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[Draugoth]

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• Former Pokemon Company Chief Legal Officer Don McGowan labeled Palworld as "ripoff nonsense."
• McGowan, who led The Pokemon Company's legal affairs for 12 years, said he's surprised to see Palworld "got this far."
• The Pokemon Company has so far said nothing about Palworld, but some vocal fans continue to insist the game blatantly rips off many Pokemon creature designs.

Don McGowan, The Pokemon Company's former chief legal officer, has labeled Palworld as "ripoff nonsense." His views on the hit survival game dovetail with those of some vocal Pokemon fans who are not happy about Palworld and eager to criticize it any chance they get.

McGowan's former employer has so far remained mum on the hit game. Seeing how Palworld has been sharing gameplay footage for years leading up to its early access release, The Pokemon Company already had ample time to prepare a copyright infringement complaint. Whether it decided against doing so because it wasn't convinced it had an iron-clad case against PocketPair or some other reason is unclear. But there is little doubt that the conglomerate has been aware of Palworld and its similarities to Pokemon for a long time now.

This looks like the usual ripoff nonsense that I would see a thousand times a year when I was Chief Legal Officer of Pokemon. I’m just surprised it got this far.

Source

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[Deft Beck]

There's many reasons why TPC hasn't gone after any of the others, namely that they don't really have to care, since they're on top no matter how many ripoffs get made.

If you go after Palworld, then you will have to go after a ton of other Poke-likes which could have a chilling effect on the genre.

 

[Danjin44]

Top lawyers....

 

[shamoomoo]

Yes,it is an inspiration,duh!

 

[willothedog]

being a lawyer and stating that, has he not heard of defamation

 

[DrFigs]

 

[ManaByte]

 

[nikos]

He must have not played it.

There are a ton of games that actually rip Pokémon off. The difference is they haven’t sold five million in a weekend.

 

[bender]

Quick, buy it before it gets delisted! Joke

 

[Mister Wolf]

They need to let them build up enough money so they have something worth taking.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

so...whats the "ripoff nonsese" the game, or the complaints about the game?

 

[Punished Miku]

Quick, buy it before it gets delisted! Joke

I was thinking that honestly.

 

[bender]

They need to let them build up enough money so they have something worth taking.

 

[Danjin44]

 

[SF Kosmo]

The blowhard lawyer has no real incentive to say it's in the bounds of copyright, but the fact is, it clearly is.

That doesn't mean Nintendo won't sue. They will. Just as PUBG sued Fortnight. Because the game is making a shit load and they probably figure they can pressure them to settle. But the fact is they weren't dumb, you can't copyright things like proportions or general color schemes.

The best Nintendo can do is try to make this a "look and feel" case, but to win that, they would need to argue that consumers are genuinely confusing this for an official Pokemon product, and I really don't think they can win that argument.

 

[RyanEvans21]

He is former lawyer though

 

[kazuyamishima]

So Palworld is a better Pokemon game than the original Pokemon huh.

 

[NickFire]

being a lawyer and stating that, has he not heard of defamation

He stated what it looks like to him. That suggests he is stating his opinion. Giving an opinion is generally protected.

 

[Raonak]

The reason it "got so far" is because nintendo can't really do anything about it.

Nintendo could shut down other games was because they were fan made pokemon projects that used the exact pokemon designs, including names.
Palworld doesn't use any copyrighted content. So this is more similar to nexomon and tem tem.
The designs are similar for sure, but that's not something that'll hold up in court.

Most importantly, the game plays nothing like a pokemon game.

 

[jshackles]

The best Nintendo can do is try to make this a "look and feel" case, but to win that, they would need to argue that consumers are genuinely confusing this for an official Pokemon product, and I really don't think they can win that argument.

Might not be too hard since the marketing is using the phrase "catch 'em all"

 

[Kssio_Aug]

Might not be too hard since the marketing is using the phrase "catch 'em all"

But that's on Xbox/MS. The game is not using this phrase to advertise itself.

 

[jshackles]

But that's on Xbox/MS. The game is not using this phrase to advertise itself.

I'm sure Nintendo would rather go after Microsoft (and their deep pockets) anyway.

 

[Pejo]

God damn this game is creating a lot of tertiary butthurt. I don't really get it, what has this game done exactly to the Pokemon IP that's so much worse than what Gamefreak has been doing to it for years?

 

[FoxMcChief]

Mad as fuck and can’t do anything about it.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

ahh yes the professional legalese "ripoff nonsense", that will get you far in court.

 

[ManaByte]

 

[Baki]

God damn this game is creating a lot of tertiary butthurt. I don't really get it, what has this game done exactly to the Pokemon IP that's so much worse than what Gamefreak has been doing to it for years?

Nintendo die hards can be quite toxic.

 

[GigaBowser]

Thefts Nintendo will win the larsuit I am known for my industry predicitions

 

[CamHostage]

That couldn't have been a difficult edit...

 

[Ceadeus]

Pokemon Company might just inspire from Palworld. Pokemon games basically been the same for so many years.

 

[Meicyn]

I look forward to the making of Last Fiction, an RPG starring Cumulus, a blond swordsman with spiky hair who assists some Just Stop Oil protestors in Midbulwark, a futuristic dystopian city. Party members will include a chick with large honkers, a large man with a bazooka for an arm who has urban credibility, and various other wild personalities. Twenty years from now, this game will get remade into a three part trilogy.

 

[Saber]

Too bad its just his opinion, since he is former lawyer.
In any event, the drama itself its quite flavoury. Dunno if is enought to rime some rings at Pokemon Company itself.

 

[SF Kosmo]

Might not be too hard since the marketing is using the phrase "catch 'em all"

Yeah I'm pretty sure "Gotta catch em all" is trademarked, but it's also not clear who is responsible for that ad, Palworld or Xbox.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

But the fact is they weren't dumb, you can't copyright things like proportions or general color schemes.

You can copyright 9 rectangles

"catch 'em all"

Since when Nintendo owns the right on this expression All schoolchildren are pirates now. With trademarks you cannot use it as a name for anything, but English words belong to British Empire

 

[G-DannY]

TIL "The Pokemon Company" is an actual company and not just a sarcastic synonym for "Nintendo"

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

You can copyright 9 rectangles


Since when Nintendo owns the right on this expression All schoolchildren are pirates now. With trademarks you cannot use it as a name for anything, but English words belong to British Empire

They're using it as a marketing slogan you donkey, not on a playground

 

[Hohenheim]

Well, i'm for sure already as tired of hearing about this game as I am with the original Pokemon stuff.

As for the loud and gritty part og the Pokemon fanbase, there's a fine line between being a fan and a batshit crazy cunt.
Which of course is pretty well known in this industry in general, sadly.

 

[SJRB]

Nooooo Pokemon invented creatures that look like bats, or puddles, or snakes, or ghosts!!

They're CLEARLY stealing! Get them, Nintendoo

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

So the IP owners of King Kong, Superman and Peter Pan are going to sue Nintendo, too?

Imagine From Software sued anyone who "copied" their gameplay, level design, or characters.

This drama is getting out of hand.

 

[CeeJay]

They're using it as a marketing slogan you donkey, not on a playground

the actual copyrighted slogan is "Gotta catch 'em all" which is entirely different to "Go catch 'em all", nothing to see here.

 

[lifa-cobex]

They beat you to it

 

[BlackTron]

I think anybody has the right to make a competing monster collecting game but the designs are clearly stolen from Nintendo and then remixed. It's like if you put an Iron-Man jetpack on Spider-Man and called it original. It's obvious theft. A great example of a Pokemon alternative not made by intentionally trolling thieves was Digimon.

 

[GHG]

the actual copyrighted slogan is "Gotta catch 'em all" which is entirely different to "Go catch 'em all", nothing to see here.

It's similar enough to encroach on trademark infringement.

8 Times Companies Were Sued Over Their Slogans

We combed through the news to pick a few favorites from the (somewhat) recent past.

www.mentalfloss.com

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

the actual copyrighted slogan is "Gotta catch 'em all" which is entirely different to "Go catch 'em all", nothing to see here.

That's called derivative work

 

[Needlecrash]

This "ripoff nonsense" has made a lot of money and got a lot of players.

COPE.

 

[NanaMiku]

Don't forget that Pokemon is not just games. Their merchandising is really strong. Palworld maybe not really a threat. Temtem also looks really similar to Pokemon, even the battle system is similar. But they didn't have any problem



I went to Pokemon Center in Japan once, and I almost spent all money even though I don't really like Pokemon that much lol.

Their random projects are really great

 

[BlackTron]

BTW did anybody read the comment in context of the full sentence? "This looks like the usual ripoff nonsense that I would see a thousand times a year when I was Chief Legal Officer of Pokemon."

I 100% believe that if I had been chief legal officer for Pokemon and saw this I'd be like oh anotherone.gif

 

[CeeJay]

That's called derivative work

Like Pokemon right?

Spoiler: spoiler

i was joking about the slogan by the way

 

[tusharngf]

meanwhile fans

 

[apple_of_enlightenment]

It's obvious theft.

Won't be long before Nintendo forces Steam to take this down.

That it became so popular though should be a warning call to TPC/Nintendo: Make a better Pokemon game.