Hasbro is going after a pony plushie maker on DA

[Koudoawaia]

Only if someone wasn't making a profit off of said characters.

[Bergamot]

Does anybody have any thoughts about what EqD posted about the issue?

Trademark law does require vigorous defense in order to maintain the holding: it's "use it or lose it", and very very harsh. But it would only apply in this instance if WhiteDove were to place official MLP logos on her work, or were to otherwise claim she was selling official merchandise. This is not the case. Therefore, copyright law applies instead. A copyright is issued at the creation of an intellectual property and granted to the legal entity with ownership of that creation without them having to do anything. It does not need to be defended in order to be maintained.

[link removed ~ many thanks ~ hathorcat]

I wonder if cutie marks are being treated as logos in this case...? I'm not sure how (or if) they're registered. I am still a very interested (and poorly educated) spectator of this whole thing.

[mimitchi33]

Those plushies look almost like they could be official ones! She does a great job creating them! It's sad to hear that she has to take down the prices. They might have been expensive anyways....

[Emfen]

Regardless of the motivations behind the cease and desist, WhiteDove would be able to retain her ability to sell plushies if she acquires a license to market products from Hasbro. Since the initial article ran, multiple helpful bronies have suggested this to her on her DeviantART profile, and she has declared in the comments section her intention to seek such a license. We would like to wish her good luck.

I hope she does get a licence, she deserves one with the quality of the product she makes. And hasbro could use a talent like that.

Hasbro is jealous that they can't make a plushie as cool as her - LOL.

That's not a valid argument.
Hasbro had to defend their property and I'm cool with that, it's their brand after all. Their plush toys may not be of the same quality as WD but still, it's their brand and they got the rights to it and it could have been worse than just a C&D. I'm not even going to argue further about that.

[StarFaerie]

I wonder if cutie marks are being treated as logos in this case...? I'm not sure how (or if) they're registered. I am still a very interested (and poorly educated) spectator of this whole thing.

List of Hasbro MLP trademarks http://s90690880.onlinehome.us/trademarks/hasbromlplive.html They've trademarked the names of the mane 6.

[Sunset]

I wonder if cutie marks are being treated as logos in this case...? I'm not sure how (or if) they're registered. I am still a very interested (and poorly educated) spectator of this whole thing.

List of Hasbro MLP trademarks http://s90690880.onlinehome.us/trademarks/hasbromlplive.html They've trademarked the names of the mane 6.

This may be a little off topic, but did anyone else notice that Hasbro has put in "A first request for extension of time to file a Statement of Use has been granted. dated 4-5-12"  for the name Amberlocks?  Interesting....

[tornadoe]

this is absurd. Hasbro shouldn't be trying to stop her, they should be employing her as she clearly has a talent and is well sought after

[TheBeatlesPkmnFan42]

http://whitedove-creations.deviantart.com/#/d517aso Looks like a lot of this is simple misinformation. Not sure if this has been linked already.

[Dragonflitter]

Interesting! I'm going to post her journal entry here so people don't have to click the link to read it (plus some public places block DA, I know).

It is time to clear up all the misinformation about what is going on.


1.  I NEVER RECEIVED A C&D,  a C&D is an official document from Hasbro.

2.  I NEVER received anything from Hasbro, I was never contacted by Hasbro

3.  Hasbro contacted DA and DA ask me to remove my commission prices, ONLY

4.  I removed the Hasbro names of my own free will, I was not ask to do that

5.  I was not asked to stop making pony plushies

6.  Hasbro and DA have been very good about this

7.  No legal action was taken againest me


This has gotten way out of hand, please pass on these FACTS and nothing else

Thank you,
Whitedove

[xeevee]

I am glad that was all cleared up.  It didn't sound like something Hasbro would do to tell you the truth.  Everyone involved has appeared completely reasonable by the looks of it.

[Bergamot]

Thanks for sharing, Dragonflitter! I am glad that the artist has done a bit to clear the smoke; the original post had everybody all kinds of confused. This makes a whole lot more sense.