A G1 Animation Project

[Vulpy]

I might be able to help as a VA. The thing is, I'm female BUT I have a deep voice, so sometimes I sound like a boy.

[CarnationTwirl]

HOWEVER.  They lost the trademark to the old ponies to begin with. 

I'm not sure if that's really true or just something people online say. After all, Hasbro contributes official art to the MLP Fair each year which has Firefly and other G1 ponies on it, so they obviously can still produce art with the G1 characters.

You might be correct.  I'm just echoing what I've heard about why they couldn't use g1 in FiM

[brightberry]

I always thought they meant they couldn't trademark the name, not so much that they lost the trademark.  They want to use trademarked names so they can protect their intellectual property.  Anyone can use "Firefly" but only Hasbro can use "Twilight Sparkle". 

That was my impression anyway.

[Al-1701]

Trademarks lapse after 20 years if you don't renew.  Hasbro didn't renew.

Fighting is Magic made the legal mistake of not getting any agreement down on paper.  We'll have to see how things work out.

Thank you for your support.  I can help people get Skype and Dropbox accounts (the basic versions are free and all you need.)  I'll turn the auditions into a .pdf file and make some more.  We'll be happy to have you along.

[Galactica]

I hope this works out!  Would love to see it-

[Linnzy]

this sound way cool. I would definately help out with voices but I don't have a mike...just the built in one in my minilaptop...don't think that is good enough....

[Sonata]

Hey ! I'm an animator and would love to help ! I'll probably have a freelance job soon, but I can squeeze this project in anyway (assuming you guys don't really have much of a deadline). Are you guys doing the animation on Flash or traditionally? I do traditional 2D animation but I can go back and re-learn Flash if needed (in fact, I kinda need to do this).

[Al-1701]

We don't have deadline.  However, we're currently planning on using flash for the animation.  Though, if we have enough traditional animators, we might change that.

[hathorcat]

I do hope you can work it out with Hasbro I can see where the voices of concern are coming from - it would be a pretty major project to invest time, energy and money into in order to then have it shut down but you seem to be rightfully trying to put in place permissions before proceeding. Perhaps if you can convince Hasbro to see you as a licensee and you need to buy a licence in order to progress. Fingers crossed

And yes I agree with DragonFlitter on the trademarks - they didnt loose the right...they can still draw a G1 Snuzzle and call her Snuzzle its just that they dont hold the TM to the name "Snuzzle" as it pertains to a toy. Nothing is stopping them from doing it and their is enough of their IP in the public domain that they would win any fight if someone drew a G1 pony and started calling it Snuzzle and Hasbro legally challenged it. A trademark guards against fraud and IP theft but public awareness and established history can be perceived as existing rights. 

[Al-1701]

Buy?  How much does a license cost?

[hathorcat]

It largely depends on what you are licensing - i.e. what markets your product would be going in to, what you would be commercially producing/creating.

Licensing is not just products - your concept is probably closest to something like the GameLoft pony app. This is a licensed product. GameLoft pay Hasbro for the rights to use the images and the brand. I would guess what you are hoping to do would fall under the same creative properties license.

Your advance would be you are looking at an older license for G1 and not for the current line. Licenses for products/creations which are no longer sold/made/promoted by the company which owns the license are traditionally cheaper than licenses for lines which are currently in store by the license owner. There is a reason our stores see a lot of "retro" products - old tv shows and movies and cartoons on t-shirts. Yes its cool and hip at the time but its also cheaper to buy the rights to produce a t-shirt which says Gummie Bears on it than the rights to produce a t-shirt which says TMNT. However, I would be prepared that it can be very very expensive - licenses dont tend to have a set price more a bench mark which is negotiated sometimes resulting in a fixed license purchase or even something as simple as a percentage of ever sale of a product going back to the license holder.

Hasbro are currently licensing G1. Look at the t shirts and hair accessories we are seeing with G1 ponies on them - these are as a result of a third party supplier licensing the rights to "retro/G1" MLP.

Its just a thought. Unfortunately even though you would not be a commercial money making exercise, Hasbro and other manufacturers will shut down things which simple infringe on their rights and their IP.

If you are speaking to them, it is just perhaps a channel you could consider - if it is even remotely financial viable, which I understand it possibly is not. I was just trying to suggest a get around for any issues - not many multinationals will sign over the rights to use something without protecting themselves or financially/commercially benefiting themselves in some way.

[RedKitsune]

Honestly, i doubt you will get permission of Hasbro. They just shut down "Fighting is Magic" and that one had a ton of fans behind it. Why not just make it? There are quite some G4 animation projects going on that didn't ask their permission.

I was going to post this but Malicieuse beat me too it!

Very sad to hear about Fighting is Magic (which was a very long-term non-profit project, just like this animation would be). Hasbro waited quite some time to spring it on them.... I think they were in the final stages of development of their online game when Hasbro sent them a cease and desist order. And this was hardly a hidden project, many of the online brony sites talked about it and featured information on the upcoming game, and they had demo videos on youtube.

It would be sad if your efforts were cancelled after you put a bunch of time and work into them, but it would also be sad if you worked for years without asking permission and then Hasbro ordered you to take the finished product down as soon as you revealed it...

That being said, I was just at Magfest in Washington DC in January, where they publicly aired a fan-made combination live action and CGI Sonic the Hedgehog movie, about 20 minutes in length. The animation team had been working on the project for three years. It looked great, and in the Q&A afterward they said SEGA hadn't been after them at all for their project.

...of course, SEGA and Hasbro are two entirely different entities...but it's food for thought.

I have to agree with the above posts. If your project ever gets off the ground, Hasbro will simply nail the coffin shut : / It's a nice idea, but Hasbro will never allow it, unless you could get it done without permission.

[Al-1701]

Which is why part of our planning is how this could be a benefit to them.  The most straightforward answer is exposure for more ponies.

[RedKitsune]

I think your missing the point that Hasbro's bottom line is money. They aren't ever going to condone a project that is non-profit, made just for fans. As much as I would love to see a project like yours become successful, I also don't think it's realistic. But hey, prove me wrong, I'll watch your show xD

[brighteyes]

Maybe if you talk to Hasbro and find out how much it would cost to obtain proper licensing etc... (if they would require that) you could launch a kickstarter campaign to raise the money?  I know I would donate to see something like this happen.  I do wish you the best of luck though I have no talent to contribute toward the project.  I do hope you are able to do this.  It would be about the coolest thing ever.