MLP: Fighting is Magic is down guys

[derpytunes]

I just have one question. Why does Hasbro give permission to projects like Double Rainboom, but not this?
Frankly, they were asking for it by being so popular and public and yet taking years to develop it. They should have stayed low key so Hasbro wouldn't notice until after it was released.

[Stars In Autumn]

Long time no posts, Stars :3

Yeah, I tend to go from posting every day to just lurking and doing admin stuff.

I'm really only on Hasbro's side because the other side is being total babies about it (at least the vocal ones are). I don't really actually care about the issue.

Honestly, that speaks volumes about where you stand. Holding to a specific position just because you don't like the group the other side is made up of is a logical fallacy. If you don't care about the issue, why are you siding with anyone?

I don't think Hasbro really cares or wanted to shut it down, but as others have said, yes, the can lose their trademark if they didn't enforce it on big things like this. I think they were content to let it all happen... until that EVO thing, which I understand involved raising money. From there it was simply too big to ignore. If it remained a small flash game on deviantart, it wouldn't have mattered at all.

Here's a link being passed around: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/metaschool ... n/tm.htm#6

Basically, they don't lose their trademark just because they don't go after every infringement. They would also need to not be using their trademarks for some time as well. I, of course, am not a lawyer, so this is about as far as I understand it. You have a point about the EVO thing, but the game wasn't exactly an unknown thing up to that point. It's been the most anticipated MLP game for... 2 years now? Nearly 2 years anyways. Someone at Hasbro had to realize that this wasn't just some flash game before EVO.

But please, stop with the 'not good for the rest of the fandom'. This is literally just the 'Derpy dilemma' all over again; people will forget in a few weeks save the vocal minority who'll keep bitching.

Well... technically it isn't. Hasbro has been fairly quiet when it comes to allowing others to use their IP in pretty small cases. Sure, they've shut down a few things like Friendship is Witchcraft, and some of the independent plushie makers, but this seems to be a sign that they are tightening up their hold on their IP. This is obviously going to discourage others from producing fan content if it means 2 years of wasted time. Reduced fan content means a reduced interest in the IP itself, and a reduced fandom.

So, yeah I get why Hasbro is doing it. I still feel for the Mane6 guys, though. Programming games is not easy or quick. It takes a lot of personal investment, and these guys did it for free. To have it all yanked out from under you with a single letter is pretty brutal. It's a cold way to dish out IP enforcement.

Of course, with Lauren's support, this may end up being a boon for the team... I guess we'll have to see.

[Makkon]

This is better.

[Masaw]

[Image]
This is better.

This just made my day, it would be hilarious if Lauren made new characters just so they could get this game out on the market free of copyright.

[the4thImpulse]

This is better.

I've never cared for the game myself but that news is awesome. I sucks to hear it shutdown but if faust can work something out with them (obviously not MLP related so much) it could have a very exciting outcome.

[Astral]

MLP:Fighting is Magic is like one of the driving forces for the fandom. It's one of the things that we can stand behind and say "Yeah, we're fans and this is a product of our fandom."

It seems really unfair that all that time and effort from the dev team is going to be thrown away. But, then again, we're talking about U.S. copyright laws where nothing is fair.

[itroitnyah]

Everybody here has been making some good points.

Another problem I found is that, isn't MLP Fighting is Magic qualified as a parody? If so, then in accordance with the Fair Use laws put in place by the US government, I don't think Hasbro has the right to take it down. Correct me if I'm wrong though

[Motivfs]

I do not take credit for this quoted post below.

"I'm just surprised that it wasn't shut down a lot sooner. They were developing an unlicensed video game that, judging by the shitty quality of Hasbro's products, would have been serious competition for any licensed gaming product that Hasbro authorized. Secondly, being an unlicensed product, Hasbro would have no control on what was depicted or presented in the game. Thirdly, the whole concept goes against the core precept of the show and the toy line. Since when is fighting a show of friendship? Hasbro wasn't just looking at the money. They are looking how some of this stuff being made could damage their brand amongst the parents of the core demographic.

The comments about refusing to buy their products because they put a stop order on an unlicensed game are ridiculous. Are the "fans" of this show willing to possibly lose the show over an unlicensed video game that doesn't even stick to the core concept of the series? Cancellation of the show might be a consequence of boycotting their products; although, I would find that highly unlikely."

In short, what seems like to be happening now is that Hasbro is more targeting the fan-content that goes AGAINST THE IDEA of the show (As per FiW & Mentally Advanced Series), both of which use actual show content as well.

Now I know that you will say that Fighting Is Magic doesn't use actual show vectors/content, but I read somewhere today that it doesn't fall under a parody, I can't remember where and why, and if someone would elaborate (or once again, prove me wrong) that'd be great.

I still feel sorry for the Mane6 team, 2 years of hard, grueling work with so much sweat poured into this game and it all gets pulled away like that, Hasbro will be scarred for making the choice now, rather than sooner, but the way people are still reacting to it is ridiculous.

There is voicing your opinion, then there is acting like a complete moron. I've even seen people post death threats to the company. The word "civil" seems to be something this community does not have.

[itroitnyah]

The people who are boycotting Hasbro's products because of this are idiots, but I proposed the idea that Hasbro could, instead of stopping this, step it and highlight what parts they want the makers to change until Hasbro approves? I suppose it'd still be serious competition for them, but Hasbro could also pull the game under their wing and claim it as their own while allowing the original team to continue to control the game (with occasional checks by Hasbro to see if it still follows their guidelines), I don't know. I'm still a bit upset that Hasbro is restricting the fandom so much.

[Motivfs]

The people who are boycotting Hasbro's products because of this are idiots, but I proposed the idea that Hasbro could, instead of stopping this, step it and highlight what parts they want the makers to change until Hasbro approves? I suppose it'd still be serious competition for them, but Hasbro could also pull the game under their wing and claim it as their own while allowing the original team to continue to control the game (with occasional checks by Hasbro to see if it still follows their guidelines), I don't know. I'm still a bit upset that Hasbro is restricting the fandom so much.

Once again, not a legal genius here.

If I do recall, if Hasbro were to work with the Mane6 development team, and lets say, take the project under their corporation, not only would Mane6 have to pay to have it legally produced, but then the game could be rightfully charged under Hasbro's will. I do not know if Mane6 would make any profit off this game still if this were to occur, and odds are if they did, it would be VERY little.

[itroitnyah]

I do not know if Mane6 would make any profit off this game still if this were to occur, and odds are if they did, it would be VERY little.

Well it's not like they were making a profit from it anyways (unless they had a pay thing that I did not know about), and if they did make a profit from it should Hasbro take them under their wing, it'd probably still be more than what they were making earlier. Plus Hasbro would probably be rolling in balls of cash if they made this move.

[Lavender_Harmony]

I was going to contribute my thoughts, but most of you are being really immature about it, so I won't bother.

[soultensionbenjamin]

Well i was a big fan of this game, but I think this can explain it

This is not an evil desire, this is simply survival. You can argue all you want that Mane6 wasn't going to make money so that somehow justifies what they were producing, but lets assume again that I'm Hasbro. I want to expand my market. How about Video Games? Great! I want someone to produce a video game as a partner company. "No dice," they say. "Why buy our game for 49.99 when this other one is free on the internet?"

So the it was just for fun , not making money argument is invalid

[Freewave]

Everyone has made really good points so far. Habsro is entitled to shut it down but fans are entitled to be upset (but not like the Derpy mess again plz, ffs) that something that's been an active project for 2 years shouldn't be killed right before release. 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. A lot of it depends on Hasbro though. Are they against the idea of a "fighting" game as against their show's theme and won't compromise on that fact? I can see when it's featured in a gaming magazine that it could LOOK to parents or others that this is an official release and they might not want that. Also brings up why don't they go after Tiarawhy and other more provocative r34 fan creations that directly resemble the show (not that i want to see that happen either) if they're worried about trademark and bad press.

I would love it if there could be some sort of compromise with Hasbro but this could just be the end of it. I'm not sure if people have seen that youtube has automatic detection now for MLP episode footage so if you 've made a pmv or a fancreation with their footage you've likely been given a copyrighted notice (I've gotten about 10 of them about a month ago) that you sign or challenge their trademark. While i've acked mine and seen no further action it is worrying they COULD go the next step and go after pmv'ers next (it is their legal right). Again it would really be disappointing if whole batches of this fandom go under the knife because Hasbro starts enforcing trademark THIS late in the game. It would also be sad if people in the fandom just didn't care if this happened to their fellow creators.

[Nine Volt]

I was going to contribute my thoughts, but most of you are being really immature about it, so I won't bother.

How so?

I'm really only on Hasbro's side because the other side is being total babies about it (at least the vocal ones are). I don't really actually care about the issue.

Honestly, that speaks volumes about where you stand. Holding to a specific position just because you don't like the group the other side is made up of is a logical fallacy. If you don't care about the issue, why are you siding with anyone?

Heh, that was a really bad way to word that sentence. I meant that I agree with what Hasbro did. It's not just because I dislike a majority of the opposing group; I do, but I also disagree with their points and agree with Hasbro's. By 'I really don't actually care' I meant that this isn't particularly high on my priority list; a better way of wording it would've been 'I don't care too much though'.

whew, dodged a minefield there

[Gray Ham]

Oh, another rage over Hasbro being a corporation. Like Motifvs' quote says, it was only a matter of time because it was a fighting game. I'm hoping that My Little Investigations and PonyKart dodges a Cease and Desist letter because of that, but it's only a small hope.

i wonder if they'll try to take down banned from equestria (daily)

[Genkar]

I saw someone post this on the discussion on the post on the Mane 6 website.

"I seem to remember a web series that started as a six episode project for film school that turned into an epic saga that now spans 10 seasons.
And as far as I know, they never got a C&D from Microsoft.
They got affiliated.
It's called Red Vs. Blue."

I don't fully agree with it, but I don't have any full opinion on the matter, because I was expecting Hasbro to do something like this eventually. I just don't see why they waited so long to do it, as they were definitely well aware of Fighting is Magic's existence long before this.

[Nine Volt]

I saw someone post this on the discussion on the post on the Mane 6 website.

"I seem to remember a web series that started as a six episode project for film school that turned into an epic saga that now spans 10 seasons.
And as far as I know, they never got a C&D from Microsoft.
They got affiliated.
It's called Red Vs. Blue."

I don't fully agree with it, but I don't have any full opinion on the matter, because I was expecting Hasbro to do something like this eventually. I just don't see why they waited so long to do it, as they were definitely well aware of Fighting is Magic's existence long before this.

, Red Vs. Blue isn't the same situation at all. RvB is a parody work meant for making people laugh, using entirely the basic Halo games. FiM was an entire new work using unauthorized trademarks.

[Alycs]

Yeah, I'm not mad at Hasbro for shutting them down. They are a corporation, and they have to protect their property or they risk losing their license. The thing I'm a little disappointed with is that they let it go so long. If they had shut it down when they learned about it, then they could have prevented it before it became such a phenomena. Or, they could have affiliated, which would have made it even better.

The only thing that I think they could have done to seem a little less cold hearted is to have not let everyone get to love it so much before sending their C&D. They did nothing wrong, but they could have handled it with a little more tact.

[Magnitude Zero]

This is better.

Is there anything stopping them, legally speaking, from releasing the game with entirely OCs and allowing modders to re-skin and rename them?

[Genkar]

I saw someone post this on the discussion on the post on the Mane 6 website.

"I seem to remember a web series that started as a six episode project for film school that turned into an epic saga that now spans 10 seasons.
And as far as I know, they never got a C&D from Microsoft.
They got affiliated.
It's called Red Vs. Blue."

I don't fully agree with it, but I don't have any full opinion on the matter, because I was expecting Hasbro to do something like this eventually. I just don't see why they waited so long to do it, as they were definitely well aware of Fighting is Magic's existence long before this.

, Red Vs. Blue isn't the same situation at all. RvB is a parody work meant for making people laugh, using entirely the basic Halo games. FiM was an entire new work using unauthorized trademarks.

See, that's why I didn't agree with it, along with the fact that they weren't using the same characters, etc. Plus, it was for a school project, so that's fair game by law.

[itroitnyah]

Is there anything stopping them, legally speaking, from releasing the game with entirely OCs and allowing modders to re-skin and rename them?

Haha, I didn't think of that before. I guess somebody should propose the idea to the Mane6 team.

[Alycs]

You know, if they did that, that would almost make it even more awesome; especially if they made it so you could design your own character when you began a game.

I don't think that that would break any Copyright laws either.

[Sonarch]

Alright, I admit when I learned about this last night I reacted emotionally. I was excited for this game and I've heard loads about how much work the Devteam has been putting into it, so it made me pretty mad to hear it was being taken down. But after a night of sleep i've cooled off. I still hate that they got a C&D, but I don't want to send death threats or boycott Hasbro or punch a wall (okay, I didn't want to do any of that before, but I was pretty mad). Hopefully the rest of the fandom will chill out and try to support Mane6 without making fools of themselves.

[Freewave]

Agreed, if they dont make the same name and characters (a parody)they might be able to do so, but again they've been given a cease & desist letter so this is a legal matter now. Don't know if Hasbro is interested in obtaining this release as is for free (much like The Rolling Stones kept ALL the profits for Bittersweet Symphony), allowing a modification, or squashing it so it never sees the light of day.