Harmony Gold SDCC 2013 G.I. Joe / Transformers Crossover Set Lawsuit Dismissed
Friday, October 11th, 2013 9:13AM CDT
Category: Toy NewsPosted by: El Duque Views: 26,419
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Posted by Bowspearer on October 11th, 2013 @ 9:42am CDT
Posted by Sabrblade on October 11th, 2013 @ 10:07am CDT
Sounds like the courts took one look at the issue, rolled its eyes, and told both companies to simmer down, stop acting like children, and go about their business forgetting the issue ever happened.
Posted by hinomars19 on October 11th, 2013 @ 10:26am CDT
Sabrblade wrote:"Dismissed with prejudice"... not exactly a clear answer of who won and who lost, there.
Sounds like the courts took one look at the issue, rolled its eyes, and told both companies to simmer down, stop acting like children, and go about their business forgetting the issue ever happened.
And quite rightly so if that's what happend.
"Dismissed with prejudice" sounds like a Chuck Norris and Steven Seagal action flick
Posted by T-Macksimus on October 11th, 2013 @ 10:27am CDT
Sabrblade wrote:"Dismissed with prejudice"... not exactly a clear answer of who won and who lost, there.
Sounds like the courts took one look at the issue, rolled its eyes, and told both companies to simmer down, stop acting like children, and go about their business forgetting the issue ever happened.
I would be eternally overjoyed to see our legal system take such an approach with oh, say about 99% of the cases that came across a judges bench seeing as how that's how many are just complete and utter B.S.
It was probably a case of Hasbro pulling out it's substantial wallet and asking Harmony Gold just how long they are really willing to play this game because Hasbro has the finances to drag it out for years without even breaking a sweat.
As for "Dismissed with prejudice"... It means that this lawsuit can never be entered again in court so, basically, Hasbro won this round without actually being granted full official licensing use. They can use the likeness of the Macross VF style jet (Jetfire) and there isn't a damn thing HG can say about it. Well, I suppose there IS but instead of taking them back to court over it all HG can do is run to the end of its chain and bark loudly.
Posted by Autobot032 on October 11th, 2013 @ 11:06am CDT
Suck it, Harmony Gold. Suck it 'til your lungs collapse.
Posted by MagnetarPrime on October 11th, 2013 @ 11:12am CDT
Posted by Nemesis Destron on October 11th, 2013 @ 11:13am CDT
Posted by Autobot032 on October 11th, 2013 @ 11:32am CDT
Nemesis Destron wrote:-Judge-...and further more Harmony Gold and Hasbro, if you two don't learn to be nice and play nice this court will take away ALL your toys then you will have nothing to play with. Do you both understand?
I'm betting Harmony Gold was the group receiving the brunt of any judicial bitching. I mean, it's a silly case. Harmony Gold is known for being trouble with the courts.
Posted by El Duque on October 11th, 2013 @ 11:47am CDT
Posted by Metrosuplex on October 11th, 2013 @ 11:47am CDT
2) The blatant disregard for intellectual property on this board (or anywhere else) is sadly unsurprising. Virtually none of you have ever owned an IP, and have had the joy of seeing someone profit off of your IP.
HG owns the rights to "Jetfire." Jetfire is a Robotech character with a different head; originally, Jetfire was literally borrowed from the Robotech toy line. Anything "Jetfire" should be okayed by the current owner, Harmony Gold, or it is (BY LAW) a violation of IP/copyright infringement.
3) Just because you love Hasbro and loathe HG does not make it right to blow off IP LAW. You can't judge someone guilty cause you hate them, or let someone go because you like them.
4) If you hate these kinds of "frivolous" lawsuits, it'd make more sense to talk about the U.S. Justice System and the out-of-control lawsuits that reward millions for ridiculous injuries/accidents. For example, there have been talks about putting monetary caps on lawsuits to eliminate this "lawsuit lottery" situation that's unique to the U.S.A. But Hasbro and HG's legal tussle is not the origin of wasted legal dollars and proceedings. The judges do not take your practical attitude and toss things out for being stupid.
Posted by Jelze Bunnycat on October 11th, 2013 @ 11:55am CDT
Metrosuplex wrote:HG owns the rights to "Jetfire." Jetfire is a Robotech character with a different head; originally, Jetfire was literally borrowed from the Robotech toy line. Anything "Jetfire" should be okayed by the current owner, Harmony Gold, or it is (BY LAW) a violation of IP/copyright infringement.
Not quite true. Bandai and its licensee indeed own G1 Jetfire's design, the Macross Valkyrie (even if the jet mode should be considered public domain), but Hasbro owns the Jetfire character. If you put the Jetfire name and character in a new, legal body, Bandai has no right to claim IP infringement.
I may be overreading that quote a bit, but that's the kind of overreading the law system specialises in. Admittedly, the G1 Jetfire name is heavily connected to the Valkyrie design, and again, the SDCC toy was borderlining it with the new boosters. But you have to wonder: did the fact that Bandai licensed the Valkyrie to Hasbro back in 1985 play a role in the court's decision?
It's like a tug-o-war with Jetfire: if Bandai were to use red and black deco, Hasbro can sue. But if Hasbro used the Valkyrie design directly, Bandai can sue.
Posted by njb902 on October 11th, 2013 @ 12:11pm CDT
Posted by Xephon0930 on October 11th, 2013 @ 12:44pm CDT
Posted by T-Macksimus on October 11th, 2013 @ 2:54pm CDT
This case, as it pertains to this particular toy, has been dismissed and is never to see the light of day in a court again. This much has been ordered BY THE COURTS!
So yes, it made it to the bench, it was NOT settled out of court. NO PAYOFF!!
Hasbro can use the image/likeness of Jetfire as he appears on this particular toy, that being a non-transforming, pre-existing toy to which they have chosen to apply paint apps. similar/identical to a design previously used by another company.
This does NOT mean this is an overall "win" in their fight to use the original likeness/use of the Jetfire figure and I, for one, am glad it isn't because Hasbro DID blatantly steal the design for both Jetfire AND the original Roadbuster figures for use in their 1985 product line.(at least as far as American releases go. How much of this fight carries over to the original Takara line and how far back it goes, I don't know and could honestly care less.
Posted by Jelze Bunnycat on October 11th, 2013 @ 2:58pm CDT
T-Macksimus wrote:This does NOT mean this is an overall "win" in their fight to use the original likeness/use of the Jetfire figure and I, for one, am glad it isn't because Hasbro DID blatantly steal the design for both Jetfire AND the original Roadbuster figures for use in their 1985 product line.(at least as far as American releases go. How much of this fight carries over to the original Takara line and how far back it goes, I don't know and could honestly care less.
They were all licensed by Bandai. Unlike now, Bandai was no major player in the US market back then, so they had no qualms with licensing to Hasbro (and competitor Tonka for that matter). Jetfire just had happened to suffer the unpredicted import of the Macross anime as Robotech.
but back in Japan, Bandai has always been a major competitor to Takara, so none of the Bandai toys were featured in the cartoon, or released in Japan as Transformers for that matter.
Posted by Rated X on October 11th, 2013 @ 3:01pm CDT
Posted by xyl360 on October 11th, 2013 @ 3:16pm CDT
X: You're absolutely right about China, as their IP laws there are far more lax as I recall, but even if manufactured in China, if the item is distributed in the US or any other country where the IP laws are more strict, then the company behind it would face the same legal troubles (the company distributing it, not the manufacturer in China obviously). So yeah, if it were made in China and SDCC (where it is distributed/purchased) were in China, this lawsuit never would have happened. Go figure .
I still think that owners of intellectual property should be paid for their designs whenever used or unless they provide permission for its use free of charge, regardless of where, but it doesn't work that way. It's the same with bootleg music and movies. I think the owners should be paid for their work, but there are places where they aren't because there are no laws to protect their rights as IP/copyright owners. Oh well.
In the end there is one simple thing it boils down to: I really really want a reissue G1 Jetfire so I hope that Takara can and is willing to work out the rights to get it from Bandai somehow, although it's very unlikely. Maybe Hasbro can get the rights to do the reissue from Harmony Gold here in the US and from Bandai Japan if required as well. Again, it will probably never happen, but it sure would be sweet.
Posted by bvzxa on October 12th, 2013 @ 1:20am CDT
Posted by Bowspearer on October 12th, 2013 @ 7:19am CDT
Metrosuplex wrote:2) The blatant disregard for intellectual property on this board (or anywhere else) is sadly unsurprising. Virtually none of you have ever owned an IP, and have had the joy of seeing someone profit off of your IP.
HG owns the rights to "Jetfire." Jetfire is a Robotech character with a different head; originally, Jetfire was literally borrowed from the Robotech toy line. Anything "Jetfire" should be okayed by the current owner, Harmony Gold, or it is (BY LAW) a violation of IP/copyright infringement.
Actually 2 things here. Firstly HG doesn't own the IP rights to the Valkyrie. For a while there the Japanese rights were up in the air and as I understand it, Tatsunoko now own the rights to the Valkyrie design. Furthermore as I understand it, Tatsunoko has pulled them into line multiple times wit this sort of thing by telling them that in no uncertain terms, the only rights they have with the Macross designs are distribution rights.
In a nutshell, they own certain names, and that's all really.
Posted by Bowspearer on October 12th, 2013 @ 7:21am CDT
bvzxa wrote:G1 Jetfire is actually a Macross toy from the Takatou line that was bought out by Bandai. G1 Jetfire is a hybrid of Hikaru Ichijyuo/Rick Hunter's VF-1S exactly to the "t". The head is the same as Roy Fokker's just replace the red stripe with yellow, and the red boosters dark navy blue.
Actually Jetfire from memory, is a discarded Strike Valkyrie prototype which Hasbro/Takara were allowed to use because there was a problem with the design's nosecone (can't remember if it was too long or too short).
Posted by bvzxa on October 14th, 2013 @ 8:02pm CDT
Bowspearer wrote:bvzxa wrote:G1 Jetfire is actually a Macross toy from the Takatou line that was bought out by Bandai. G1 Jetfire is a hybrid of Hikaru Ichijyuo/Rick Hunter's VF-1S exactly to the "t". The head is the same as Roy Fokker's just replace the red stripe with yellow, and the red boosters dark navy blue.
Actually Jetfire from memory, is a discarded Strike Valkyrie prototype which Hasbro/Takara were allowed to use because there was a problem with the design's nosecone (can't remember if it was too long or too short).
No it is not a discarded prototype. It is the same Valkyrie from the Takatou line. The early 1985 releases even have the UN Spacey symbol on it. This is the Super Valkyrie from the Macross TV series using what is called a Super Fast pack. The Strike Valkyries are used in "Macross: Do you Remember Love" use what is called a Strike pack. When Bandai bought the rights from Takatou Takara/Hasbro also had the rights to the mold as well. In the U.S. Hasbro was able to release the Valkyrie as Jetfire here while Takara could not because of Bandai. This is why there is no release of Jetfire as a Transformer in Japan and there probably never will be.
Posted by Sabrblade on October 16th, 2013 @ 1:37pm CDT
Eat that, Harmony Gold!