Author Topic: The Pokemon Company sues fan who planned Pokemon-themed party  (Read 2861 times)

gf78

The Pokemon Company sues fan who planned Pokemon-themed party
« on: October 05, 2015, 08:38:28 am »
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/10/pokemon-copyright-lawyers-demand-4000-from-party-planner/

Nintendo continues to $hit on their fans, this time demanding four grand from a huge Pokémon fan who throws Pokémon-themed parties.  The guy cancelled the party and refunded the tickets immediately after receiving a letter from Nintendo (under the guise of the Pokémon Company) demanding $4,000 for using the likeness of two Pokémon on a poster advertising the party.  Nintendo refuses to budge on their demands and won't even allow this guy a few months to make payments. 

You would think Nintendo would be content screwing over fans with their poor policies in regards to Amiibo's and game localizations.  But instead, they go after YouTubers and now Pokémon enthusiasts who want to celebrate their love of Pokémon. 
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fighterpilot562

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Re: The Pokemon Company sues fan who planned Pokemon-themed party
« Reply #1 on: October 05, 2015, 09:58:41 am »
I understand protecting your copy rights and stuff, but really? Come on now. Shitting on your fans like that isn't gonna help you win hearts. Sometimes you gotta let stuff go, and the guy even cancelled it too.
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gf78

Re: The Pokemon Company sues fan who planned Pokemon-themed party
« Reply #2 on: October 05, 2015, 10:17:53 am »
I understand protecting your copy rights and stuff, but really? Come on now. Shitting on your fans like that isn't gonna help you win hearts. Sometimes you gotta let stuff go, and the guy even cancelled it too.

From everything I have read on it, the guy not only cancelled, he apologized and simply asked for more time to pay the $4000 fine which is ridiculous in and of itself.  As a fan, I would be upset because they tried to shut me down for loving their properties and I would be downright pissed for being sued. 

I've grown up loving Nintendo and it's properties.  I look at the Amiibo's on the store shelves and admire them.  But man, Nintendo has pretty much soured my love for them.  I just can't see myself buying into the NX or whatever they end up calling it.  And that's a real shame being that I've owned every system including handhelds and probably a thousand games that I have personally bought brand-new over the past 30 years.
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Limeface

PRO Supporter

Re: The Pokemon Company sues fan who planned Pokemon-themed party
« Reply #3 on: October 05, 2015, 12:32:22 pm »
Story Time!
So I am an official Pokemon Tournament Organizer. They call us Pokemon Professors. I even have Pokemon lab coat they sent me. To do this I had to go through a background check and take a test to get registered. I've volunteered at larger Pokemon Tournaments like States, Regionals and Nationals. Working for the Pokemon Company at these events has shown me how goofy they can be. It's an odd company to say the least. They're organizational practices baffle me sometimes. They're sense of their fans is certainly skewed.
Had the guy throwing the party had someone who had jumped through all the hoops to become a Tournament Organizer, he probably could have avoided all the legal trouble. The problem that isn't widely known. He didn't know that. Pokemon should take that into consideration and drop the whole thing. He didn't harm the brand. If anything they're harming themselves by creating this sue happy image. Not exactly the best PR.
I've gone to conventions and parties just to be the "Pokemon guy" so that it can be official. Stupid, I know, but that's how they work. I think PETA's Pokemon Black and Blue parody games where Pokemon attack people for "enslaving them"  :o did more harm than any fan could do.  http://features.peta.org/pokemon-black-and-white-parody/ (Possibly NSFW due to cartoon blood)
That all being said, I don't thinks it's fair to lump Nintendo and Pokemon together. Nintendo is more of the publisher of Pokemon, while Game Freak and Creatures Inc are the creators of Pokemon. I think of Nintendo as "Disney" and Pokemon as "Marvel" in this situation. Game Freak isn't tied to Nintendo. Their latest game Tembo the Badass Elephant wasn't even released on any Nintendo console.

The Pokemon Company is more of the brand manager. Someone explains it way better than I can here if you're interested. http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1008721
Now I'm not trying to defend The Pokemon Company or Nintendo here. They're both really bizarre companies that give off a sense of greed sometimes. I agree that Nintendo is but a shadow of what greatness it used to be. But Nintendo isn't the one to blame in this situation, at least not wholly. The Pokemon Company is overly protective of anything Pokemon. A few years back they almost took down two of the biggest fan sites (Pokebeach and Serebii.net) for posting pictures of Pokemon Black and White which was already out in Japan but not in the States.

Now I'm not really sure where I was going with all this  :P but figured I'd throw in some of my knowledge.
TLDR; Pokemon and Nintendo are separate. The Pokemon Company is overly protective and treats their brand like a prize winning show dog.
« Last Edit: October 05, 2015, 12:39:38 pm by Limeface »

Re: The Pokemon Company sues fan who planned Pokemon-themed party
« Reply #4 on: October 05, 2015, 12:52:11 pm »
The Pokemon Company and Nintendo are separate companies, and it seems like this would have been a decision by TPC rather than Nintendo. As far as I know (not completely sure as I don't have any Amiibos), Nintendo aren't allowed to use Pokemon Amiibos/characters in their games apart from Smash Bros because TPC wont let them. If Nintendo had control over them then obviously that wouldn't be the case.

Edit: Looks like I should have refreshed the page before replying, as it seems Limeface has explained better than me :P
« Last Edit: October 05, 2015, 12:53:51 pm by olly88 »

gf78

Re: The Pokemon Company sues fan who planned Pokemon-themed party
« Reply #5 on: October 05, 2015, 01:51:28 pm »
The Pokemon Company and Nintendo are separate companies, and it seems like this would have been a decision by TPC rather than Nintendo. As far as I know (not completely sure as I don't have any Amiibos), Nintendo aren't allowed to use Pokemon Amiibos/characters in their games apart from Smash Bros because TPC wont let them. If Nintendo had control over them then obviously that wouldn't be the case.

Edit: Looks like I should have refreshed the page before replying, as it seems Limeface has explained better than me :P

Looking online, I see that The Pokémon Company is wholly owned by Nintendo.
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telly

Re: The Pokemon Company sues fan who planned Pokemon-themed party
« Reply #6 on: October 05, 2015, 01:59:56 pm »
It's technically owned by Nintendo, but I think it's seen as more of an affiliate of Nintendo, like HAL, Intelligent Systems, etc. They have a relationship with each other, but aren't necessarily the same company, nor are they strictly controlled by Nintendo.
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gf78

Re: The Pokemon Company sues fan who planned Pokemon-themed party
« Reply #7 on: October 05, 2015, 02:20:17 pm »
It's technically owned by Nintendo, but I think it's seen as more of an affiliate of Nintendo, like HAL, Intelligent Systems, etc. They have a relationship with each other, but aren't necessarily the same company, nor are they strictly controlled by Nintendo.

Gotcha.  In any event, Pokémon is related exclusively with Nintendo so this looks really, really bad.
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telly

Re: The Pokemon Company sues fan who planned Pokemon-themed party
« Reply #8 on: October 06, 2015, 02:07:49 pm »
Indeed, regardless of where The Pokemon Company stands with Nintendo I don't think it's a very good business practice  :-\
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gf78

Re: The Pokemon Company sues fan who planned Pokemon-themed party
« Reply #9 on: October 06, 2015, 02:24:38 pm »
On a side (but related) note, I checked out that PETA Pokémon game that limeface linked.  I was laughing my ass off! 

I don't condone abuse of animals in any way whatsoever and in fact, I love just about every creature I come across.  Snakes, turtles, bunnies, raccoons, opposums, lizards...I love 'em all.  But those "games" are so ridiculously over the top I had to laugh. 
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maximo310

Re: The Pokemon Company sues fan who planned Pokemon-themed party
« Reply #10 on: October 06, 2015, 06:54:51 pm »
On a side (but related) note, I checked out that PETA Pokémon game that limeface linked.  I was laughing my ass off! 

I don't condone abuse of animals in any way whatsoever and in fact, I love just about every creature I come across.  Snakes, turtles, bunnies, raccoons, opposums, lizards...I love 'em all.  But those "games" are so ridiculously over the top I had to laugh.
Well, its made by the same three people at PETA's game division who made atrocities such as Super Tanooki Skin 2D. PETA is pretty much a joke now anyways.

Re: The Pokemon Company sues fan who planned Pokemon-themed party
« Reply #11 on: October 06, 2015, 07:43:50 pm »
Geez, it's getting worse for this.  The Pokemon Company pulled the settlement offer cause they got bad press due to the guy basically having to share his story and get funding support, meaning that it could get worse for him if he can't get it sorted out.  What a useless fight this is.

kashell

Re: The Pokemon Company sues fan who planned Pokemon-themed party
« Reply #12 on: October 07, 2015, 08:13:07 am »
PETA: People Eat Tasty Animals

gf78

Re: The Pokemon Company sues fan who planned Pokemon-themed party
« Reply #13 on: October 07, 2015, 08:26:01 am »
Geez, it's getting worse for this.  The Pokemon Company pulled the settlement offer cause they got bad press due to the guy basically having to share his story and get funding support, meaning that it could get worse for him if he can't get it sorted out.  What a useless fight this is.

I'll have to read more into this.  So basically, the guy went public and asked for help to pay his fine...which in no way, shape or form should he have to pay since he complied with their request...and now they want to screw him over harder because their dirty little secret got out???

I'm not a big Pokémon fan to begin with, but they can shove Pickachu straight up their arrogant asses.   >:(
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fighterpilot562

PRO Supporter

Re: The Pokemon Company sues fan who planned Pokemon-themed party
« Reply #14 on: October 07, 2015, 11:36:13 am »
PETA: People Eat Tasty Animals
I've always wanted that as a shirt


As for Nintendo/Pokemon getting mad cause it came out. They need to get over it. Just being jerks! Makes me want to stop buying their stuff....
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