Odanan, on 14 January 2013 - 08:44 AM, said:
The Longbow in
MW4M was really the
Unseen, not the
Reseen. I wonder how they did that.
Well, MW4 was released in 2002 - right around the same time that "
the Tokyo District Court issued a judgment that the copyright for Macross lies with Studio Nue and Big West" rather than Tatsunoko Productions (the source of HG's license to the
Macross-related material).
Quote
On February 25, 2002, the Tokyo District Court issued a judgment that the copyright for Macross lies with Studio Nue and Big West. Tatsunoko had attempted to argue that they also held copyright because concept materials brought to them originally by the other two parties were simply "rough sketches" that were significantly different from the final product, and it was they who had fleshed out these concepts into their final form. The judge rejected these arguments. Unfortunately, the verdict does not comment on the validity of the previous "memorandum" between the three parties granting international rights to Tatsunoko.
In addition, the court denied Big West's request for a restraining order on further Macross production or licensing by Tatsunoko saying, "there is no reason to grant the request as we determine there is no risk of the defendant creating new Macross movies or licensing third parties to do so."
Between the Japanese court's decision (which would likely cast substantial doubt on the legitimacy of HG's claims to the franchise) and the involvement of Microsoft Game Studios (whose parent company has both a likely-larger-and-more-competent legal team
and the resources to beat HG at their own game (that is, "drag out litigation until the other party goes bankrupt")), and the
Longbow not being among the more popular Unseen (as it is certainly not on the same pedestal as the
Marauder or the
Warhammer), HG would have had the choice of I.) death by their own preferred poison or II.) backing down.
It almost makes me wish MGS and FASA had gone with a more-popular Unseen, and/or pressed the issue in light of the Japanese ruling... >