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Lebon14 · Oct 6, 2015

New news, new thread.

For those of you that weren't aware, the Pokémon Company recently sued a fan over alleged copyright infringement. Here's the breakdown of what happened: A Seattle Café owner named Ramar Larkin Jones was going to be throwing a Pokémon themed party at his café, the Pokémon Company slapped him with a lawsuit, and the two parties supposedly managed to agree to a settlement. Jones was unable to pay the settlement and set up a crowdfunding campaign which successfully had managed to accrue the funds. Unfortunately for him, the Pokémon Company has now withdrawn the settlement, evidently as a result of his painting the Pokémon Company in a bad light.

More: http://www.nintendolife.com/news/20...lement_in_lawsuit_over_copyright_infringement

Previously:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1119794

Sue me for copyright infringement if old.

---Pertinent info:
(from page 19)

Starwolf_UK said:
The discussion of this thread would really benefit from the legal documents in question being in the OP...I link some below

Diffense said:

Given that the event did not even happen, how will TPC claim it was damaged? I'm guessing it will be all about Pikachu and Snivy images on a poster and a facebook page? How much did that really cost them? I'm pretty sure the entire cost to TPC is the money they paid lawyers to sue the guy.

Click to expand...

The copyrighted images were used infringing on the exclusive rights TPC have to them. That is entirely what the original case is about:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/276573606/Pokemon-Lawsuit
Note that in the final judgement (I can't get direct scribed links to work here but the documents are embedded in this page) the judge effectively issued a cease and desist* to the defendants (destroy all copies, delete all posts, don't do any more of this stuff or help anyone else with this stuff) and said TPCi could get their legal costs back but no other damages were rewarded to TPCi.

*-Which like many people wonder if that was the result why spend $5400 going to court which you then settle for $4000 (in other words losing $1400) but decide to rescind because bad PR getting yourself the bad PR you claim the settlement gave you in the first place.

Mr. RPG · Oct 6, 2015

I still can't believe this happened.

Sponge · Oct 6, 2015

Neoxon · Oct 6, 2015

I'm still surprised that this happened to begin with.

WrenchNinja · Oct 6, 2015

i wonder what murkrow tastes like

Carl · Oct 6, 2015

evidently as a result of his painting the Pokémon Company in a bad light.

Pretty sure they did that themselves

NCR Redslayer · Oct 6, 2015

So they DO care about their image!
Shocking.

LUFTRAUSER · Oct 6, 2015

I'm surprised they withdrew the suit. It seemed like a pretty clear cut case of infringement to me. I guess the PR is worth more than a few grand!

Roni · Oct 6, 2015

Piece of shit move by the enterprise. They only stand to lose by further antagonizing and milking someone for cash.

NotLiquid · Oct 6, 2015

"I'll get you next time, Gadget"

Diggeh · Oct 6, 2015

It's not exactly going to fix the situation. That was some very bad publicity.

Sylas · Oct 6, 2015

NCR Redslayer said:
So they DO care about their image!
Shocking.

Ersatzkopf said:
I'm surprised they withdrew the suit. It seems like a pretty clear cut case of infringement to me. I guess the PR is worth more than a few grand!

They did not withdraw the lawsuit. They withdrew the settlement offer of $4500. Now they're going to just straight up take him to court and ruin the dude's life, in all likelihood.

Takao · Oct 6, 2015

This is probably worse for the defendant since it seems TPC now wants to go to court.

Occam · Oct 6, 2015

Carl said:
Pretty sure they did that themselves

.

Cbajd5 · Oct 6, 2015

Ersatzkopf said:
I'm surprised they withdrew the suit. It seems like a pretty clear cut case of infringement to me.

No, they withdrew the settlement. So now they want it to go to court or whatever.

KingBroly · Oct 6, 2015

Neoxon said:
I'm still surprised that this happened to begin with.

This is what happens when you fly too close to the sun, in this situation, Pax.

And the guy shouldn't have talked about an ONGOING legal situation. When you do that, expect no mercy.

Enter the Dragon Punch · Oct 6, 2015

I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that his GoFundMe passed the goal of $4,000 earlier today? Hmm.

If he can pay it, let's sue his ass into Hell instead!

foxuzamaki · Oct 6, 2015

WrenchNinja said:
i wonder what murkrow tastes like

Damn

Corpekata · Oct 6, 2015

Yeah, some people reading the OP wrong, this is actually worse for them to do to the guy.

This company is entering cartoon villain territory.

Riki · Oct 6, 2015

Copyright infringement is taken to court.
Defendant talks about ongoing litigation.
Copyright holder says no deal.

Seems pretty cut and dry here.

JBourne · Oct 6, 2015

Man, fuck The Pokémon Company.

Wagram · Oct 6, 2015

Rehashed Pokemon games don't generate enough revenue for them anymore.

Fans beware!

Yes it's a fucking joke...and a poor one.

Mr. RPG · Oct 6, 2015

Cbajd5 said:
No, they withdrew the settlement. So now they want it to go to court or whatever.

I don't believe you. This is ridiculous.

Occam · Oct 6, 2015

Fwiw, I think they are insane. He cancelled the party after the Pokemon Company complained.

PreyingShark · Oct 6, 2015

"Oh, we're getting bad PR over this. Let's withdraw our settlement offer because this bad PR is all his fault and just take him to court."

TPC what are you doing

Hugstable · Oct 6, 2015

Cbajd5 said:
No, they withdrew the settlement. So now they want it to go to court or whatever.

Wait so this isn't them doing good at all, this is fuckedbup if true

vinnygambini · Oct 6, 2015

Celebi showed them the light...more money.

Reset · Oct 6, 2015

Wagram said:
Rehashed Pokemon games don't generate enough revenue for them anymore.

Fans beware!

Yes it's a fucking joke...and a poor one.

Even if it's a joke, it is the truth. And I'm one of them that buys their mainline games day 1.

-Horizon- · Oct 6, 2015

Diggeh said:
It's not exactly going to fix the situation. That was some very bad publicity.

People will forget about it eventually.

KingBroly · Oct 6, 2015

JBourne said:
Man, fuck The Pokémon Company.

You do realize he talked about it AFTER they offered him a settement and before he accepted it, right?

They're withdrawing the settlement because he went public with it, trying to shit on them. You simply don't do that. Like ever.

Admiral Woofington · Oct 6, 2015

Ersatzkopf said:
I'm surprised they withdrew the suit. It seemed like a pretty clear cut case of infringement to me. I guess the PR is worth more than a few grand!

how the public views you is more important than making an example out of a small time guy. It would cause nothing but hate.

Mikey Jr. · Oct 6, 2015

I was about to ask why they used the word "unfortunately" in the article.

Now I know.

Riki · Oct 6, 2015

I'm surprised how many people don't have a clue what the title means.
Has no one watched Law and Order?

NotLiquid · Oct 6, 2015

Corpekata said:
Yeah, some people reading the OP wrong, this is actually worse for them to do to the guy.

This company is entering cartoon villain territory.

Welp.

Now my last comment has something of a poignance to it.

Enter the Dragon Punch · Oct 6, 2015

KingBroly said:
You do realize he talked about it AFTER they offered him a settement and before he accepted it, right?

They're withdrawing the settlement because he went public with it, trying to shit on them. You simply don't do that. Like ever.

He went public with it because it was incredibly shitty of TPC to do. I can't believe some people think it's actually worth the time to bring some small time Seattle cafe owner to court and potentially ruin his life financially over a party.

No, it's not because he didn't do anything wrong. They're technically correct that he infringed on their copyrights.

However, they're still gigantic fucking asswads.

Corpekata · Oct 6, 2015

KingBroly said:
You do realize he talked about it AFTER they offered him a settement and before he accepted it, right?

They're withdrawing the settlement because he went public with it, trying to shit on them. You simply don't do that. Like ever.

Oh no he was dumb about legal proceedings. Truly this makes things better.

Dice// · Oct 6, 2015

WrenchNinja said:
i wonder what murkrow tastes like

Neoxon · Oct 6, 2015

Re-read the OP.

Screw you, Pokémon Company.

-Horizon- · Oct 6, 2015

Riki said:
I'm surprised how many people don't have a clue what the title means.
Has no one watched Law and Order?

*raises hand*
o3o

Cbajd5 · Oct 6, 2015

Mr. RPG said:
I don't believe you. This is ridiculous.

Hugstable said:
Wait so this isn't them doing good at all, this is fuckedbup if true

It's not an uncommon thing to do, most settlements aren't discussed specifically because one of the terms of the settlement is to not talk about the settlement's details, like the amount of money (to be) paid.

DragonSworne · Oct 6, 2015

Gotta sue 'em all!

Finale Fireworker · Oct 6, 2015

This is a disaster.

Familienoberhauptvogel · Oct 6, 2015

How the fuck is taking the lil guy to court gonna paint them in a better light

Just replace Ubisoft with TPC

Also in the other thread it was said it wasn't at his cafe

PreyingShark · Oct 6, 2015

Can this be added to OP:? For clarity ((it's in article):

We had agreed to a settlement once the story broke on motherboard we got a email saying they were pulling the offer because I was bad mouthing them tho I was not.

secretanchitman · Oct 6, 2015

BkzUzi said:
Even if it's a joke, it is the truth. And I'm one of them that buys their mainline games day 1.

Fully agreed. TPC is being really stupid here - it's just a damn party and it wasn't like he was exploiting them on purpose.

And call me out on this but I fully agree on their games being a rehash. I've played the original games too fully and I stopped because of how repetitive they were.

Corpekata · Oct 6, 2015

Yeah, that source in the OP is kind of bad in general. Some wrong info, and it ends with "Do you think this guy is hiding something?"

I guess given the nature of the source it's not surprising.

KefkaPalazzo · Oct 6, 2015

So wait, they are upset about bad PR, so they do so something that will get them more bad PR?

They have some geniuses running that company.

Anko · Oct 6, 2015

Unfortunately for him, the Pokémon Company has now withdrawn the settlement, evidently as a result of his painting the Pokémon Company in a bad light.

The irony. So they decided to paint themselves in an even worse light.

True Fire · Oct 6, 2015

Pretty expected. While I do think they have the right to sue anyone who uses their intellectual property without their permission, it's clear that the negative press had the potential to cost far more than 4000 dollars. It's true for any company scandal, which is why fan outrage is so important to changing companies' actions

EDIT: Nevermind, I got ahead my myself and assumed TPCi was a rational company. Apparently they're still going ahead with the lawsuit? What the fuck? Like I said, the bad PR will cost them more than what the settlement would have been

Hero Prinny · Oct 6, 2015

christ man, TPC is such a piece of shit. I continue to hope for the day nintendo does some sleazy backdoor deals to get ownership of pokemon that way we can be gone with TPC

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