dedguy
Super Freak
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2007
- Messages
- 6,448
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- 6
I don't get it...why remove the autobot sigil? I mean...they've already thrown out respect to trademark and licensing. They're not even generic robots...they're friggin bee and hot rod...so by removing the autobot label all of a sudden they're NOT recognizable??
Logos, symbols, etc can be trademarked. This makes their IP rights fairly rock solid and easily actionable. Maintaining rights of a specific character design is a lot trickier. I do believe character designs would have to fall under "copyright" which can only cover "the form or manner in which they are expressed". It does not cover the ideas themselves. You can't for example copyright the concept of transforming robots.
I think what that means is you can copyright a truck that is red and blue and turns into a robot that is named Optimus Prime/Convoy but you can't copyright all trucks that transform into robots. I also think that the many forms Optimus Prime and various other named Transformer characters have taken over the years dilutes possible claims on copyright.
At least that's what I have gathered based on my very limited knowledge of IP law. Basically I knew a copyright expert for a year or so back at my last job and that and any research I have done on my own is all I got so take all of that with a slab of rock salt. I may very well not know what I'm talking about.