Hasbro is going after a pony plushie maker on DA

[josiekat]

I'm going to have to say that I am siding with Hasbro on this one. That's all I am going to say about it. lol

[StoryDreamer]

Read the letter somebody posted about Hasbro going after company that made a Scrabble copy. The part about diluting. They HAVE to go after somebody, it's protecting their brand. And Hasbro isn't cold hearted. They're supporting THEIR workers, designers etc.

[Moonracer]

Hmmm... seems to me that Hasbro has recently gone on a serious, full-blown crusade against people who produce and sell fan work related to their properties.


First there was the ban on selling third party products at BotCon (which I have to admit are at times FAR better than what Hasbro produces), then the ban on selling commissions at the artist alley (also at BotCon) and now this.


Next thing you'll know, Hasbro's gonna go against fanfiction writers Anne Rice-style and then put a ban on making any fan art related to their products...


I know a lot of people are siding with Hasbro, and for good reason, because what this girl did, in terms of the law, is theoretically copyright infringement (the characters she makes plushies of were not created by her). But there's another thing to it.


I'm not certain about English, but in Polish we have a lovely proverb, that someone's like "A gardener's dog, that won't eat its share, but it also won't give it to anyone else to eat it". Hasbro's just like a proverbial "gardener's dog": it won't let anyone sell fan stuff created off of their franchise, but at the same time they don't do JACK to improve the situation.


Just think about it - how much more money would Hasbro make, if they had this girl doing plushies and then releasing them under their brand? Or made a decision to make a collaboration with those third party companies and produce Transformers' related stuff that fans would be sure to buy?


But no, instead, like the pretentious little primadonnas, they pretend to keep their ears and eyes shut and go on a war with everyone.


Oh Hasbro... and I thought you knew that you don't kill off a hen that's laying golden eggs...

[HawaiianRain]

Didn't someone go to the pony fair last year and sell plushies? At the Hasbro HEADQUARTERS? I admit though over $1000 is excessive for a plushie. They cost about £25 to make for me, and the stuffing and fabric is less expensive in the US. With prices that high, it'll get anyone's attention.

Also, some custom artists make $100's. Especially when they make ponies from the show, and make already exsisting ponies more show accurate. Why doesn't Hasbro go after any of them?

Absolutely wonderful question. They should go after everyone. I would like to know how she was 'targeted.' There are just SO MANY pony plush makers, that just picking one is so odd. I've seen ebay, I've seen the auctions and yes I am part of the group that takes a risk as well but I would like to know why just her? Every dollar should count. Don't take on one, take them all down.

I don't get it...

[Sunset]

Didn't someone go to the pony fair last year and sell plushies? At the Hasbro HEADQUARTERS? I admit though over $1000 is excessive for a plushie. They cost about £25 to make for me, and the stuffing and fabric is less expensive in the US. With prices that high, it'll get anyone's attention.

Also, some custom artists make $100's. Especially when they make ponies from the show, and make already exsisting ponies more show accurate. Why doesn't Hasbro go after any of them?

Absolutely wonderful question. They should go after everyone. I would like to know how she was 'targeted.' There are just SO MANY pony plush makers, that just picking one is so odd. I've seen ebay, I've seen the auctions and yes I am part of the group that takes a risk as well but I would like to know why just her? Every dollar should count. Don't take on one, take them all down.

I don't get it...

We don't know yet that she is the only one targeted.  For all we know, they have a 100 cease and decist letters out right know.  She's just the first person to post publicaly about it.

[Opalescence]

There'd be so many more justifiable targets... Like that fellow selling sandpapery 3D-printed copies...

[Sunset]

I'm not certain about English, but in Polish we have a lovely proverb, that someone's like "A gardener's dog, that won't eat its share, but it also won't give it to anyone else to eat it". Hasbro's just like a proverbial "gardener's dog": it won't let anyone sell fan stuff created off of their franchise, but at the same time they don't do JACK to improve the situation.


Just think about it - how much more money would Hasbro make, if they had this girl doing plushies and then releasing them under their brand? Or made a decision to make a collaboration with those third party companies and produce Transformers' related stuff that fans would be sure to buy?


But no, instead, like the pretentious little primadonnas, they pretend to keep their ears and eyes shut and go on a war with everyone.


Oh Hasbro... and I thought you knew that you don't kill off a hen that's laying golden eggs...

You might kill off the hen that lay the golden egg if the hen was laying golden eggs that belonged to you but you never get to see it. 

We don't know that Hasbro isn't making plans for better plushies.  They might be just about to release them or they might still be in the 'talking about it' stage.  Either way, if they think that they might be making more or better plushies than yes, these plushies could be percieved as a direct loss to the company.

[StarSwirl05]

Didn't someone go to the pony fair last year and sell plushies? At the Hasbro HEADQUARTERS? I admit though over $1000 is excessive for a plushie. They cost about £25 to make for me, and the stuffing and fabric is less expensive in the US. With prices that high, it'll get anyone's attention.

Also, some custom artists make $100's. Especially when they make ponies from the show, and make already exsisting ponies more show accurate. Why doesn't Hasbro go after any of them?

Absolutely wonderful question. They should go after everyone. I would like to know how she was 'targeted.' There are just SO MANY pony plush makers, that just picking one is so odd. I've seen ebay, I've seen the auctions and yes I am part of the group that takes a risk as well but I would like to know why just her? Every dollar should count. Don't take on one, take them all down.

I don't get it...

They don't even go after the people making cheap knock-offs that clearly use Hasbro's artwork on the box.

[Koudoawaia]

I knew this kind of thing could happen. The plushie makers are amazing but they /are/ playing with fire by selling products of characters that Hasbro owns.

[Sunset]

There'd be so many more justifiable targets... Like that fellow selling sandpapery 3D-printed copies...

I'm curious.  I don't know anything about the person your talking about.  *Why* do you think there is a more justifiable target?  Is he making thousands of dollars on what he is selling?


Btw, I'm not coming at this with the stance that I've never sold fanart.  I have in fact sold custom paintings of official mlp's.  But I've also never made over $100 at a time, or even in the same month.  But even so, if Hasbro sent me a letter, I would stop immediatly.  But to them I'm small beans.  $1000 dollars a pop is a totally different story.

Post Merge: May 23, 2012, 09:05:02 AM

Didn't someone go to the pony fair last year and sell plushies? At the Hasbro HEADQUARTERS? I admit though over $1000 is excessive for a plushie. They cost about £25 to make for me, and the stuffing and fabric is less expensive in the US. With prices that high, it'll get anyone's attention.

Also, some custom artists make $100's. Especially when they make ponies from the show, and make already exsisting ponies more show accurate. Why doesn't Hasbro go after any of them?

Absolutely wonderful question. They should go after everyone. I would like to know how she was 'targeted.' There are just SO MANY pony plush makers, that just picking one is so odd. I've seen ebay, I've seen the auctions and yes I am part of the group that takes a risk as well but I would like to know why just her? Every dollar should count. Don't take on one, take them all down.

I don't get it...

They don't even go after the people making cheap knock-offs that clearly use Hasbro's artwork on the box.

I do agree with this.  That they should go after.

[Opalescence]

I'm curious.  I don't know anything about the person your talking about.  *Why* do you think there is a more justifiable target?  Is he making thousands of dollars on what he is selling?

I have no idea how many of those things he actually sells but...


Call me biased, but I'd have to answer: because he's selling (imho) poorly made copies, as 3D printouts still are, of the G4 brushables that require zero effort unlike plushies or other traditional customs.
And he's using a name that sounds suspiciously familiar to Hasbro.
And on top of that, last time I've seen him advertising his stuff on certain imageboards, he even used official art like the MLP logo.
Hasbro couldn't be too happy about it.

[Vintergatan]

Guys, as has been said previously on this page, the fakie makers that are blatantly ripping off molds and box artwork (I have one that even has Hasbro on it's hoof!) are mostly in China where US Copyright laws don't apply, so they can't do anything about them

[MrPony]

This is Stupid. Part of the reason this show has been so successful is the fan made goodies. And just to point it out again Hasbro is not making show accurate plush toys. There is obviously a market for them. Instead of attacking why don`t they hire the girl or at least buy the patterns she made. Totally lame.

[Koudoawaia]

Hiring her is definitely a good idea which I hope they do in the end (probably won't though) but Hasbro also does have the right to go after her like they did.

[Eternia]

I wish hasbro would learn from this and make better quality things :/