The My Little Pony Fandom and CEASE & DESISTS
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- Опубліковано 10 лют 2025
- Over the years the My Little Pony fandom has been home to a lot of people creating fan-made MLP stuff. While most of these creators don't have to worry about any copyright issues, there have actually been some cases where projects from the MLP fandom were forcibly taken down by Hasbro. So today, let's take a look back at the My Little Pony fandom's relationship with cease & desists, and why it has happened in the first place!
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Thank you for taking your time to watch me rambling on about random legal stuff to do with the MLP/Brony fandom lol. As of me uploading this I currently have 4,917 subscribers!
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Now, this scares me because I make TONS of G5 videos using the models from the game that resemble the official show. It's been 2 years now, and I haven't had any trouble with them. I don't know if Hasbro even cares anymore, or maybe they just don't know. I just hope they don't know lol
I think even if Hasbro is actually aware of videos like yours, I believe they really just don't care as much as they used to in the earlier days of the fandom nowadays lol. So you should be fine
@@TobbyMLP well gawdamn
Nowadays, SFM and Blender usually extract the model from the source file of the game and AFAIK, no content creator has ever received C&D from the corporation
I think Hasbro just didn't know how to deal with the fanbase at the time because the term fandoms was just getting started on the internet and it's not just MLP
@@LightBluly That's also definitely true. I think after 2014 or so Hasbro got a much better grasp of how to deal with stuff from the fandom, which is why most C&D's were from the earlier days.
Makakaka!!! Hi love your vids!!
I am still sad at all the AMAZING things the fandom was working on that got destroyed by Hasbro with their cease and desist letters. awesome stuff we will never see that I was excited for that got ruined by Hasbro
Remember: Companies don't care about people, they only care about money.
They should've done the working with fans thing at least once for games. No official games are good. Except 1 or 2 decent official flash games.
I'll forever stand by the point that Fighting is Magic being cancelled was a blessing in disguise. Them's Fightin' Herds is infinitely better in every possible aspect.
Indeed because One Lauren Faust helped and Two ITS WAY BETTER
I prefer the original and still own it. They used the money from that project for charity and growing up with the original is more nostalgia. However, how they handled the situation was great.
Totally
I can't vouch for the PC version because I've never played it before, but I do have the PS4 version and it's really noticeable that it was not made with console in mind with how the controls work. I'm not a beginner gamer, but I always start a game on easy mode so I can learn the controls. So I know it's not a lack of experience on my end.
This didn't age well
My little cousin once made a drawing of a pony for her school art, now hasbro has waged war on our country
“The luxury of rainbows comes at a price,
Which is ignoring the screams and don’t think twice.”
The Pegasus Device; SlyphStorm
It's important to highlight just how much that C&D gave Mane6 the tools and publicity to succeed. Getting access to the more robust Skullgirls engine, characters and designs from the creator of FiM herself, getting playtesting from top-level competitors like SonicFox-the resources they got propelled TFH to be so well received today. It even managed to achieve that dream Fighting is Magic strived for years ago, getting a side bracket in Evo Japan 2023 and official brackets in other FGC majors like Combo Breaker and Frosty Faustings.
And for those who are still pining for the original Fighting is Magic: some fan teams have picked up the pieces and released their own completed forks, without the scrutiny of Hasbro.
Obviously Fighting is Magic got C&D because the way how it was represented made it look like Hasbro was _behind_ it. Pony Tales Adventure, took 3 years before getting C&D, also mimicked the official artstyle and made it look official.
There was a Brony Beer (that also mimicked the My Little Pony logo) which also got C&D because of Twilight Sparkle.
Oh yeah, I remember that beer fiasco, that was pretty funny.
MLP is also a kids show and some of these projects look so official that a child may accidentally confuse fan content for something from Hasbro. Some of this fan content is inappropriate for children. Fan content needs to be distinguishable from the show for not only copyright reasons, but for safety reasons as well
so why hasbro dont make anything for cupcake or smile hd?
@MouetteRoquefort That's exactly what I was thinking... I heard from somewhere that Hasbro's excuse for sending a C&D to the creators of Fighting is Magic was because it was "too violent" or whatever... Yet Smile HD and Cupcakes are still out there... Not only that, I've seen plenty of inappropriate MLP content that mimics the show's style perfectly... I feel like Hasbro just does this cuz they are greedy. The fan projects mentioned in the video were very popular... And I feel like Hasbro were just salty that the money these projects were/could've been making won't go into their bank accounts.
@@yuzukistardust87075 Hasbro is weird and they seem to pick and choose what violent content they want to C&D at random. A lesser known project they got was a Rainbow Factory movie by Spectra Studios, which mimicked the show's style and, being based on such a fic, was obviously going to be violent. So, they *seem* to care to some degree, I just can't explain the inconsistencies.
Another thing that got a Cease and Desist is the MLP fan movie “Journey of the Spark”
Ah it did? I thought Journey of the Spark was basically just a project which was slowly abandoned by the people making it, didn't know it got taken down by Hasbro. Thanks tho
Image a world where prisons are full of bronies cause they made pony videos that were just “too high quality”
Hasbro single handedly imprisons thousands of bronies around the world 😔
Alternative title: The Infamous My Little Pony Lawsuits
The MLP: FiM Amino also got hit by Hasbro. They weren't forced to take it down, but they were forced to change a LOT of the amino to appease Hasbro
Oh dang that sounds pretty interesting, never heard of that happening before.
@@TobbyMLP Yeah, not sure how Hasbro heard about it, but they clearly were not pleased and claimed the name of the Amino was "too confusing" and that people would assume a fan made Amino on an app that's completely about fans finding other fans and connecting was made by them. Among other "problems".
So what you’re saying is…. I should infringe on more MLP Content. Got it! Thanks Tobby! 🎉
Yup, exactly! We must show Hasbro who's boss around here
19:20 This is inaccurate, and in fact, the reality would be significantly worse for Hasbro. Hasbro not issueing a C&D would not create an implicit license to use their trademarks. That is not a thing that can even happen as far as I'm aware, unless there's some case law I missed. Instead, Hasbro failing to issue a C&D could be considered abandonment. Especially with large ones like fighting is magic and the button mash animation. Abandonment is when a trademark holder loses their trademark in some way. Usually from inaction of some kind. Hasbro letting some fan artists mess around on deviantart likely wouldn't constitute abandonment, but letting a fighting game that made thousands of dollars or an insanely popular fan animation that has to potential make tons in ad revenue stay up might. Basically, if Hasbro isn't careful, they'd lose the rights to mlp forever.
MLP radicalized me into adopting full-on pirate politics.
Thanks for watching this lol. While you're here, check out my Pony Place Discord server if you want to! discord.gg/7KCGRQwrNb 💯
This is interesting in comparison to Sega, who will literally allow anything as long as you don't profit, leading to Indie game-quality full length fan games.
It's a shame more companies can't do that. After all, if there's no profit, what's the problem
I still own a copy of Fighting is magic on my hard drive.
Awesome lol. Is it a copy of the leaked beta test build?
I would have gone underground and worked on a project in secret
Some of the stuff was pretty interesting, especially the games
There are some pony Steam games that very much use the MLP art style, but they are distinguished by not actually using any of the actual characters. These games are MareQuest, MareQuest: An Interactive Tail, D'LIRIUM, D'LIRIUM: The Golden Rogue, Slaughter Horse 2, Get Your Tentacles Off My Waifu, Filly Astray, and even some clop games like Friendship with Benefits.
All of these games, thanks to being on Steam and in potential competition with Hasbro themselves, could end up victim to them if they ever found out. I hope not, because some of these are genuinely great passion projects.
Thank you, Hasbro, for giving us My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. Also, screw you, Hasbro, you're the worst part about My Little Pony Friendship is Magic.
pretty much lol
Despite the explanation at the end of the video I still think shutting down fan projects only damage Hasbro's reputation. Living in fear of being sued kind of kills creativity...
That's definitely true, but as I said in the video it also really isn't much of a big problem for 99% of people or fan projects. As long as they are kept relatively lowkey and whatnot, the creators don't have to worry about any copyright problems, especially nowadays.
So far my series The Adventure of the Mane 6 hasn't yet being sued since it was a project back in 2021.
However, in 2023 the vas are asking everyone to stop using ai voices in videos without their consent because they dont want their voice to be cloned. By that point, I already add a disclaimer at the beginning of the video just to avoid a potential lawsuit and that ai voices are used for entertainment purposes only. Overall TAOTM6 is definitely going strong on behalf of MWK Animation atm.
The production is going slow right now since i am developing my first movie Unikitty! The Movie which you'll see in 2025/2026 (although that film wont include ai since i made a decision to put it aside).
Thats all for now.
I'm REALLY surprised he didn't talk about "Journey of the Spark"
The Journey of the Spark was such a big project that it kinda deserves its own video I might do it in the future
@@TobbyMLP Ah, ok
I wonder if hasbro took the popularity 4 granted. Did it matter that much? I don’t know. But I feel like mlp may have had a longer & stronger lasting popularity if the Jan Animations scenario didn’t happen. It really tarnishes the fun mlp fans could have. It’s also the only thing I’m upset missing out on.
5:26 These companies are always ruining the fun
Well when you really think about it, it's quite understandable when Hasbro does this, I mean if You had an idea for something great that would make you a lot of money, then someone else uses the same idea to make themselves a lot of money or just gives things away for free, leaving you not getting anything in return for the idea you had first, then you'd probably get mad & want to take legal actions yourself, and That is exactly the position Hasbro keeps getting put in with the MLP Fandom, but it's basically the same with all other companies & their licensed products.
Hasbro has made 4.760 billion dollars in 2024, I don't think they need the probably 10 to 1,000 dollars some random person having fun online is getting.
I think you're missing the basic point here.
To be honest some of these just felt like corporations being bullys.
I think companies have way to much power.
Look at warhammer dont see much content now becuse thir compny was to selfish and greedy.
I can understand some boundaries but thir needs to be a line that companies need to be held accountable for or risk going bankrupt.
Dude the c&d of Jan's videos was the first situation i heard of! Is he still making content? Just not pony related?
Jan appears to be working as a freelancer animator right now, he's currently employed at a game dev company.
Why does Hasbro hate their fans so much? Like, if it’s about their “image” then why don’t they go after people who make actively racist or homophobic/transphobic content with their characters?
I only got into mlp because of the amazing fan work of the show. Would it kill them to just let a couple people have written permission to keep doing the things they are doing? Especially when it gets the company more money via people buying their merchandise and watching they’re shows?
Edit: spelling mistakes
On one hand, I'm mad at so many projects getting canned. On the other hand, I kinda understand. Copyright concerns aside, there was some fan projects clearly not appropriate for kids. Story of the Blanks was getting a remake by an artist I frequently commission art from. She made a trailer, a tutorial level, and needed voice actors. She got C&D'd. Anyone who knows anything about Story of the Blanks knows it's a dark creepy pasta, with hints of murder and death. This is just one example close to me, as I was the biggest financial contributor to that small project.
I am happy to get Them's Fightin' Herds though, that is a very fun game.
You forgot Pinkamena/Slaughter Horse
Same with Friendship is Witchcraft, The Mentally Advanced Series, and Ask Jappleack, among other projects.
I made a comment about much lesser known content that hasn't been C&Ded, but could be threatened due to the clearly inspired (or even traced) art, including Slaughter Horse 2. See my own comment for the list.
Pony Town looks intresting
I used to like MLP when I was a little kid and until like 11 or 12 some of the fans are weird omg
Yeah some of us were crazy but most of us are good people, who ARENT in love with ponies
@Lucky_Lyra Okay fr the show is still good!
What does it have to do with the video? With all of my respect I have no idea why people go for videos made by fandoms of a certain media just to say stuff like that randomly... Yeah, many people liked mlp as little kids, but nobody cares, the fandom is still alive and people still like the show dude
@@Vitaminadbanan Bro why your rude WTH? 😐
@@lexiyah643 Yeah, you're definitely still a kid lmao
Maybe if Hasbro took notes how Sega allows fans to make fangames maybe just maybe things could have been better resolved than what happened the past 10 years.
I do wonder about Fanfics since you didn’t really mentioned about them. There has been very few stories that did get a limited production in the past but never been C&D.
At least Them’s Fightin Herds is a good game.
here something for great game developers, why not just asked nthem and sealed a deal with them
I kinda explained why in the video itself. Hasbro wasn't really willing to do that with most fan projects from the fandom.
true, i mean not every game but fair@@TobbyMLP
7-year old girl- draws a pic of Twilight
Hasbro- Kill it. (Hasbro Executives come in and put the girl in court)
So this is why the fandom seems so dead these days... Damn. Like I get it that MLP is technically a kids show, but the whole money Hasbro got and the thing that made this show what it is today IS the adult fanbase so like... Honestly?? That's not a very good idea. They should just take down the very hardcore and gorey stuff in order to protect kids and the brand in general, but other things?? Nah bro... That's stupid.
“The luxury of rainbows comes at a price,
Which is ignoring the screams and don’t think twice.”
The Pegasus Device; SlyphStorm