Harmony Gold files lawsuit over SDCC Jetfire

Harmony Gold seems quite unhappy with the SDCC crossover figure.

http://www.seibertron.com/transforme...ver-set/27979/

With this lawsuit, I think it buries any chance of a reissue Jetfire figure too :(

I hate Harmony Gold with a Passion. Never supported their products after what they did on Macross rights. Bunch of pricks.

I don't think there is a mecha fan on the planet that wouldn't like to see Harmony Gold crushed.

Harmony Gold haven't produced anything of note in more than a decade. They are just sitting on their 'IP's and are waiting to be bought out while causing as much heartache as possible. The fact that they haven't been bought out after all this time probably means that they are just asking for a ridiculous price.

They still have money for law suit?

I just so pissed off with how they went about this and wish the US laws could see they are not the original creators of Macross and designs are not their ownership.

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Originally Posted by drifand

I just so pissed off with how they went about this and wish the US laws could see they are not the original creators of Macross and designs are not their ownership.

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Harmony Gold own the rights to the Macross designs in the U.S.; it doesn't matter that they didn't create those designs. It's similar to how Hasbro owns the rights to the likenesses of all the original G1 Transformers, even though early G1 toys were made by other companies like Takara (re: Diaclone). If someone in a Hasbro market country were to counterfeit or use the likeness of an early G1 Transformer without Hasbro's consent, then Hasbro would be within their rights to take legal action against that party.

Here's an admittedly simplistic analogy: you didn't build your car. But you purchased your car and are its legal owner. If someone were to damage or steal your car, it would be you who would take legal action rather than the manufacturer.

Having said that, I do agree that the idea of just IP squatting is a bum-hat thing to do. :( Jetfire's always been a difficult toy in terms of legal issues though. The G1 cartoon/comic design had to look really different from the toy to avoid legal conflict with Harmony Gold, and the G1 Jetfire toy was never released in Japan since it would've meant a conflict between Takara and Takatoku Toys. The Classics/Henkei toy was a hybrid approximation between the original G1 Jetfire toy and the cartoon/comic model (which I reckon is a nice compromise).

But even if Hasbro were able to secure rights to the Jetfire design, all reissues are done by Takara(TOMY) first. Hasbro just brings them over after Takara does it. We've never seen Hasbro reissue a toy that Takara hasn't in the past 13 years. So IMHO the argument that Harmony Gold is somehow preventing a G1 reissue from possible is a fairly moot point since Takara would never have been able to do it regardless of who owns the rights to the designs outside of Japan.

I wonder if HG ever paid anything to Grumman. What a bunch of wankers.
I wish Tak/Tom would just do a Masterpiece Jetfire.

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Originally Posted by Jetfire in the sky

I wish Tak/Tom would just do a Masterpiece Jetfire.

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^This. :)

Yup would support it, should dump the Valkrie design, it belongs to macross and it wasn't what was shown in cartoons. A mp of this would be a fresh take on it.

If I recalled correctly his name was Skyfire not Jetfire?

Anywho, curse HG, will never buy their stuff.

Expect the price of this set to go through the roof :rolleyes: Hope my lucky number comes up with FunPub ;)

If Harmony Gold can do this then FFS Hasbro and TakaraTomy need to get off their arses and do the same to every third party Transformer rip off and knockoff.

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Originally Posted by drifand

Yup would support it, should dump the Valkrie design, it belongs to macross and it wasn't what was shown in cartoons. A mp of this would be a fresh take on it.

If I recalled correctly his name was Skyfire not Jetfire?

Anywho, curse HG, will never buy their stuff.

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Jetfire was the name of the toy and character in the western markets. As a result of the legalities between companies, Japan never received the toy and it wasn't able to be promoted directly on the show etc. Renaming him Skyfire and modifying his appearance in the cartoon was Hasbro's way of getting a big transforming white jet with red thrusters promoted to the masses without the legal hassles.

Well....I think is time they release the correct toy and name for it.
Is kind of sad really.

Was bad with the whole gun toy of Megatron in Australia, did you guys manage to get Megatron? as in G1 or mp version?

This'll likely just end up in an out of court settlement :rolleyes:; I would, however, like to see Hasbro Legal squash this flea of a company and in the process free-up the IP rights for someone who'll actually do something with it. :cool:

I don't want Hasbro "Acquiring" the rights to Robotech/Macross, as I don't think it's an IP that Hasbro really has room for in its stable or could really handle correctly - I think if the rights were to fall into Bandai of America's lap it'd be the best for every interested party. ;):)

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Originally Posted by Sky Shadow

If Harmony Gold can do this then FFS Hasbro and TakaraTomy need to get off their arses and do the same to every third party Transformer rip off and knockoff.

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that's the difference between a license holder in the US against someone in the US, and a licence holder in the US against someone in japan/china/another country. as far as I understand international copyright is an entirely different kettle of fish and extremely expensive to follow up, especially if your not holding international copyright in a specific country.

I've never heard of these guys before. I wonder why they never sued Hasbro over Classics Jetfire. Seems to me like if they have a problem with a GI Joe toy with a back pack in it they should have had a problem with Classics Jetfire also.

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Originally Posted by Sky Shadow

If Harmony Gold can do this then FFS Hasbro and TakaraTomy need to get off their arses and do the same to every third party Transformer rip off and knockoff.

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Hasbro said several Bot-cons ago that they were going to bring the hammer down on the 3rd party guys like Fan Project. Nothing ever came of it.

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Originally Posted by DELTAprime

I've never heard of these guys before. I wonder why they never sued Hasbro over Classics Jetfire.

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Apparently that was cleared, and apparently this was not.

Pretty big distinction.

Might simply be a Hasbro oversight, but its certainly possible that however hated Harmony Gold might be, they may also be in the right and required to protect their IP.

Harmony gargles hairy balls.

I really hope I win the GI Joe lottery for the right to purchase. Looks like none will be going to hasbrotoyshop for sale then if they have to have a lucky draw

I have the first crossover with starscream, and that mold is just awesome.

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Originally Posted by Sky Shadow

If Harmony Gold can do this then FFS Hasbro and TakaraTomy need to get off their arses and do the same to every third party Transformer rip off and knockoff.

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Nah. No one wants them to do that.

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Originally Posted by drifand

Well....I think is time they release the correct toy and name for it.
Is kind of sad really.

Was bad with the whole gun toy of Megatron in Australia, did you guys manage to get Megatron? as in G1 or mp version?

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If you want a Megatron, MP or G1, it's actually very easy to get one in Australia. You can even do so legally for very little effort ;)

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Originally Posted by Trent

Nah. No one wants them to do that.

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Agreed, that's just crazy talk. :D

Harmony Gold are seriously the worst.

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Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime

Harmony Gold own the rights to the Macross designs in the U.S.;

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I'm pretty sure they don't, actually. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

I've heard of Harmony Gold, usually in relation to anger and the total lack of Robotech joy.

They sound like twats.

However it just seems odd that the toy got to the point of being produced in the first place. I think someone at Hasbro legal was asleep at the wheel.:eek:

(post removed for being a bit too graphic and derogatory)

:eek::eek: ummm.... i'm never going to a park again...

From just reading the posts on Seibertron's news article, I get the impression that the simplest solution would be for Hasbro to settle out of court.

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Originally Posted by Jetfire in the sky

I wish Tak/Tom would just do a Masterpiece Jetfire.

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From a legal/intellectual property point of view, what's stopping Hasbro/TakaraTomy from making a new version of Skyfire? That design was created specifically to avoid resemblance to the Valkyrie.

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Originally Posted by Sinnertwin

Renaming him Skyfire and modifying his appearance in the cartoon was Hasbro's way of getting a big transforming white jet with red thrusters promoted to the masses without the legal hassles.

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That's never been confirmed. It's not really known why Sunbow decided to call Jetfire "Skyfire" in the G1 cartoon. Changing the character design alone was enough to evade legal issues with Harmony Gold -- they don't own the rights to the Jetfire name, only to the VF-1S Valkyrie design.
re: "Why Skyfire?"

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Originally Posted by DELTAprime

I've never heard of these guys before. I wonder why they never sued Hasbro over Classics Jetfire. Seems to me like if they have a problem with a GI Joe toy with a back pack in it they should have had a problem with Classics Jetfire also.

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Because Classics Jetfire is not a Valkyrie VF-1S. HasTak very carefully (and cleverly) designed it as an hybrid between a VF-1S and the G1 cartoon/comic design of Jetfire/Skyfire. It bears a vague resemblance to those designs, but doesn't actually look like either one.

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Originally Posted by Magnus

From a legal/intellectual property point of view, what's stopping Hasbro/TakaraTomy from making a new version of Skyfire? That design was created specifically to avoid resemblance to the Valkyrie.

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I believe that was Jetfire_in_the_sky's point. :) Masterpiece is all about engineering G1 Transformers to look more like the cartoon, so an MP Skyfire (Jetfire was only ever called "Skyfire" in Japan) would definitely be based on the cartoon model, and not at all about emulating the toy.

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Originally Posted by Quickstrike

Harmony Gold are seriously the worst.



I'm pretty sure they don't, actually. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

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Ur they do. They won the law suit against Macross Japan. This is why they are so bold to move against Hasbro.

But they also lost in Japan meaning they can't sell Harmony gold products in Japan.

I believe the Japanese felt they were being "played" and thus from now on Harmony Gold got jack shit, None of Macross 7 and all the frontier stuff.

On the note Hasbro and Takara work hand in hand so there isn't too much of these type of misunderstanding.
Because of Harmony gold's act, they ONLY can create stuff from the rights they got so in the end they are losers.

Reminds me of Samsung and Apple but both of them know they will loose business if they keep on suing each other.

Winners are the lawyers.

I believe that was Jetfire_in_the_sky's point. :) Masterpiece is all about engineering G1 Transformers to look more like the cartoon, so an MP Skyfire (Jetfire was only ever called "Skyfire" in Japan) would definitely be based on the cartoon model, and not at all about emulating the toy.[/QUOTE]

This would be +1 for me, I was totally confused when I first saw Jetfire as VF-1S Super Valk. And I really prefer this to be changed to the Jetfire/Skyfire
I know.

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Originally Posted by Sky Shadow

If Harmony Gold can do this then FFS Hasbro and TakaraTomy need to get off their arses and do the same to every third party Transformer rip off and knockoff.

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But unlike Hasbro and Taktomy, lawsuits are harmony Gold's primary source of income. :p

pretty much because HArmony Gold had pissed the Japanese off to not give them anything else on their plate. So they have became a old rusty iron rod.
That law suit basically killed them of any new potential robotech stuff such as Macross Plus etc...

Hasbro and Takaras right move should be pull off the toy and redo to the correct jetfire. I know, is a lost but what can you do with such pricks?

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Originally Posted by Lord_Zed

But unlike Hasbro and Taktomy, lawsuits are harmony Gold's primary source of income. :p

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lol! Sounds about right.

"They allege that the SDCC exclusive toy has caused, and continues to cause, financial damage to their company."

I don't see how a limited convention exclusive is some kind of competition.:confused:

I think the worst part is this though:

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"exemplary damages in an amount sufficient amount to punish and make a public example of Hasbro, and deter wrongful conduct in future".

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Seriously? Just crush em, Hasbro.

Not just Hasbro, nor Takara, Plus Bandai as well.

HG will eventually die, being having 0 rights to all new Macross, 0 rights to all future Bandai especially no way Bandai will ever give them Gundam after what they did with Macross.

And I have maintain HG free products.

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Originally Posted by Jetfire in the sky

I wish Tak/Tom would just do a Masterpiece Jetfire.

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I would LOVE that to be the next MP!!!

If loyalties is require to pay HG, I am not buying the toy either.

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Originally Posted by drifand

Not just Hasbro, nor Takara, Plus Bandai as well.

HG will eventually die, being having 0 rights to all new Macross, 0 rights to all future Bandai especially no way Bandai will ever give them Gundam after what they did with Macross.

And I have maintain HG free products.

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You know HG are in the process of having a live action Robotech movie made right? If that does well they aren't going anywhere.

That movie has been in limbo for years. I'm struggling to remember when I first heard of it. Suffice to say it's not going to be made any time soon.

like said, they will die without the help of the Japanese. Is a mistake that they refuse to admit and it serves them right.

No news since 2007? so you have to wonder why. Do not forget Bandai is a very strong toy company. I believe they found out it was a can of worms trying to make this movie with the rights issue. Just as bad as Marvel on Avengers without Spiderman and Wolverine (but not as bad)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2906190/?ref_=sr_2

This? really? lol Nothing else on IMDB though which I rely heavily on any future development for any movie.

The can of worms would be toys that they want to sell to make money will not be in Japan

I think people realised it was far better to make Evangelion live movie than to try anything HG period.

...suddenly michael bay doesn't seem so bad... :o

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Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime

...suddenly michael bay doesn't seem so bad... :o

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He actually did an ok job for general public, not to Fans.

I would think Harmony Gold will really need to step aside differences and request Macross Japan for co-op in order to have a great success. But as far as I know Japan will not give rights away very lightly after the HG lesson.

Hasbro ought to have enough spare cash to buy HG just to sack them.