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Author Topic: Hasbro is going after a pony plushie maker on DA  (Read 33771 times)

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Offline Scraleos

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Re: Hasbro is going after a pony plushie maker on DA
« Reply #15 on: May 22, 2012, 03:35:42 PM »
This has happened to one of her eBay auctions before. In the end, it was a troll who was jealous because he could not afford the plush. I'm guessing this is either a troll or a snitch.
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Offline Wardah

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Re: Hasbro is going after a pony plushie maker on DA
« Reply #16 on: May 22, 2012, 03:56:21 PM »
Hasbro tended to leave alone the YouTube episodes until there was a legitimate alternative. (sucks for people who can't access itunes but if they left YouTube alone even ppl who can access itunes might not buy em) Maybe Hasbro will be releasing some legitimate plushies soon?
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Re: Hasbro is going after a pony plushie maker on DA
« Reply #17 on: May 22, 2012, 04:12:19 PM »
That's pretty sickening.  It's not like you can buy official MLP show accurate plushies in a range of characters.  Because if I could, I would.. Who would rather spend hundreds to thousands of dollars on a stuffed animal instead of say $20 if they had a choice???


I actually suspect Hasbro is about to start producing more show-accurate plush of many characters, it is only logical considering how much they listen to the fan community, and it explains why they went after this plush artist now.
These fan plush look closest to official artwork out of most I've seen, so I think they pose a more real copyright threat, as opposed to the more stylized or less skilled plush makers who's work obviously isn't official merchandise.


Thanks for the heads-up, OP! As a custom artist, I will be keeping my nose to the ground until I know what's going on.

Post Merge: May 22, 2012, 04:14:32 PM

What I find interesting is it's a law firm contacting Deviantart.  Why wouldn't Hasbro contact her directly?  It's not like they don't know how if she's selling the plush.


Sounds like Hasbro is going through the law firm to send this C&D letter- I think it's standard practice, really. They want to be as professional about this as possible, making sure all the wording and everything is correct and legally clear. It doesn't strike me as unusual.
« Last Edit: May 22, 2012, 04:14:32 PM by Iris Patch »

Offline Dragonflitter

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Re: Hasbro is going after a pony plushie maker on DA
« Reply #18 on: May 22, 2012, 04:17:23 PM »
Quote
Someone turned me in. 

*eye roll* Yeah, someone 'turned you in'... when you take copyrighted characters, make TONS of money off property that is NOT yours, and do so publicly on a site where people run professional businesses selling art.... No one had to 'turn her in', any Hasbro employee can do a search and find plushies for sale!

It's about time Hasbro warned these people, I think. It's one thing to be a fan of a show, it's another thing entirely to run a business making hundreds/thousands/whatever of dollars off of property that does not belong to you.

Do you see the little (tm) next to characters' names on the MLP toys? Do you think that means nothing?


Oh and the people saying "It's okay to steal property because Hasbro won't make plushies, so the fans should be able to make them and sell them"...? If a company made a poor quality product, is it okay for another company to take that exact same product and make it better and sell it to people? NO. That is why copyright and patents exist. Because that is not okay to do in this country. There's no excuse that makes it okay to steal these character images and run a business with them.
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Offline StoryDreamer

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Re: Hasbro is going after a pony plushie maker on DA
« Reply #19 on: May 22, 2012, 04:19:02 PM »
Quote
Sounds like Hasbro is going through the law firm to send this C&D letter- I think it's standard practice, really. They want to be as professional about this as possible, making sure all the wording and everything is correct and legally clear. It doesn't strike me as unusual.

This. A layperson can't send a cease and desist - it's not legally binding.
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Offline mlpfan

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Re: Hasbro is going after a pony plushie maker on DA
« Reply #20 on: May 22, 2012, 04:22:17 PM »
that is pretty sad although i figure it is a troll.
even if hasbro starts making plushes i am sure the people in china making them will not make them look as good as the custom makers.
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Offline tulagirl

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Re: Hasbro is going after a pony plushie maker on DA
« Reply #21 on: May 22, 2012, 04:28:14 PM »
It totally makes sense to me.  This kind of thing is a big deal.  You should not ever make something to copy after a character from a show by a company without permission if you plan to sell it. If you plan to keep it for yourself that is fine, but making money off of merchandise with names and the look of stuff created by a company really is not the right thing to do.  Its nice that they send a note and don't just send people to court and fine them lots of money for infringement issues.  It could be so much worse so, I am glad that they are willing to go the nice route first.  Some companies would see nothing in taking a person to the cleaners for doing this innocently ..not realizing it was wrong.
 
There is a bigger issue here to me and that is not that one is caught and so they have to stop...but the realization that this is a law and the company has every right to protect their line, their names and their characters.  Its no different than copying a poem from a book and claiming it as your own.  Its really the same thing.  It shouldn't be done...not ever..and not just because you get caught..because its against copyright laws.
« Last Edit: May 22, 2012, 04:31:24 PM by tulagirl »
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Re: Hasbro is going after a pony plushie maker on DA
« Reply #22 on: May 22, 2012, 04:35:10 PM »
Sounds like a very jealous troll or somebody that is butthurt over WhiteDove making good money for her time and effort for her plushies. She has made plushies to donate to charity and MLP staff themselves have bought plushies from her (Faust, Sibsy, and Thiessen).

I'm thinking she got targeted because of the money she makes (and claims is her only income) from these plushies and had big name commissioners. I do find it odd that the legal team is going after her through dA staff instead of emailing her directly. :/

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Re: Hasbro is going after a pony plushie maker on DA
« Reply #23 on: May 22, 2012, 04:46:31 PM »
you can't blame them, if i made something and everyone copied off me then i would be mad,
but i ask this, if hasbro is against it so much how come they still sell them like crazy on ebay and etsy?
all hasbro has to do is send a email to ebay and etsy and say, don't let people sell theses on your site.
and it would be like all the other things you are not allowed to sell on ebay, they take it down and give you a warning, but instead hasbro lets people sell them by the hundreds on ebay without trying to stop them at all, because if they wanted they could stop it today, but they don't.
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Offline Elisto

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Re: Hasbro is going after a pony plushie maker on DA
« Reply #24 on: May 22, 2012, 04:48:14 PM »
Well, a troll wouldn't be able to get a legal team I doubt, and I'd imagine dA checked to make sure the C&D was legitimate before acting on it.

I've sold fan art and so have lots of other people, but the reality is, selling fanart is illegal, and we really only get away with it because companies often let us. (For this reason, many anime conventions, for example, no longer allow fan art in their Artist Alley, and Etsy doesn't allow it at all, although people can get away with it if they don't get noticed).

Making significant income off fan art is going to get a company's attention, and I've been hearing rumors and suspicions that Hasbro's going to be releasing plushies, so maybe this is part of that. As for why contact dA and not the artist directly? Maybe it's easier for companies to deal with other companies rather than individuals or they get a better response that way? Maybe that legal team doesn't understand how dA works? Could be any number of other reasons.

Offline kamakazee82

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Re: Hasbro is going after a pony plushie maker on DA
« Reply #25 on: May 22, 2012, 04:58:08 PM »
it looks legit to me. the firm is a real firm that hasbro has been attached to before, it handles SEVERAL "practice areas include corporate, finance, real estate, intellectual property and technology and health care services." (that's straight from their website) and they've have several cases with very similar beginings ...

and they contacted DeviantArt because they wanted DeviantArt to shut down her page because THEY were allowing this unlawful activity to happen on THEIR site ... you don't go to fingers for control issues ... you go to the brain. the finger won't stop doing what it's doing unless the brain tells it to knock it off. and there is a legal way to do these things. hasbro cannot contact the offender directly because it will not be legally binding. hasbro will work through their LEGAL TEAM to make sure things are upheld in the most legal law abiding way so that someone cannot wiggle out of it because of a technicality ...

and they may be choosing their battles on a "high profile" ground ... you go after the highest profile plush infringer (she is infringing on copyrighted characters, epically amazingly and unbelieveable cute or not) and word spreads that hasbro isn't taking this crap sitting down so other infringers shut down, go quiet etc in fear of reprisal ...

happens every day ...

its all seeming totally legit even with just the little info i'm gleaning from a simple google search ...
 
 
 
ETA: and that Carin G Reynolds is the same name that appears on the MTG fan art/comics/fictions sites from some time back ... MTG is part of hasbro ... stupid wizards of the coast ...
« Last Edit: May 22, 2012, 05:00:51 PM by kamakazee82 »
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Offline Bergamot

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Re: Hasbro is going after a pony plushie maker on DA
« Reply #26 on: May 22, 2012, 05:00:15 PM »
Interesting that they used the term "plushie" without quotations or something. It's slang!

Offline Ligress

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Re: Hasbro is going after a pony plushie maker on DA
« Reply #27 on: May 22, 2012, 05:02:54 PM »
This makes me sad beyond words, but I guess it makes sense.
They want less competition when they make more plushies.
I seriously feel my heart hurting to think about someone being told to stop making something they love though. =(
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Re: Hasbro is going after a pony plushie maker on DA
« Reply #28 on: May 22, 2012, 05:04:39 PM »
Interesting that they used the term "plushie" without quotations or something. It's slang!

Derp, I can't context. This was from one of the dA powers-that-be on behalf of a law firm. My bad!

Yeah, this is very curious. I'm wondering why the law firm didn't contact the plush maker personally, though. I wonder if it's because of hosting or something. My head sure does hurt!

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Re: Hasbro is going after a pony plushie maker on DA
« Reply #29 on: May 22, 2012, 05:05:32 PM »
Don't know if I should toss in my 2 cents or not...  But a friend of mine has gotten cease-and-desist letters before (not from Hasbro, it was regarding a completely different fandom)...  A cease-and-desist letter sent to deviantART would be real-- it wouldn't be a troll.  Hasbro in fact does employ/retain lawyers to do just this, and there's been murmuring in other Hasbro fandoms about them tightening up on certain things as well (Bot-Con had a huge blow-up when Hasbro tried to restrict transformers fan-art being sold in the artist alley!!!)

But, it is necessary for Hasbro to do this when things get a bit too public-- because if they don't, they can lose certain rights to their own property.  Something to also keep in mind is that the artist in question just had an interview on a popular Brony podcast...  that's pretty overt and a good way to draw attention.  Yeah, it could possibly have been a personal attack (she seems fairly confident that it was, so there may be more there that wasn't mentioned), but it's also possible that she got too much exposure. 

As to how it will affect other aspects of the hobby-- I'm not sure.  It's my feelings that Hasbro would have a really hard time doing anything against anyone who customizes the actual Hasbro toys...  there's a 25+year history there and loads of evidence that shows that they support this hobby.  They make a "make your own pony" toy for goodness sake.  And historically, from what I've been able to find, their cease-and-desist letters usually have gone to those who have misrepresented their creations as actual Hasbro products- usually because of fan-made packaging. 
Of course, I myself occasionally sell show-accurate resin mane and tail kits, so others can customize their own ponies...  I try to tell myself that I'm skirting the issue because I don't create "whole" characters-- but I also very much realize that that doesn't change the fact that I'm selling something based on the likeness of their intellectual property.  The reality of this is that one day I may not be able to sell those kits anymore, and I'll just be selling finished customs.  Time will only tell.

 

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