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07-26-2017, 07:58 PM | #1 |
Join Date: May 2007
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Harmony Gold vs. BattleTech, Round N
First, here's a video explaining a bit about what's going on. I provided SidAlpha with a good deal of the backstory, so any errors are likely my own:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLtlynQrG6c Since that video was made, more information has become public, mainly Harmony Gold's amended complaint that added more artwork and roped in InMediaRes (the parent company of Catalyst Game Labs, current publishers of tabletop BattleTech), plus the responses from Piranha Games and Harebrained Schemes. Here's a link to the case documents: https://www.unitedstatescourts.org/federal/wawd/242820/ Of particular interest are items 25, 31, and 38, which are (respectively) Piranha's response, Harmony Gold's amended complaint, and Harebrained's response. I am not a lawyer, so I am posting this without commentary for public interest. Update 16 AUG 2017: Leonard French's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPou5WuE-Y4 Update 24 NOV 2017: SidAlpha's update video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3Z3...&feature=share Update 21 JUN 2018: The last filing, ending the case: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hIA...TMuwoIn3g/view Last edited by ColBosch; 06-21-2018 at 08:27 AM. |
08-03-2017, 02:21 PM | #2 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Lancaster, PA
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Re: Harmony Gold vs. BattleTech, Round N
I think I saw somewhere between the lines in one of the complaints or answers [did Leonard French do a piece on it yet? Surprised to see another SidAlpha viewer around these parts, good stuff!] that the only reason Jordan/et al haven't nailed HG to the wall for these repeated shenanigans is that their very first settlement included a "No raising a stink with the Japanese company that licensed to HG to get them to revoke the same on grounds of HG's misbehavior" clause.
Given the last time [HG vs S&T, over then-Mechwarrior 5, now-MWO] they got thrown out of court on grounds of "No, you cannot refuse an attempt to make them whole in order to sue for higher damages...take your licensing fees and GTFO of my courtroom", I look forward to this judge slapping some sense into them at the end of a gavel this time too.
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Andy Mull MIB Agent #0460 Ogre 134th Battalion Lancaster, PA Imgur: https://agent0460.imgur.com/ |
08-03-2017, 02:24 PM | #3 |
Wielder of Smart Pants
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ventura CA
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Re: Harmony Gold vs. BattleTech, Round N
I always thought it was weird that FASA reused and renamed all those disparate anime mecha rather than just having original designs from the beginning.
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08-03-2017, 06:51 PM | #4 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: Harmony Gold vs. BattleTech, Round N
There's a decent chance FASA in 1984 wasn't all that sophisticated about that kind of stuff (looks like they were a two-man operation at that time).
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08-03-2017, 07:04 PM | #5 |
Wielder of Smart Pants
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ventura CA
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Re: Harmony Gold vs. BattleTech, Round N
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08-03-2017, 09:23 PM | #6 | |
Join Date: May 2007
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Re: Harmony Gold vs. BattleTech, Round N
Quote:
As for Smith & Tinker's MechWarrior 5 project, all I have found on that was that HG hit IGN with a cease-and-desist to remove the tech demo video. S&T had really just meant that video to attract investors, and ultimately failed, setting the stage for Piranha Games to step in and develop MechWarrior Online. I don't think it ever went to court. If it did, I'd love a link to the actual court documents. |
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08-03-2017, 09:25 PM | #7 |
Join Date: May 2007
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Re: Harmony Gold vs. BattleTech, Round N
Oh, and I did email Leonard French about this, but he has not gotten back to me. I'll try again in a couple of days. I'd love to see insight from an actual copyright attorney on this matter.
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08-04-2017, 11:44 AM | #8 | |
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Lancaster, PA
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Re: Harmony Gold vs. BattleTech, Round N
Quote:
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Andy Mull MIB Agent #0460 Ogre 134th Battalion Lancaster, PA Imgur: https://agent0460.imgur.com/ |
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08-08-2017, 05:28 PM | #9 | |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Orem, Utah, USA
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Re: Harmony Gold vs. BattleTech, Round N
Quote:
While all this was going on the folks in Japan who owned the story rights to Macross started making several sequels as movies and series. They then tried to sell the overseas distribution of those stories and ran into trouble with Harmony Gold. HG asserted in court that when they got the exclusive rights to the Macross series they also had the right to anything created as a spin off or sequel (despite the fact that Japanese courts had ruled that company they did business with only had rights to the first Macross). series/movie). To further their cause, and due to the nature of US IP law they began aggressively going after anyone doing anything Macross related however loosely. This included joining with the studio behind a totally unrelated cartoon Exo-squad to do a line of Robotech Exo-squad toys (Macross and Mospedia mecha who's inclusion in the toy line made no sense from a story standpoint for either series) so they could join in a court battle with FASA who claimed that Exo-squad was a result of their pitching a Battletech cartoon to that studio. The result was a court ruling all of the mechs in the Battletech 2e and most from Citytech 1e and the LAM's from Aerotech 1e belonged to HG in spite of the rights Fasa got from the toy and model company. This is why all those mechs were relegated to the status of Unseen in Battletech until Project Phoenix came up with altered versions that they could sell. This is also why you can't find non bootleg copies of any of the later Macross movies and series anywhere Robotech was distributed. Except Macross 2 and Macross plus that sliped in before all the court mess. Mind you this is all based on my recollection of reading about the events as they happened and may contain some misinformation. Now it looks like Harmony Gold is trying to assert that their ownership of Macross, Southern Cross and Mospedia means they own the entire idea of human piloted mecha. Despite the fact that they aren't doing anything new with what they have since Shadow Chronicles bombed and their are multiple examples of others using the same idea both before and after. |
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08-09-2017, 02:55 PM | #10 |
Join Date: May 2007
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Re: Harmony Gold vs. BattleTech, Round N
That is the commonly-accepted series of events, but there are important details that either have only recently come to light or are still obfuscated. It's why I'm trying to avoid speculation.
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