I am having a bit of arguement over at Tfan's sister site, toy news international on which company owns the license to Transformers. I believe it is Takara who owns the license even though Hasbro repackaged their microman and diaclone lines as Transformers.

 

One person claims that HAsbro has license back the brand to Takara, which doesn't make sense to me considerin how a lot of the g1/2 and the beast wars figs says license under Takara.

 

HEre is the thread for more detail:

 

http://forums.toynewsi.com/index.php?showt...;#entry16520566

 

I am asking you guys since I would rather have an expert on Transformers who can provide references that I am wrong or right rather than someone who somewhat knows TF on that other board.

They both do. TakaraTomy owns the rights to brand Japan, and Hasbro owns the rights to the brand everywhere else.

I think Virgin Records...

As I Understand It:

 

The Short Answer: Hasbro

 

The Long Answer: While Hasbro licensed the original toy molds from Takara, the intellectual property of the story - Autobots, Decepticons, Cybertron, etc. is strictly a Hasbro creation and so they own the controlling rights to those aspects of it, which Takara uses with permission. The relationship between the two companies allows Takara much more control over what they would like to do with the brand than most companies with a lincenser/licensee agreement, but in theory, if they had a fight and split ways Takara might retain rights to use some toy molds and stuff, but Hasbro would retain rights to produce "The Transformers".

The relationship between the two companies allows Takara much more control over what they would like to do with the brand than most companies with a lincenser/licensee agreement, but in theory, if they had a fight and split ways Takara might retain rights to use some toy molds and stuff, but Hasbro would retain rights to produce "The Transformers".

It would also mean that if Hasbro tried to make another Optimus Prime figure, it would neither be a truck, or Red + Blue, because Takara holds the rights to that specific image. In other words, the Optimus Prime we've come to know and love will cease to exist.

The relationship between the two companies allows Takara much more control over what they would like to do with the brand than most companies with a lincenser/licensee agreement, but in theory, if they had a fight and split ways Takara might retain rights to use some toy molds and stuff, but Hasbro would retain rights to produce "The Transformers".

It would also mean that if Hasbro tried to make another Optimus Prime figure, it would neither be a truck, or Red + Blue, because Takara holds the rights to that specific image. In other words, the Optimus Prime we've come to know and love will cease to exist.

I don't think that's true at all.

 

"Specific image" copyright is very...well, specific. Hasbro might, maybe, lose the copyright to produce toys from the mold derived from the original Diaclone figure that first became Optimus, but the character design image of Optimus from all American media (cartoons, comics, live action movies) would still be theirs and they would be more than free to produce toys based upon that (those) image(s).

*is with Hobbes*

 

Basically everything we know as "Transformers" belongs to Hasbro.

 

But considering the fact that most post-Diaclone/Microman molds are a joint creation of both Hasbro and Takara, divvying up who gets what would be a lot like child custody hearings in a divorce.

The relationship between the two companies allows Takara much more control over what they would like to do with the brand than most companies with a lincenser/licensee agreement, but in theory, if they had a fight and split ways Takara might retain rights to use some toy molds and stuff, but Hasbro would retain rights to produce "The Transformers".

It would also mean that if Hasbro tried to make another Optimus Prime figure, it would neither be a truck, or Red + Blue, because Takara holds the rights to that specific image. In other words, the Optimus Prime we've come to know and love will cease to exist.

 

Worry not. Optimus Primal comes to the rescue.

I think Virgin Records...

 

my snarkyness was thinking the same thing.

The relationship between the two companies allows Takara much more control over what they would like to do with the brand than most companies with a lincenser/licensee agreement, but in theory, if they had a fight and split ways Takara might retain rights to use some toy molds and stuff, but Hasbro would retain rights to produce "The Transformers".

It would also mean that if Hasbro tried to make another Optimus Prime figure, it would neither be a truck, or Red + Blue, because Takara holds the rights to that specific image. In other words, the Optimus Prime we've come to know and love will cease to exist.

 

Worry not. Optimus Primal comes to the rescue.

 

 

Well that's just prime...