Disney Crushes Doujin Game – “What Did You Expect!?”
- Categories: Games, News
- Date: Jan 28, 2012 19:24 JST
- Tags: Cancellations, Copyright, Crime, Disney, Doujin Soft, Otaku, Parody, USA
Doujin fans are quaking at the wrath of Disney, which has just shut down a free doujin game for daring to include a likeness of Mickey Mouse, demanding ¥6,000,000 in compensation for good measure.
“Hanako” features a parody retro RPG-style segment in which Mickey Mouse makes an appearance as a monster.
Disney evidently did not see the funny side of this, and demanded they cease development of the title and pay ¥6,000,000 in damages.
The developers, “AmoRico,” promptly complied:
Thank you very much for playing Visual Novel “Hanako”
Due to a major and intricate reasons, we were unavoidably close our site and stop the development of our game.From today, year 2012 January 26, We’re closing “Hanako Official Site” for indefinite period.
We appreciate the players whom supported us. Thank you very much.
In a series of Tweets, the creators of the game express their surprise at the level of Disney’s indignation and obsequiously pledge their full cooperation, doubtless in the hopes of wriggling out of the damages demanded of them.
Disney, unlike almost every Japanese company save Nintendo, is known to have an extremely aggressive attitude to doujin works and as a result there is not a great deal of surprise about their actions amongst Japanese:
“You got off lightly, ¥6,000,000 for knocking off Mickey’s head – lucky!”
“Disney are being quite nice about this.”
“You can’t have uncensored Mickeys in your games!”
“Disney is so scary…”
“Amateurs should not tangle with Ratland [2ch slang for Disney and Disneyland].”
“Disney and Nintendo are two companies you should avoid!”
“The people who made this are too stupid.”
“This was taking things a bit far, they should know about Disney…”
“Not annoying Disney is common knowledge in the doujin world. Even printers just refuse to print anything Disney related.”
“I thought Disney being harsh was an urban myth, but I guess it’s true…”
“Dirty American yakuza enterprise.”
“Our American masters are quick to demand vengeance.”
Update: The game’s developer now claims the email he received was a fake, and there have been some concerns raised that the whole affair was some kind of incipient scam.
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Why the hell should Disney get a monopoly over their characters for hundreds of years anyway? Just another example of oppressive and unfair copyright policy.
Because that way certain bank accounts grow bigger. Bank accounts belonging to people who get to decide how long copyrights last, that is.
Because it's THEIR characters. How would you like if you made something iconic and a waltz in asking you the same thing?
Oh dear. So we better not many any mentions of Romeo and Juliet anywhere because Shakespeare might get upset.
Wait.
Shakespeare already rolled over in his grave when the Montegues & Capulets were replaced with the Hatfields & McCoys. The Jets & the Sharks probably wasn't as bad in comparison.
Prior to this extension, copyright would only expire 50 years after one's death. So I imagine if you waltzed in and asked him, his reply would be a resounding "Braaaiiiinnnnnsssss...."
Disney have lobby'ed this from 14 years after creation all the way up to 75 years after creators death, and now they want it increased to 150!!! years.
glad US laws don't count here so we are free to download ex. the oldest Elvis albums (audio and video are 50 years after first release) and hardware/software is 25 years meaning that new "Analogue Nt" console with NES hardware is 100% legal...
150 years after death... copyright after creators death should been baned but then the US super corporations could not suck out our money in RIAA/MPAA-mafia style...
So it's okeh for Disney to completely rip off Kimba the White Lion and make megabucks but it's not okeh for someone to use 1 of their characters in a free game?
You've sucked for ages anyway Disney.
If you're talking about Lion King, it gets away with it because of the fact the story-line follows Macbeth. So they can claim that instead of Kimba.
Yeah they love to throw that bullshit excuse around, I generally accepted it until I saw the screenshot comparisons, they were the same to a T.
Seriously that's a huge fucking rip-off, I wish the Japanese company holding the rights would've done something.
"Owes him that much"? What a piece of bullshit. By your reasoning then Disney owes all those fairy tales writers a good chunk of money for all the "based on" movies Disney has made, and all the animators from other studios should let Disney rip them the fuck off since "they owe him that much". Stop being such a damn fanboy.
It was based off, but you can't say it is a rip off. Some scenes (and characters_ are indeed the same or similar, but the story is not).
Granted, Tezuka doesn't give a fuck, probably because he sent his animatiors to study about colors and animation with Disney, before they started Kimba, so he owns him that much.
The film might have some scenes similar, but it is not a rip off.
Tezuka doesn't give a fuck. While producing Kimba, he went to Disney to learn about colors and animation, so he owns him that much.
Tezuka doesn't owe them a damn thing. Disney could only live in his shadow.
y6,000,000 in damages?
what fucking damages?!
The kind you pull out of your ass. MAFIAA statistics at work.
wow....that shit storm of Disney Haters
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They must mean Mickey's surgery. A head replacement must cost a bundle.
Yeah, I don't see any legal reason Disney should be able to complain about this. As stated, it was a "free doujin game," so unless they mean damage to their mascot's sprite, they're far outside their jurisdiction. Even claiming it could damage Mickey's reputation would be a stretch.
As I've found out more about the company over the years, my love for them has faded. This puts the nails in the coffin.
Yeah, I'm not surprised. I have a buddy working @ Disney and they DO NOT fuck around. Despite working on movies/animations targeted at children, Disney is very corporate. They will fuck you up to continue making money.
from what i've been told from animator fellows, it's the place you have to work if you need your dreams crushed :)
Hahaha I was told the same, Disney is a good place to start working for your animation career but you better leave your dreams at the door.
They seem to have an unhealthy obsession with money.
Companies like Nintendo and Disney are not companies to fuck with.
They actually (believe it or not) do so much for their consumers but they just don't get respect from them at all. They have no choice but to put their foot down.
Are they strict? Hell yeah they are but they are great companies in my opinion.
I don't doubt that Disney & Nintendo & all the rest donate to various charities & philanthropic organizations around the world. That's not the problem. What gets people is that if you show your admiration of their characters by using them in your own works, even if you're doing it for no profit, they will come after you.
I know of situations where they went after Kindergartens for having Disney character stickers on the windows.
Just to liven things up for the kiddies.
Nope, form letter by their lawyers, remove it or we'll sue you into the ground.
You can thank Michael Eisner for that. The man was a 1980s corporate monster in every sense of the word.
Disney are a complete mindfuck. First they distribute file-sharing software, then they distribute direct links for popular songs for free at their website DisneyGo. They created the piracy just to be able to sue people making money on it.. I hope they rot in hell.
Whoa, Disney sure is full of pricks.
DISNEY WAS THE ULTIMATE PRICK!
ahem... correction.
DISNEY -IS- THE ULTIMATE PRICK!
they haven' gotten any better with the years...
Ratland
fuck Disney, they suck.
ACTA effect
I remember reading from somewhere that they even took down a daycare because the kids drew disney characters at the walls. They forced the daycare to erase said pictures and their competition (I forgot) put up their characters on the wall for free.
That's the epitome of douchebaggery, so much for Disney being "kid-friendly" and other hypocrisies.
Not ACTA. Disney has been closing down Kingdom Hearts doujinshi and fanart websites for years.
I fucking hate them for that.
Disney is one of the major corporation supporting the ACTA.
because MONEY
But they've been doing fine without it, it seems. So what's the point? Seriously. Why SOPA, PIPA, and ACTA if they can manage protect their IP's without them? I honestly don't understand.
lol no, disney effect. They are most strict company worldwide, protecting their characters at all cost for good 20 years now.
If Disney hadn't manipulated the government into extending copyright for so long then they wouldn't have been able to do anything. None of this extended copyright is the peoples choice and so shouldn't exist. It is the greedy bastards that get payed off in the government instead of going along with what the people want that allowed this BS to happen.
Thanks to Disney, copyright law in America is basically "Steamboat Willie plus seventy years". They're probably also the ones behind the new thing where public domain works can become NOT public domain.
Fuck Disney.
Disney is overly strict with their IP and were one of the driving forces behind the Bono Copyright extension act and ACTA.
Even other US franchises such as Starwars and and Startrek generally don't give a fuck about parody.
Doing so would kill their fan base.
But Disney you can't even use the name of the character.
But if they changed the names and styles just slightly Disney would not be able to do jack if Japanese laws are anything like US laws.
In the US there's section 107 of the 1976 Copyright act that protects derivative works if they're non profit.
Disney would prefer you not know that this exists.
in which ACTA helps quite a lot
implying that 99% of their characters wasn't stollen from popular authors or mithology.
Fuck that dirty rat!
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Disney-infinite-copyright.svg
In fact despite the draconian laws they bought Mickey has officially entered public domain.
They reacquired it as "trademark", meaning they still claim exclusive ownership over everywork he has been into on the grounds that it is protecting it's trademark. Problem is, trademarks only protect from usurpation or dilution. Parody is legal, doujin parody is legal. What Disney is doing here is evil and illegal in every conceivable way.
Disney Effect indeed! Kill one little mouse in Japan and all hell breaks loose on the other side of the world.
Disney corporate lawyers are like a pack of ravenous wolves. Even little kids doing school projects have come under their scrutiny and had action taken against them.
Disney is the 800 pound gorilla that everyone is afraid of disguised as this kid friendly company. They suck and their money grubbing corporation sucks. I personaly don't buy any of their shitty DVDs or products for my kids on general principle.
Nazi Walt can kiss my ass!
Unless it's Tezuka. Tezuka can get away with skinning Mickey Mouse and wearing his fur.
I only wish I were kidding.
This is just one example what will happen globally if ACTA is enabled!
Its called Intellectual Property Rights. Damn, people just don't have respect anymore for them.
Regardless of Disney actions. How would you react if you create something and someone decides to use it to tarnish your image without your permission?
China is a piracy monster so big that no company really can't do anything about at this time.
Intellectual Property Rights? So, does anyone hear Zun complaining, "Oh No, all you hoards of people making animations, drawings, figures, music, doujinshis, & games off my intellectual property rights must be stopped, or I'll sue!"?
In the end, the real problem is the same problem with corporations the world over & it has nothing to do with intellectual property rights or the Disney Corporation itself being an asshole: The shareholders backing Disney want their dividends! To that end, every use of Disney characters must make them money, & uses that don't directly put extra dividends in their pocket must be stopped. They don't want fan art going up in public places where people can see without someone having to pay. They don't want cameo appearances in other people's works where someone other than them is possibly making money. They want you to pay for the privilege of using or even seeing their stuff. The Disney Corporation itself is just a prostitute for its shareholding pimps & they see the world as Disney's john.
"How would you react if you create something and someone decides to use it to tarnish your image without your permission?"
Yes, that "someone" can do that. Ever heard about parody laws, corporate drone?
It's called parody..... legally protected all around the world (even for pay purposes), outside of the Middle East.
If only they had the balls to do that to China for all the stuff they ripped of the Japanese...
It's not the "balls", it's the "legal grounding". Japan usually tends to work hand-in-hand with American copywright interests because it already has its own similar (yet really BIZARRE) copywright laws in effect.
However in China there's just no issue. It's not against any Chinese law, and complying with foreign legal rulings often comes down only to whether or not it's good for buisness. There is actually a clause in Chinese law that when you base a part of your operation in China, then any aspect of your IP being manufactured there becomes free-market for China. They even send inspectors to make sure you're not shitting them about what you do there. Whether or not this infringes on another countries legislation is irrelevent, because within Chinese borders Chinese law is... the law.
Well China does have some copyright laws but they are not generally enforced.
There's just too much money to be made in pirated electronics and toys.
american companies are just coward greedy pieces of shit that needs to be eradicated.
how about complain about open piracy in china.... if they got the balls to do it.
No company dares cross China. 1,000,000,000 or whatever customers can't be upset. Not to mention Chinese laws favor pirates
I'd love to see that.
Disney wouldn't dare to Sue China, if chinese were mad, They will Spam the market will Cheap Disney Clone Goods for 1/10 the price.
oh they already done it, my bad
Technically, they do complain about open piracy in China. In fact, the big thing with conservative politicians these days is to act as if they are anti-China.
Of course, there's not shit they can do about piracy in China and the anti-China act is just a play they pull, because China provides cheap labor for government sponsors. No way they are going to change that as long as big business is running the show.
You only hear about the bad American companies. There are nice ones, but of course who wants about them?
Just to throw this in. Japan Disney and US Disney don't have joint business motives. Both are greedy but Japan Disney profit off of Kingdom Hearts products where in the US you'll be lucky to find a shirt. US Disney wouldn't threaten a site for parody or all the rule 34/fanart of disney stuff wouldnt be available on sites like Deviantart and Tumblr.
again J Disney is being a douche on its own w/out the help of US Disney's douchebaggery
Disney's been doing this stuff for decades. They've even gone after school kids at lemonade stands for using Disney characters! Sending them a cease and desist I'm not making this up!
All this legal outrage from a corporation founded by Hilter lover Walt. The Fuhrer must be proud!
Disney is full of pedos anyways
Disney: The most cut-throat bastards on earth.
Fuck SOPA/PIPA
I don't know why everyone is bitching about this. If you create something you have the right to protect your rights to it. That goes for any sort of artist, musician, whatever.
You guys are always evaluating something based on whether or not it suits you, never on logic or the big picture.