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INTEREST: Man Sued for Power Rangers Hooded Sweatshirts


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shukero



Joined: 13 Feb 2012
Posts: 493
Location: Michigan
PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 6:07 pm Reply with quote
Mr. sickVisionz wrote:
It's always funny what people try to pass off as fair use. Anytime you're blatantly making money by using someone else's IP and aren't paying the owners a penny and haven't asked their permission, a red flag should go off in your head. This is the entire point of licensing.

Now... they'll just get shut down and if these things were selling well enough, Saban will start making them. If they'd played by the rules they probably could have worked out a licensing agreement with them.


I can understand where you are coming from; and the defendant in this case is blatantly trying to rip off power rangers even with the names; "power hoodies"

I believe though that patients can only go so far. It's like they are claiming a patent on a diamond pattern, which has been here long before the LLC got their hands on power rangers.

Again though I complete agree that this guy was basically trying to take away money from LLC; but would you be saying the same thing if some sweaters like these came out from a design company like AE under a different name?
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johnndergrosse



Joined: 05 Jan 2011
Posts: 37
PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 7:11 pm Reply with quote
This is stupid. Saban doesn't even own the rights to the Power Ranger's suits. Bandai owns the rights to the suits, zords, weapons, and monsters. All Saban owns is the re-filmed scenes of American actors out of suits, the English dubs over battles, and the name "Power Rangers".

If anyone should sue, it's Bandai.
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ArsenicSteel



Joined: 12 Jan 2010
Posts: 2370
PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 8:07 pm Reply with quote
If the guy was selling bootleg Power Ranger toys or games maybe Bandai would be part of the suit but SCG Power Rangers LLC(Mostly Saban) holds the rights to franchise and would be the ones that can sue for any form of copyright infringement in America.
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Sunday Silence



Joined: 22 Jun 2010
Posts: 2047
PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 8:10 pm Reply with quote
johnndergrosse wrote:
This is stupid. Saban doesn't even own the rights to the Power Ranger's suits. Bandai owns the rights to the suits, zords, weapons, and monsters. All Saban owns is the re-filmed scenes of American actors out of suits, the English dubs over battles, and the name "Power Rangers".

If anyone should sue, it's Bandai.


I'd figure Toei would be the ones doing it.
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Jonny2x4



Joined: 02 Sep 2007
Posts: 11
PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 8:59 pm Reply with quote
Actually, it's Toei who owns the rights to the suit (Bandai just makes the toys), but otherwise I agree with you. But then again, Power Rangers is mostly a vehicle to sell Super Sentai merchandise in the U.S. Even if he had no hand in creating the actual heroes and robots in the shows, he is still responsible for protecting Toei's interests and are possibly acting on their behalf.
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Togame



Joined: 22 Jan 2010
Posts: 149
PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 10:05 pm Reply with quote
Saban Brands most likely has a contractual obligation with Bandai and-or Toei to defend this IP. Just sayin.
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Tris8



Joined: 30 Oct 2009
Posts: 2114
Location: Where the rain is.
PostPosted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 12:47 am Reply with quote
Those hoodies look really cool, I'd buy the green one if his business wasn't already taken down. Very Happy
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Yoda117



Joined: 11 Sep 2005
Posts: 406
PostPosted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 11:50 am Reply with quote
TitanXL wrote:

Really? It's clear as day what it's supposed to be.


Looks to me like a checkerboard pattern. What you infer is not the responsibility of the company.

That pattern is not licensed.

(this ought to be the counterargument)

Quote:
Copyright holders are full in their rights to do this any more than Nintendo has a right to go after a logo involving a fat Italian guy in red and blue overalls with an M on his cap.


You're totally right. And in fact, they have to, even if it doesn't always make sense. If they don't then when someone actually uses their IP without authorization, then it becomes even harder to convince a court that you've been vigorously defending your property the story behind Goretex is a great example of this - and the creators behind it proved themselves to be a pretty class act in the fact that they shared it so freely).

The problem here is that when you combine the pattern and the marketing, it's obvious what this is supposed to represent and what the market is. I'll wager that if this goes to trial, that's how Saban goes after them.

Even if the defendant says that they're not using licensed stuff, they infer pretty strongly what their goal is, and if I were a gambling man, that's the low fruit I'd go after in the suit to prove my case (if I were Saban).
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Dodearz



Joined: 05 Oct 2012
Posts: 1
PostPosted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 1:18 am Reply with quote
still waiting for hooded sweatshirts. Very Happy
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vashna



Joined: 19 Feb 2010
Posts: 1313
PostPosted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 1:46 am Reply with quote
I'm just surprised by something else a few other people have brought up here as well. It's not hard for any of us to go and search on ebay for countless unlicensed t-shirts of just about anything. I see dozens of shirts with Piccolo's demon crest from Dragon Ball all the time on that site. Do those get a pass because many of the dealers were in Hong Kong and this case is more of a US based one?
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