It seems as though there was due to be a Pokemon themed pre-PAX Prime party on Thursday night in Seattle. Tickets for the event were only $2 each and it was a chance for everyone to gather together and enjoy themselves before PAX Prime started today. Well, it seems as though the Pokemon Company weren’t happy about the event and have filed a law suit against the individuals hosting the party that has happened every year since 2011. The Pokemon Company claimed the two organisers breached copyright law.
Pokemon Company Suing Organisers Of Pre-PAX Pokemon Themed Party
Really Nintendo? or in this case Pokemon Company…. why sue them? They are basically supporting the Pokemon franchise by making an epic party before PAX
Dude nintendo isnt the one responsible for pokemon, GameFreaks Are LOL
Actually Pokemon Company is its own company and the one responsible. Hence, “or in this case Pokemon Company”.
GameFreak, Nintendo, and Pokemon Company are all by technicality separate, independent companies.
Except the Pokémon Company’s owned by Nintendo, Gamefreak and Creatures, Inc (the last one, in turn, also being owned by Nintendo).
Nintendo owns the Pokemon Company and Gamefreak. So technically they are all one Company.
Actually, Nintendo surprisingly does not own Game Freak. For example, they even made a game for the PS4, Xbox One and Windows with Sega. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tembo_the_Badass_Elephant
It makes sense, as they were basically making a profit on someone else’s copyrighted content, which I’m pretty sure is against copyright law.
I agree what the heck\
Even though it’s a terribly petty thing to go after and I wouldn’t agree with it at all, I gotta admit that paying to get in is definitely pretty sketchy if they’ve actually given it an explicit Pokémon theme.
Doesn’t sound sketchy. If you want to rent a room out or have food and drinks, it costs money. At $2 a person I HIGHLY doubt they’re actually making money, just covering the cost to run it.
… except that any moron with a basic knowledge of copyright law knows that monetising someone else’s copyrighted or trademarked material without their permission can land you in trouble. It doesn’t matter it they make a profit or not.
Sci-fi conventions have themes all the time and I am 100% certain most of them don’t get explicit permission. For example, Dragon Con has a LotR track room, Star Trek across all generations, Star Wars, comic characters, etc. There is a Harry Potter convention that runs simultaneously in the same hotel I believe, or maybe that’s Mile High Con… Point is, yes this is stupid. Why didn’t they send a cease and desist order? Why care only after 5 years? Why care when it is 2 dollars?
I went to Emory University and they had a video game theme at the dining hall one night. They blatantly used Nintendo shit everywhere, and technically it was a paid event because I paid tution to experience that. I hope Nintendo sues the shit out of my college.
They’re not monetizing their content… they’re not even selling Pokemon merchandise. This is no different than a kid’s birthday party at a hall with people pitching in money. I guess every kid’s themed birthday party is now open for potential lawsuit. You’re crazy.
Heck, there’s people that DO re-sell other’s merchandise (plushies, figures, etc) and they’re not taken down because it’s within their right to sell something they own. A second-hand sale. But this isn’t even that.
“Hey guys, how about we play and celebrate pokemon and have a party? I just need a few bucks for snacks-”
“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE SCUM! PUT YOUR HANDS UP OR I’LL GET OUT MY PIKACHU TAZER! YOU DON’T MESS WITH OFFICER JENNY!!!”
If it was just a party, then that’s fine. But since it’s a Pokemon Party and has begun charging for profit (even if that profit is zero or negative), it’s a copyright violation. I’m not too familiar with law, but from my understanding, it would have to be non-profit to be okay at most, ie don’t charge or all proceeds go to charity.
If you are a wedding planner make sure you don’t use anything Nintendo, since you are making money off their IP… Oh wait that already happens and nobody gives a shit.
Yea, no profit to be made there really. Hell if two hundred people show up then that’s only 400 bucs…
Either way, you can’t use other people’s I.P.’s and charge money for it. Profit or not.
Before people blame Nintendo, The Pokemon Company is not controlled by Nintendo. Thank you, carry on.
The Pokemon Company is a joint venture between Nintendo, Creatures Inc, and Game Freak. They each own 1/3 of Pokemon. However, Nintendo also owns majority stake in Creatures Inc. and Game Freak. It’s confusing as fuck, but for all intents and purposes, the Pokemon Company IS Nintendo, and Pokemon is Nintendo’s baby.
Well, they’re owned by Nintendo. That doesn’t mean they are Nintendo. Like, Marvel is owned by Disney but their offices are separate and each company does its own thing. Likewise, Pokemon Company is its own company with its own offices and staff, but in the corporate structure, they’re owned by, as you said, Nintendo, Creatures Inc, and Game Freak.
Fair enough. Honestly, I can’t get a straight answer from the Internet. I’ve tried to figure this out in the past and thought I’d do some googling now just make sure. From what I can gather, The Pokemon Company is indeed jointly owned by Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and Game Freak. Creatures Inc. appears to be a subsidiary of Nintendo. Regarding Game Freak, however, there doesn’t seem to be a concensus on the matter. Some say Game Freak is a fully independent second party developer; others say Nintendo owns a majority stake in the company. My hunch would be that Nintendo owns at least a portion. Nevertheless, it seems obvious to me that Nintendo either directly or indirectly owns the majority of Pokemon and probably has by far the most clout when it comes to how things are run at The Pokemon Company. It seems hard to believe that the decision to file a lawsuit didn’t at least require their approval.
It would have been The Pokemon Company to go forth and protect the IP.
http://www.polygon.com/2014/6/19/5745732/what-is-the-pokemon-company
Actually, it is owned by Nintendo. Or rather, it’s collectively owned by Nintendo, Gamefreak and Creatures Inc. That’s why all three are mentioned whenever the term “all rights reserved” is used within the context of Pokémon-related franchises.
(The Pokémon Company just handles the licensing and the like).
Oh, fuck off. At $2 a ticket, I don’t think anybody’s making much of a profit off of this. Lighten, up, Nintendo.
But It’s GameFreak who owns Pokemon tho… not nintendo
There is a lot of misinformation out there over who owns what when it comes to Pokemon. It appears as though Game Freak owns 1/3 of Pokemon but that Nintendo owns also owns a huge chunk of Game Freak. Nintendo and Creatures Inc. also own 1/3, respectively, but again, Nintendo owns a huge chunk of Creatures Inc. It appears to me, at the very least, that Nintendo has controlling interest in the Pokemon Company.
Yeah, Pokemon Company should lighten up a little bit. But I can’t blame them. The party organiser should not charge participant for the party. They should only ask for donation from fans to cover the cost to avoid copyright issues. It’s not about profit or anything like that, it’s about misconduct. Free/donation is a better option to avoid this ind of thing from happening.
I agree. Donations would have been a better way to go. However, I hope The Pokemon Company drops the lawsuit because I doubt anybody was trying to gain from this pre-party.
Yeah, I hope that too. This was a simple and small copyright issue and I hope both Pokemon Company and party organisers can reach to a peace agreement for the sake of fans. Everyone just want to have some fun.
I bet after you sift through all the paper work, Nintendo probably owns 95% of all Pokemon related stuff. Both of those other companies that “own” Pokemon were probably made by Nintendo in the first place.
NORMIES GET OUT OF MY POKEMON THEMED PARTY REEEEEEEEEEEEE
Target is letting you pre-order the next wave of Amiibo. I was also able to order Rosalina, Charizard, and Jigglypuff. It’s my lucky day.
Lol, what a joke.
While I do agree that this is a really REALLY petty thing to do. If they charge for admission then they cross from the grey of copyright laws into the black. Even if it is just for expenses. It sucks and I don’t think the Pokemon Company should do it, but it’s true.
They are mad no one cares about pokemon anymore. Try making a game that isnt garbage. The judge will tell them to screw off.
So 10 million people equals no one?
Yes.
Yeah they made over 2bill last year and no one cares about Pokémon? Lol what?
how pathetic.
The individuals broke the law and it’s Nintendo that’s in the wrong?
Yes. This is ridiculous. So if I host a fucking Nintendo themed birthday party at a fancy location that I own & the money I get is to cover the expenses, Nintendo can fucking sue me for it even though I never keep a single dime from the profits? Fuck off with that bullshit. When do we draw the fucking line before businesses are running our lives & making decisions for us?
Fuck Nintendo and Pokemon Company. They have always been so damn Draconian. Like with their YouTube policies and video banning, hostility towards non-Japanese gaming companies, region locking on their systems, aggressive attacks on emulators and emulation websites, and very closed-minded ideology to western gaming practices. This is part of the reason they are a joke this generation.
I would say it is because they are Japanese, but there’s Sony. Sony is in touch with modernity and doesn’t have a stick up their ass.
Hostel?
That’s pathetic.
Well then you better sue people who have Pokemon birthday parties…
That’s different because birthday parties are private events that don’t make profit off the IP. While this does.
People need to stop comparing a major gaming/themed event vs a wedding/birthday party/university event that gets no international coverage.
You have an event that is SOLELY pushing a theme, you better damn have the right to do so.
If you looked at the source (since it’s not mentioned in the little blurb here), it was in a restaurant with a bar… it wasn’t a “major gaming themed event” or getting “international coverage” and it wasn’t even HOSTED in the PAX halls, just that it took place time-wise before PAX. This does fit under a birthday party.
Ah well then bad reporting, and low blow by TPC.
Yea, and also I could almost guarantee they had emails and warnings not to throw the party. But they threw the party anyways, despite Gamefreaks warnings and emails….
Wow, Nintendo. Are you becoming so greedy and/or set in your fucking ways that you have to sue people that were charging 2 bucks per guest to cover expenses & probably aren’t even profiting off of it? If they were charging say 50 bucks a guest & making a tidy profit in the process, then I can understand this but 2 fucking bucks!? Are you fucking kidding me!? *sigh* When do we draw the line, folks?