Pokémon Party Lawsuit

[Cyclone]

I think this fits here, so here goes.

Today on BulbaNews, an article showed up that piqued my interest. The 5th Annual Unofficial Pokemon PAX Kickoff Party was scheduled for August 27, 2015 at 9 pm. It was canceled because, the day before that, The Pokémon Company International filed a lawsuit against the organizing group for copyright infringement dating back to 2011, the first such party. I can't believe I'm not making this up: here is the legal filing.

I wanted to generate a discussion on this subject. What do you folks think about this? Is TPCI putting its nose in trying to get money somewhere where they really shouldn't be? Are the images in contention (of Pikachu and Snivy) what you would call "fair use"? Or should these people be punished?

 

[WingedDragon]

Depends if the company was making money off of these events. Even Admission for the thing would be grounds for a suit. I would think. Or they didnt get the proper licensing to use the name pokemon and its characters. I didnt read the whole thing but I would suspect those two things. It does suck but rules is rules

 

[Pinkie-Dawn]

Here's an update on the situation:

It's super effective!

It feels like you can barely go a week without hearing another story of a fan-created work being shut down by the company that owns the IP being emulated. Here's the way things usually go: a cease and desist letter is sent to the fan as a sort of warning, the offending material is removed, and the issue is resolved. Unfortunately for Ramar Larkin Jones – a massive Pokémon fan – things didn't go over quite so smoothly.

Jones manages a small café in Seattle and was formerly a Pokémon fanatic. For the past five years, he's held the "Unofficial Pokémon PAX Kickoff Party" at his café; a party that played host to a slew of Pokémon themed giveaways, music, and a Super Smash Bros. tournament. There was a $2 admission fee that went towards a DJ and the giveaways, but conflict between Jones and the Pokémon Company arose when he made posters for the event that prominently featured Pikachu and Snivy. Jones immediately cancelled the party when he received word of the lawsuit, but the Pokémon Company was resolute in its goals and a Washington judge has just ruled that Jones now owes the Pokémon Company $4,000 in damages.

Speaking to Motherboard about the issue, Jones said


I can't pay it. I manage a cafe, and cost of living is super expensive in Seattle. I am hoping I can try to pay it over the course of a year, because I simply want to be done with it.

Though the total amount was reduced slightly, his appeal for a payment plan was later denied by the Pokémon Company and Jones now has forty five days to pay up. In an effort to try and fund raise, Jones set up a GoFundMe account which you can find here.

What do you think of the Pokémon Company's decision? Is this a justified course of action or do you think it's a bit heavy handed? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Source: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2...right_infringement_demands_usd4000_in_damages

A lot of fans are ticked off at TPCi for this move, while some are also putting Nintendo to blame, even though they have no involvement in this. One of those people from the link's comments section mentioned he's going to buy Pokémon games used for now on to express his dislike towards the company. This has me worried about the sales for next year's mainline Pokémon title.

 

[sirboulevard]

As someone who lives in Seattle, I can honestly say there's no way anyone could earn that much money in 2 months and pay off that debt unless you were already rich. Rent alone is ~$1000 a month, without utilities.

This is such a dick move, even I'm considering no longer buying Pokemon Z over it. No C&D, just straight to the pay us money, no payment plan. And I can't help but also smell some racism on TPCi's lawyers too, since I see white people like myself get C&Ds for far more damaging stuff, but a party, well the black guy gets fined to the point of probably losing his cafe (which I bet is the point).

If I wasn't unemployed at the moment, I'd totally go down to his cafe and give what spare cash I have.

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

As someone who lives in Seattle, I can honestly say there's no way anyone could earn that much money in 2 months and pay off that debt unless you were already rich. Rent alone is ~$1000 a month, without utilities.

This is such a dick move, even I'm considering no longer buying Pokemon Z over it. No C&D, just straight to the pay us money, no payment plan. And I can't help but also smell some racism on TPCi's lawyers too, since I see white people like myself get C&Ds for far more damaging stuff, but a party, well the black guy gets fined to the point of probably losing his cafe (which I bet is the point).

If I wasn't unemployed at the moment, I'd totally go down to his cafe and give what spare cash I have.

I've heard conflicted reports about the C&D. The first article I've read on this said he was given one. Another says that Mr. Jones said they didn't give him enough time to C&D before suing, and another omit a C&D.

I read that they are only Mr. Jones and not his partner, could be because Mr. Jones has been more vocal online about it compared to the other guy...


I also read that Mr. Jones and the other guy have a small company and that might have something to do with this.

 

[Sebastian_Sommer]

Here's another update to the situation, the $4000 settlement was cancelled by nintendo because they claimed that Mr. Jones had made them look like bullies.
Here's the link:
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2...lement_in_lawsuit_over_copyright_infringement

 

[Raichulover123]

I'm on the Pokèmon company's sode for a few reasons.

1. He was making money off the party.

2. He was selling alcohol at the party.

3. He held a tournament that you could win money from (aka gambling)

 

[VisualJae]

First things first, we don't know everything. And we shouldn't. Much is left to speculation.

Secondly, I'm on TPCi's side for this one, despite being someone who enjoys creating fan content (and not just for Nintendo, I've done many for other brands as well).

1. The planner, Ramar Jones, should have ceased his activities long ago. As far as I know, this is not the first time he has been contacted to cease activities. He may not have received prior notices for this particular party, but warnings have been issued before for the previous ones. There is very much a reason why the other "partner-in-crime" was let go yet Jones is still caught up in the mess. We don't know the story, but obviously Jones did something different.

2. Horrible decisions in the aftermath. You DO NOT publicize legal proceedings like this. The more you do so, the more pissed off the opposing party will get, and in this case, that's probably one of the worst moves you can make. While there was supposed to be a settlement in the works, instead Jones takes to social media, publicizes Big Bad TPCi hunting him down, and... get this, asks for donations on GoFundMe to cover the settlement costs. That is bad publicity for TPCi and there is no surprise they ended up rescinding the offer and have decided to go full-on lawsuit on him. He should have just shut his mouth, understand that what he did was wrong, period, take the slap on the wrist and move on with his life. But no, he had to make a huge deal out of it and look what happened. Made things worse.

3. It really is Jones's fault. Prior warnings or not. You're charging an admission fee for something you don't own. That's already grounds for action. Second of all, you're associating alcohol with a company that has a huge demographic involving children and parents. AND said alcohol is using properties you don't own. AND you're charging for said alcohol. It doesn't matter if he's losing money on the party. Bottom line he's still making people pay for something he does not own and that is pure trouble.

4. How the hell do you have a "production company" and not have $4K in reserve to deal with legal proceedings? Every company needs to have such funds for obvious reasons. To use an excuse like "I work in a cafe and I can't afford to pay $4K" is just clear irresponsibility. Then we go back to the GoFundMe part which is just, at least for me, facepalm worthy.

This is why for every fan-created content I personally put out, I make it extremely clear that nothing I do is to be associated with money. Period. Doesn't matter if it's donations, tips, or whatever. No money is to be involved other than money I put in out of my own pockets to make the content happen. Nothing goes back into my pockets in any fashion.

Don't get me wrong, I feel bad for the guy, but he has no one to blame but himself. As for TPCi, the folks are running a business. As a business it comes down to two things: money and efficiency. Morals aren't part of the equation.