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The Pokémon Company Sues Fan for Copyright Infringement, Demands $4,000 in Damages
- Thread starter Enter the Dragon Punch
- Start date
- Status
D
Deleted member 13876
Unconfirmed Member
So what you're saying is, if you want to organize a party like this it better be a Pokemon Porn party.
Familienoberhauptvogel
Banned
If you disregarded a cease and desist order, yes, if you ignored it, no.
Isn't gaf open to fan translations, fan remakes and stuff? All these operate under similar circumstances, except they don't profit from it but some do take donations.
Legally I imagine they probably are in the clear, but should they be?
It's not like he's pirating Pokemon games or claiming the part is an official Pokemon event. Using those images on the flyer and holding a themed party seem like things that, in an ideal world, should fall far into fair use. Money or not.
BreezyLimbo
Banned
Which he hosts at his cafe, and probably makes money through that avenue whilst using Pokemon copyrights to get people to come?
Just because I can paint Pikachu on my stores window and not charge for people to come in doesn't mean I'm not accountable for abusing that copyright.
And if they decided to pursue after the cease and desist, then they can.
Yes?
I don't know why it's baffling to you that people wouldn't want to side with the major corporation crushing some guy selling tickets for 2 bucks. The average person isn't going to go "well, you have to consider the IP guys" about this sort of stuff. This is the type of behavior you almost only see in the gaming fandom. The average person isn't going to give any fucks about what you are doing in your hypothetical.
I agree, I only feel it's a bit excessive. Also I believe someone mentioned this was only the first year he was selling tickets. I do wonder if they did send a C&D or something before hand.
Familienoberhauptvogel
Banned
And I said as much, doesn't make them not petty assholes.
I doubt many are arguing TPC isn't legally in the right.
Boogalogist
Member
Has he started a gofundme or something? I'll gladly help out.
He works at a cafe, I haven't seen anything that says he owns one. The event was also hosted at a separate restaurant/bar.
Hmm...
Can you host a tournament at your cafe?
Can you have a "Jeopardy" night at your cafe?
If you're using an event like watching a movie/playing a video game/something else that uses the IP of someone else... is that legal? Would you be able to name the movie/game in the flyer?
Can you have a "Super Hero" Costume party for Halloween? I guess you wouldn't be able to call it a Marvel or D.C. "Super Hero" party, nor could you use real heroes in the advertising.
Nintendo has the rights to shut down Smash tournaments, right? It's happened in the past. I guess it's a good pr vs bad pr that they allow these things to continue for the most part.
...hmm....
Can you host a tournament at your cafe?
Can you have a "Jeopardy" night at your cafe?
If you're using an event like watching a movie/playing a video game/something else that uses the IP of someone else... is that legal? Would you be able to name the movie/game in the flyer?
Can you have a "Super Hero" Costume party for Halloween? I guess you wouldn't be able to call it a Marvel or D.C. "Super Hero" party, nor could you use real heroes in the advertising.
Nintendo has the rights to shut down Smash tournaments, right? It's happened in the past. I guess it's a good pr vs bad pr that they allow these things to continue for the most part.
...hmm....
Enter the Dragon Punch
Banned
Yeah. It's linked in the motherboard article - won't link it here because that would make this post feel almost like an advertisement.
It's not Nintendo. It's TPC.
I guess people at my college selling blue corazon shots named blastoise at parties better kickstart a settlement for TPC.
I know they have the right to do this, but having the right doesn't mean you should ignore common sense. This sounds like a small thing made for the fans, I don't get it why they'd go for that kind of money if it's just about protecting the brand.
I know they have the right to do this, but having the right doesn't mean you should ignore common sense. This sounds like a small thing made for the fans, I don't get it why they'd go for that kind of money if it's just about protecting the brand.
BreezyLimbo
Banned
Says he manages a cafe which I assume means that he has some form of ownership in it.
Well, the Smash event thing was more of an overzealous law firm. It was fixed in a matter of hours, and if Nintendo proper had tried to shut them down we'd still be talking about that cause there would not be another EVO Smash tournament again.
DirgeExtinction
Member
So the article mentions $2 tickets(only for this year?), but the poster says "no cover". What gives?
I know that, I'm comparing what Nintendo did with the TPC.
weevles
Member
Ridiculous over-reaction that could've been handled better for PR purposes, but some companies just DGAF. Especially a company like TPC which can afford to go through the legal motions.
TPC knows exactly what they are doing here too--they are levying just enough financial costs on people to discourage other folks in the same situation from doing the same. They clearly aren't making any money on this, they are just fanatically trying to stop people from using their IP w/o their consent.
It makes sense in a way, but being so heavy-handed just makes me smh.
TPC knows exactly what they are doing here too--they are levying just enough financial costs on people to discourage other folks in the same situation from doing the same. They clearly aren't making any money on this, they are just fanatically trying to stop people from using their IP w/o their consent.
It makes sense in a way, but being so heavy-handed just makes me smh.
CrunchyFrog
Member
It's definitely not a clear cut case of TPC just being dicks if he was selling tickets, regardless of whether or not he was earning a net profit. Still, I think you'd be hard pressed to prove $4000 in damages as a result. That's 2000 tickets, way more than would fit in some random cafe even if you count multiple years of this annual event. Not to mention that $4k is beans for a business as big as TPC.
maquiladora
Member
As someone posted above, he has been losing money by putting on this event every other year since the first year when he charged $2 to cover costs. It's a fuckung fan event. Not a cash cow. He's just the manager and is struggling to pay the $4k for Christ sake.
How do you feel about someone on neogaf with a Pokemon avatar that posts a thread that causes a spike in traffic to the site and thus creates more ad revenue?
Either way, it wasn't hosted at the place he works at.
Did they ever say why?
In what way does it make sense? How is this benefiting TPC in any way?
superNESjoe
Member
So can a bar get sued for throwing a Batman themed Halloween costume party, but charging people to cover drinks and snacks?
What the hell is this shit?
What the hell is this shit?
Um yeah. It's not about 4000 it's probably about not wanting your brand associated with an off-shoot fan party. What if something goes wrong and parents come suing The Pokemon Company?
Like seriously some of you guys, use your heads. It's not about the money and TPC is totally justified. They have the final say on how their properties are used. Not the fans.
What is this situation you're thinking of that causes parents to sue about this party?
That's one the most terrible arguments in this thread yet.
The message that he should be selling mobile games using Pokemon's IP since they seem to do fuck all to those?
spyroflame0487
Member
Wow that's kind of shitty of TPC to do. But if he was holding the event for 4 years, and had 500 people at each event for $2 each, that totals up to $4000 if my math is right.
Unfortunately I think this is a lesson to not promote Pokemon events at any location ;-;
Unfortunately I think this is a lesson to not promote Pokemon events at any location ;-;
I think they can get sued, it's just that DC probably wouldn't bother with it.
DirgeExtinction
Member
Nothing is stopping things from going horribly wrong at official TPC-sponsored events.
Familienoberhauptvogel
Banned
you did read the OP and how he complied to a cease and desist yet they still chose to sue him?
Suikoguy
I whinny my fervor lowly, for his length is not as great as those of the Hylian war stallions
Interesting, so by your logic they are entitled to 100% of the revenue while not having to care about any of the costs?
Please learn about finance before doing napkin math.
You do realize that TPC is separate from Nintendo, right?
Edit: Ha! Caught your edit so hard
Where did he talk about Nintendo exactly?
Suikoguy
I whinny my fervor lowly, for his length is not as great as those of the Hylian war stallions
Odd, where did I mention nintendo?
This will do more than $4000 in damage to the Pokemon brand.
Edit: I never mentioned Nintendo before editing it either.
Edit2: The edit was a typo correction.
by the looks of some reactions in this thread, most of the bad PR could go to Nintendo instead. TPC is either too clever or too stupid.
Suikoguy
I whinny my fervor lowly, for his length is not as great as those of the Hylian war stallions
Actually, you bring up an interesting point. People associate Pokemon as a Nintendo property. If this story blows up, Nintendo will be frustrated, at a minimum.
The Cease and Desist protects their property. I don't recall any cases off hand where a company moves forward with a damages suit after compliance. ESPECIALLY with something of this size.
People don't like Goliath beating up on David.
Nostremitus
Member
If i understand correctly, it was also held at his cafe so he made profit on every drink and food item sold. He used TPC's IP to get the customers.
Basically, he used them as a commercial tie-in without their consent. It would be like McDonalds selling Skylanders Happy Meals without Activision's consent.
Edit: wasn't at his cafe, I stand corrected.
Cert.in.Death
Member
There are two available remedies under 17 U.S.C. 504 for copyright holders. They can either take actual damages - which could be quite difficult to prove - or defer to statutory damages no less than $750 and no more than $30,000 for each violation of a copyrighted work. But TPC is requesting that the infringer in this instance pay a settlement amount to quiet the cause of action TPC could bring against him.
This all sounds terribly underhanded by TPC but maybe there is a legitimate concern beneath it all. I'm not familiar with the event or how publicized it is, but IP is TPC's lifeblood and encroaching on their copyright could be harmful to the brand. Still seems a step too far to demand remuneration.
Familienoberhauptvogel
Banned
I'm sure his cafe serves like a billion people a day.
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