Harmony Gold files lawsuit over SDCC Jetfire

[Trent]

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

[Lint]

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.

[drifand]

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.

[GoktimusPrime]

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.

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.

[Jetfire in the sky]

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

[GoktimusPrime]

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

^This.

[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.

[Magnus]

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.

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

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.

[GoktimusPrime]

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.

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?"

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.

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.

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.

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.

[BigTransformerTrev]

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

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