Fighting is Magic gets ordered to Cease and Desist from Hasbro

[Redingold]

Was this unexpected? They shut down MLP Online, Rainbow Dash Presents, etc. They're very protective of their copyright.

Well, very protective when it comes to products related to the show. They don't crack down too hard on the show being on YouTube and such, partially because it's inevitable and partially because YouTube and other Internet sources are how they get more fans hooked on the show. Their real money is made with the dolls and merchandise. But yeah, games would fall into that category of "merchandise" as well. Honestly I'm surprised they haven't tried to make more official MLP games, that would definitely be something bronies would line up to spend money on.

Still, it was a non-profit game, and a fighting game. Hardly the kind of thing that actually competes with any of the reportedly shitty MLP games Hasbro has been putting out. This is a stupid move that won't increase company profits, but WILL increase fandom ire toward Hasbro, which is already fairly high.

I guess their legal department isn't paid to really think these things through.

*Edit* Not to mention the potential publicity and free advertisement they lost out on if the game was going to be featured at a tournament. Really just... why? At times like this I genuinely want to know why companies are so determined to lawyer up over copyright to their own detriment.

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.

...Isnt that completely fucking retarded?

Who designed the united states copyright system? Monkeys high on meth? It allows complete freedom in some areas but in areas like this it feels like whoever came up with these laws wasnt even thinking about long term consequences in the slightest.

Copyright doesn't actually work that way, that's trademarks. You can only lose your copyrights by selling them, agreeing that work you made automatically belongs to someone else, or dying and then waiting 70 years. Copyright protection can be circumvented by the concept of fair use, and fair use is dealt with on a case by case basis, and Mane6 would have to take Hasbro to court to claim fair use.

 

[Darkbladex96]

why did'n't Hasbro hire them?

Because their target demographic is young girls, and I doubt parents would like them playing a game where their TV role models beat the shit out of each other.

Have you read the comic?

In that issue Queen Chrysalis kills a kitten (This cat was a race of fully sentient felines with their own civilization) in front of 3 children. The blood splatter on the wall implies thatr it was quite gory, not to mention that the beginning of the comic had her and her changelings cacooning said cat race Aliens style and basically soul draining them until they were lifeless husks.

That happened in official licensed work. It's canon as well.

 

[SweetShark]

why did'n't Hasbro hire them?

Because their target demographic is young girls, and I doubt parents would like them playing a game where their TV role models beat the shit out of each other.

Have you read the comic?

[im g]http://redheadedmule.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/my-little-pony-idw-003-cover-a.jpg[/img]

In that issue Queen Chrysalis kills a kitten (This cat was a race of fully sentient felines with their own civilization) in front of 3 children. The blood splatter on the wall implies thatr it was quite gory, not to mention that the beginning of the comic had her and her changelings cacooning said cat race Aliens style and basically soul draining them until they were lifeless husks.

That happened in official licensed work. It's canon as well.

Ok, first of, Queen Chrysalis didn't killed the kittens, she just sucked the "love aura" of them make them very weak...
But I will admit......GOD DAMN the artist make her scary....
Also I read only the preview, so I don't know about the "killing" part in the comic....

 

[SweetShark]

I must admit, I had the inspiration to create this Thread just for fun and randomness.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.400964-Fighting-is-Magic-OC-Version

Let's see what will happen.

 

[Vegosiux]

Actually according to copyright law they have to defend the copyright anytime they find an infringement or else the lost it. Its a weird part of it but it forces their hand.

As far as I understand, that's the case with trademarks, not copyrights. Details, details...

 

[jdogtwodolla]

I couldn't find a store that sold Cider bottles, so I had to resort to crying in an ice cream quart :'(

 

[Redingold]

why did'n't Hasbro hire them?

Because their target demographic is young girls, and I doubt parents would like them playing a game where their TV role models beat the shit out of each other.

Have you read the comic?

In that issue Queen Chrysalis kills a kitten (This cat was a race of fully sentient felines with their own civilization) in front of 3 children. The blood splatter on the wall implies thatr it was quite gory, not to mention that the beginning of the comic had her and her changelings cacooning said cat race Aliens style and basically soul draining them until they were lifeless husks.

That happened in official licensed work. It's canon as well.

I have a question about this.

Where the hell do I get it?

The only store I know of in the UK that carries it is Forbidden Planet, and they're sold out. I've checked for a digital version, and the only one I can find is on iTunes and that can only be read on an iOS device that I don't have (which seems daft to me, everything else from iTunes works on a PC, but not the books?). I really do want to read it, but I don't appear to have any opportunity to.

 

[crimson sickle2]

This is a pretty dickish move. Waiting 2 years to stop it is just cruel, especially since the game wasn't even very low-key up until now. That said:

https://twitter.com/Fyre_flye/status/300098640150687744

That's better treatment than most fangames are given. Once again, hate all lawyers, love developers.

 

[Darkbladex96]

why did'n't Hasbro hire them?

Because their target demographic is young girls, and I doubt parents would like them playing a game where their TV role models beat the shit out of each other.

Have you read the comic?

[im g]http://redheadedmule.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/my-little-pony-idw-003-cover-a.jpg[/img]

In that issue Queen Chrysalis kills a kitten (This cat was a race of fully sentient felines with their own civilization) in front of 3 children. The blood splatter on the wall implies thatr it was quite gory, not to mention that the beginning of the comic had her and her changelings cacooning said cat race Aliens style and basically soul draining them until they were lifeless husks.

That happened in official licensed work. It's canon as well.

Ok, first of, Queen Chrysalis didn't killed the kittens, she just sucked the "love aura" of them make them very weak...
But I will admit......GOD DAMN the artist make her scary....
Also I read only the preview, so I don't know about the "killing" part in the comic....

I have all the comics that are up at the moment.

I just don't buy that. They pretty much turned into grey lifeless husks. At worse for all intents and purposes they are dead. At best they are like humanity-less undead in dark souls. Both conclusions are much darker than what the show implies.

Also it's so heavily implied that she killed a kitten in front of the CMC that if they implied it anymore they might as well be shoving it in my face.

Spoiler

 

[Darkbladex96]

why did'n't Hasbro hire them?

Because their target demographic is young girls, and I doubt parents would like them playing a game where their TV role models beat the shit out of each other.

Have you read the comic?

In that issue Queen Chrysalis kills a kitten (This cat was a race of fully sentient felines with their own civilization) in front of 3 children. The blood splatter on the wall implies thatr it was quite gory, not to mention that the beginning of the comic had her and her changelings cacooning said cat race Aliens style and basically soul draining them until they were lifeless husks.

That happened in official licensed work. It's canon as well.

I have a question about this.

Where the hell do I get it?

The only store I know of in the UK that carries it is Forbidden Planet, and they're sold out. I've checked for a digital version, and the only one I can find is on iTunes and that can only be read on an iOS device that I don't have (which seems daft to me, everything else from iTunes works on a PC, but not the books?). I really do want to read it, but I don't appear to have any opportunity to.

I really can't tell you here since its probably against the rules. But im pretty sure that the files downloaded from Itunes can be converted to CBR or CBZ format.

 

[Seydaman]

Uh....I can understand the legality of having to defend your copyright, but it seems like they waited an unnecessarily long time before issuing the cease letter. Suggested course of action for the devs? Finish the game, have a warez group release it.