So Hasbro is ok with us selling their characters?

MidnightChyld

MidnightChyld

Teeny Tiny Baby Pony
Joined
Nov 21, 2009
Messages
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Ok so I should have asked this a million years ago but...

I just assumed that Hasbro was ok with us making and selling their characters. You know? Because at the convention people sell handmade mlp plushies. I am thinking of kitkatvintage's plushies for instance. But am I wrong? I just realized that hers may have been from the old mlp pattern and if so that is a different case.

So my question is...can we make our own items with Hasbro's characters and sell for profit? Have they ever said that they don't care? You see so many MLP hats, hoodys, dolls and things that are being made from scratch I just figured it was ok.

If anyone knows if Hasbro has actually stated how they feel about that please give me a link. Or if you don't have a link just let me know what you know? Thanks guys!
 
I don't know what Hasbro's official stance is on collectors selling their characters. I can only assume that they would be more concerned with characters they are currently selling (G4) compared to characters that they may not have actively licensed such as G1 & G2. I'm sure the volume of sales would factor in, as well. Customizers are not making a living off their work... only selling a few items here & there among the collecting community.

I can say that at the Fair in Kentucky, one of the ladies from Hasbro bought a custom plushie from me. I never received a "cease & desist letter" or anything despite openly giving them my contact information (lol), so I guess they didn't have a problem with it. At last year's Rhode Island Fair, the same lady told me that my plush pony lives in her office, so again I felt like this was a good sign. ;) I no longer make custom plush ponies, so I'm glad that one of mine has found a home at Hasbro.
 
Thanks so much KitKat!

Your the exact person I wanted to hear from XD lol
Wow so a Hasbro person bought one of your ponies? That's so cool! I would say like you did, they must not care THAT much or they wouldn't be buying them from you! I could see Hasbro never coming out with an official stance that way if someone did decide to make a living off of it then they could still take action.

I googled my butt off one day looking to see if Hasbro has ever given a go ahead on the fan-made pony selling but didn't find anything. But I would take your fair experience as a pretty good sign that as long as it's g1 or custom and you aren't making much money off of it it's ok.
 
blue lickety

Kit Kat [QUOTE only selling a few items here & there among the collecting community.
\ I no longer make custom plush ponies, so I'm glad that one of mine has found a home at Hasbro.[/QUOTE]

I like that one!!!
Dust
 
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I think it MIGHT fall under a fair-use clause. To my knowledge, no toy company has gone after an artist that has modified an original toy, or made a likeness of their product, or someone selling their own toys. I mean, heck, Hasbro HOSTED the Fair last year on their property! If there had been a copyright issue, a lot of people would have been barred from selling at the Fair. I think Hasbro and Mattel (the two big ones in the US) tend to look the other way on things like that, and in some cases, they're fans too, and will buy fan-made products.

Otherwise I'm completely wrong and we're all in a lot of trouble. :)

If they thought you were making millions off their original designs, or you had stolen their blueprints, THAT might be an issue, but I think we're fairly safe. :)
 
A lot of cons I at least look into selling at often have a bit in their artist alley contracts that restricts the amount of 'merchandise' you can sell. They're talking about things like buttons or keychains or t-shirts... things that can more immediately compete with similar products that are officially licensed, especially if they can be mass-produced.

Custom plush however are often not easily mass-produced so this is typically easier to get by.

Mind you this is anime cons and not something like toy collector or general nerd cons etc but the idea is the same I'm sure.

On top of that, it comes down to a copyright vs trademark issue. If I understand what I was taught in school, character likenesses are typically trademarked, not copyrighted. So it's more a concern about the character being associated with the wrong things than it is about being used without permission. Does that make sense?

Since the things fans are creating typically clearly intend to relate to the My Little Pony franchise, it's difficult to deny the free advertising perhaps. And when they're not, then they've been taken far away enough from the source material.

Ah, it's making sense to me, sorry! But yes, I also agree that a large part of it is perhaps just the volume of sales. So few persons who make and sell fan made merchandise are supporting themselves on it and really can't be infringing on any of Hasbro's profits to be a real concern. You could argue it's better public relations with the fans if they're not jumping down all our throats with cease and desists for customs, artwork, and so forth to boot.
 
Pony items would be considered Hasbro's "intellectual property" and making anything that looks like their characters would be a trademark/copyright infringement under law. Technically, they could send anyone a "stop that right now!" letter if they wanted to. However, it's their call to make, though. Apparently, they just see it as good advertising and don't want to upset their fanbase (I'm guessing) by cracking down on that sort of thing. It's a matter of them looking the other way while whistling. LOL. I think that's wonderful! :partysmiley: So, keep on making those adorable MLP plushies. Apparently they don't mind (but I haven't spoken to them about it. ... I'm just guessing based on what I've heard).

(It wouldn't be protected under "fair use" laws, btw.)
 
digitalduckie said:
.... You could argue it's better public relations with the fans if they're not jumping down all our throats with cease and desists for customs, artwork, and so forth to boot.
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Thats what I have been thinking too. Plus it would be an absolute legal and PR nightmare. Going after the hundreds to thousands artist and their customers. They would have to hire an army of lawyers and Hasbro would start looking like the bad guy in many peoples eyes.
It also helps that we are not mass producing our items and selling them to retailers. Most of us dont claim that the bait or character design (if you do an actual MLP character) is ours. We give credit to Hasbro or Mattel if we use one of their dolls, or say make a plush or babie of one of their characters.
People have been sued in the past for using characters that are owned by certain groups and people. I remember a lawsuit in the past that involved Betty Boop. But they were mainly going after manufactur's who were selling to retailers without the proper license.
 
Hi:) I know this is a realy old discussion Lol! But I needed some advice and this came up on Google....
Have any new info come up in the years up untill now?
I would just like to know, because I had one of my adds for my MLP custom plushies removed from a facebook buy and sell page, because they were worried about copyright infringement issues:/ I do clearly state that they are customs and don't try to sell them as originals and I don't charge a lot for them. Is that ok? I don't want to go to jail:(
 
Night Fury said:
Hi:) I know this is a realy old discussion Lol! But I needed some advice and this came up on Google....
Have any new info come up in the years up untill now?
I would just like to know, because I had one of my adds for my MLP custom plushies removed from a facebook buy and sell page, because they were worried about copyright infringement issues:/ I do clearly state that they are customs and don't try to sell them as originals and I don't charge a lot for them. Is that ok? I don't want to go to jail:(
Click to expand...

I have never in all my years EVER heard of anyone going to jail for selling their customs and artwork. That sounds like a little paranoia on the part of whatever Facebook group you were in ;)
 
Thank you Jewel:)
Once again you have come to my aid and given me advice. You are a great help always, just like our very own Princess Celestia;)
They didn't mention jail time in the reason for deleting my add. They did however say that copyright infringement is not allowed :/ I then looked up what could happen if infringement took place and steps were taken. There they said that your mercandise will be taken and that they can give you jail time for up to 3 months, I think:(
Well, that only happens if the company in question actually do take action. If Hasbro has no issues with customs then Yay! for us fans:D
I enjoy making my plushies and would hate to have to stop, so I will just not sell through that fb site. I have my own site and will continue to post pics there and here on the MLPTP, ofcause;)
 
Fan art has been and always will be a gray area, but if Hasbro isn't even going after the actual toy companies reproducing and marketing their molds en masse and distributing them for sale around the world (ie: fakies), they're not going to even glance at people who do it for a hobby or even a very small business. They're a huge company with way more on their minds than pony customs. ;) I would not hesitate for a single second to do customs or pony artwork.
 
Weren't they going after a few people at the height of the brony obsession? I did hear of a few C&D letters being sent to more prominent brony plushie makers when plushies were selling in the hundreds and thousands. But that was back when hasbro plushie licencees were just getting started manufacturing plushies for FiM, so I can see why - clearing the decks for the licensed product that they actually make money from. It does seem to have died down though, there are lots of popular licensed plush that they make lots of money from, so I dare say they aren't very worried (if at all) about the small time plush makers anymore!
 
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