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INTEREST: Sanrio Sues Oklahoma Beauty Pageant for Copyright Infringement




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Mr. Oshawott



Joined: 12 Mar 2012
Posts: 6773
PostPosted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 3:42 pm Reply with quote
Man, Sanrio must really be on a lawsuit frenzy for some time now. What reason does the Oklahoma Beauty Pageant have for featuring Hello Kitty within its event?
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Emma Iveli



Joined: 19 Jun 2005
Posts: 679
Location: Hobo with internet
PostPosted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 3:48 pm Reply with quote
Mr. Oshawott wrote:
What reason does the Oklahoma Beauty Pageant have for featuring Hello Kitty within its event?


It's a children's beauty pageant, you know the type from Toddlers and Tiaras... need I say more?
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Dessa



Joined: 14 Jul 2004
Posts: 4438
PostPosted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 6:21 pm Reply with quote
Companies really don't have a choice in these matters. It may look like they're just being sue-happy, but in the US, at least, if you don't actively go after people infringing on your copyright, then you risk losing it.
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la_contessa



Joined: 20 Apr 2007
Posts: 200
Location: Pennsylvania
PostPosted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 7:22 pm Reply with quote
Dessa wrote:
Companies really don't have a choice in these matters. It may look like they're just being sue-happy, but in the US, at least, if you don't actively go after people infringing on your copyright, then you risk losing it.


You're thinking of trademarks Smile Copyrighted material does not become public domain due to lack of enforcement; trademarks, on the other hard, can become generic and therefore no longer protected.

You're on the right track, though--the copyright holder loses licensing fees. The pageant SHOULD have paid a fee to Sanrio to use the copyrighted material, and Sanrio lost that potential money when the pageant used the material without paying the fee.

Seriously, how unprofessional does your company have to be to ignore a C&D letter? And from a huge company like Sanrio, even!
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Sunday Silence



Joined: 22 Jun 2010
Posts: 2047
PostPosted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 7:50 pm Reply with quote
la_contessa wrote:
Seriously, how unprofessional does your company have to be to ignore a C&D letter? And from a huge company like Sanrio, even!


Ever seen Toddlers and Tiaras? Or that abysmal new show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo?
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potatochobit



Joined: 26 Aug 2009
Posts: 1373
Location: TEXAS
PostPosted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 9:34 pm Reply with quote
Sanrio is way past it's prime. I actually believe they are not in a very good position. you can see how they have been associating with 'other brands' in an attempt to regain some popularity.
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Mr. Oshawott



Joined: 12 Mar 2012
Posts: 6773
PostPosted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 10:16 pm Reply with quote
potatochobit wrote:
Sanrio is way past it's prime. I actually believe they are not in a very good position. you can see how they have been associating with 'other brands' in an attempt to regain some popularity.

I wonder what are those "other brands" that Sanrio's been attempting to take part in?
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Siegel Clyne



Joined: 30 Apr 2006
Posts: 201
PostPosted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 11:06 pm Reply with quote
Even with a stagnant economy and a rapidly aging, possibly shrinking population with a low, declining birth rate in Japan, Sanrio (wholly owned subsidiary of Japan's Sanrio Co., Ltd.) - headed by its most popular character, Hello Kitty - still managed to be ranked as the 8th most valuable brand in the world for 2011, with 5 billion (5,000 million) U.S. dollars in global licensing sales.

Source: The Top 125 Global Licensors, the exclusive annual retail sales ranking of the world's largest owners of intellectual property from License! Global (dated May 2012)

According to a July 12, 2011 article in WalmartHelp? News & Information for Walmart Suppliers, "Sanrio to Cut Reliance on Hello Kitty Character – Bloomberg":

Quote:
Sanrio, which ended a decade-long sales slump in 2010, relies on Hello Kitty goods for 80 percent of overseas licensing revenue. Character-goods deals with Wal-Mart Inc., Inditex SA’s Zara brand and Austrian luxury crystal maker Swarovski helped Sanrio more than double operating profit since 2009 and amass 21.1 billion yen in cash, the most in a decade.


Some other Japanese-related information regarding The Top 125 Global Licensors:

#7 Hasbro (US) US$5.2 billion - led by the Transformers, which originated as Japanese robot toylines Diaclone and Microman's Micro Change from Japan's Takara

#19 Cartoon Network Enterprises/Turner CN Enterprises (US) US$2.9 billion - Bakugan, an international collaboration between Japanese (TMS, Japan Vistec), Canadian (Nelvana) and British (Spin Master) companies, is a major contributor to Cartoon Network's fortunes

#30 The Pokémon Company International (Japan) US$1.5 billion - Pikachu!

#48 Nelvana Enterprises (Canada) US$1 billion - led by the Japanese multimedia franchise Beyblade based on a Japanese manga by Takao Aoki, which in turn revolved around Japanese fighting spinning tops

#68 Toei Animation (Japan) US$384 million - Japanese animation (anime)

#70 Saban Brands (US) US$375 million - led by the Power Rangers, which originated in Japan from Toei's long-running Tokusatsu series, Super Sentai

#92 Viz Media (US-based, Japan-owned) US$200 million - Japanese animation and comics (anime and manga)

#94 Big Tent Entertainment (US) US$182 million - led by Domo, the mascot of Japan's NHK...
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