody videos or that horror game with apple bloom. Maybe I don't understand fair use but I don't think they have a case, its distinct enough form any product they have and isn't for commercial use.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

Recolor them horses, remove those ass markings or whatever, change 1 letter in the character select name, have one alternative color scheme conveniently look similar to the original (coincidence???!!?) and tell hasbro to go fuck themselves for waiting until right before release of this non-profit fangame that competes with none of their products.

Yeah, if the game is so important and good why not just remove the My Little Pony references and make it a standalone fighting game that happens to use horses as characters. If the game means anything other than just an MLP reference then remove the reference and let the game stand on it's own merits.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

I saw this coming a mile away and knew this would eventually happen but it's Hasbro's right to C&D the project since the game uses too much from the show in the first place besides the fighting part.

Also when I heard Faust was going to help making a new game I saw that as a chance for the Bronies to actually have something new I then sighed when I heard they were only going to end up wanting to mod it to ponies anwyay rather than going with something non pony related and be grateful for what she's wanting to do.

Spoiler: then again there is always two other great games out there from Hasbro that get next to no attention for how rgeat they are

 

[Veylon]

Is anybody really surprised about this? This is how pretty much every major fan-made project goes. Somebody (or in this case, a team) pours their heart and soul into a labor or love. All the fans get excited and eager about it. At which point the franchise owner drops a C&D and shuts it down. I mean, what did everyone think was going to happen?

Mostly this happens because trademarks expire if not enforced. Somewhere in the bowels of Hasbro's legal department, a lawyer got worried that a legal case could be made that Hasbro doesn't have a solid trademark on MLP if such a game exists without being connected to Hasbro.

There's also the problem that Hasbro's licensing system is damaged or broken if fan works occupy the same space that a legitimately-licensed product would. Why would Capcom pay licensing fees to Hasbro for an MLP fighter (however unlikely it sounds) if Fighting is Magic exists without having to pay such fees and fans can get it for free? Capcom can't benefit in such a scenario and thus Hasbro won't get money. This really applies to all fan works.

The point that nobody seems to get is that fan works are a dead end. When I saw that a (highly simplified) city-management game had been made based around MLP, it gave me ideas. You could have Dwarf Fortress-style game where you are in charge of founding a new city of ponies. You could plan a railroad, there could be monster attacks, Changelings might kidnap your ponies and infiltrate your town, you could set up facilities for the Wonderbolts to put on shows, work to provide ponies with jobs related to their cutie marks, trade with other towns, and so much more. A skilled game maker could create a very impressive and entertaining game that would grossly overshadow what Gameloft put out. And be free. But Hasbro won't - can't - let that happen. Gameloft is a paying customer; they put in money to Hasbro to license the exclusive right to create their game. A fan work would be challenging that exclusivity and so must be dealt with.

The only way around I see right now is for fans to set up a kickstarter or something and buy licenses.