Disney Sniffing Around Hasbro?

Morrus · Nov 6, 2012

jeffh said:
Contrary to the story quoted here, Hasbro doesn't own the game rights to Star Wars, FFG does.

Yeah, that info's a bit outdated. Still, I imagine there will be a lot of SW licensing changes over the next few years as existing licenses expire, are withdrawn, or are bought back (depending on the individual contracts). The SW tabletop gaming stuff probably doesn't even register to them at this stage - it's the toys that are big.

Lwaxy · Nov 6, 2012

I'm already not happy about Disney getting the rights to SW, them buying Hasbro would really make me start hating on them I guess.

delericho · Nov 6, 2012

I suspect it's probably not a good thing (in the longer term) to have these giant, faceless corporations hoovering everything up. Especially as they tend to be extremely aggressive about IP - meaning that anything even close to their properties is a risky venture. That's really not good for innovation, for artists, or, ultimately, for customers.

However, I'm not sure it matters which giant, faceless corporation owns all these things - there's no reason to think Disney would be any better or worse for D&D (or Transformers, or the rest of my childhood) than Hasbro already are.

Cergorach · Nov 6, 2012

jeffh said:
Contrary to the story quoted here, Hasbro doesn't own the game rights to Star Wars, FFG does.

Neither does FFG, they have a license, it's unknown whether that is an exclusive license or not. Lucas Arts still owns the game rights to SW, they just licensed some parts out.

It also seems that FFG has only a license for RPGs, card games, and miniature games, and not boardgames. X-wing is listed under miniature games on the FFG. http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=2528

So the statement that Hasbro has a license to produce SW boardgames might not be untrue.

As for the whole Disney thing... When I heard that Disney gobbled up Lucas Arts the first thing that popped in my head was "When will they gobble up Hasbro?" for all the reasons mentioned. Do I think this is bad? Yes and no. Bad because Disney has been historically the company that has been lobbying the US for greater and greater extensions on copyright. Not bad because when I look at how Marvel is doing the last couple of years is nothing short of amazing, whether that is due to Disney or despite Disney is the question...

Klaus · Nov 6, 2012

D&D Roller Coaster, anyone?

Morrus · Nov 6, 2012

delericho said:
I suspect it's probably not a good thing (in the longer term) to have these giant, faceless corporations hoovering everything up. Especially as they tend to be extremely aggressive about IP - meaning that anything even close to their properties is a risky venture. That's really not good for innovation, for artists, or, ultimately, for customers.

I don't see that it really matters in terms of old properties Star Wars and stuff. More SW films is good for customers; no more SW films is the same as it is now.

For artists and innovation? It doesn't affect artists innovating with new stuff.

In terms of D&D - I wonder how different Disney would be to Hasbro. I mean, on our scale they're both giant behemoths. I guess third-party products might - in the long run - be affected. But there aren't many 3rd party D&D products these days anyway.

Klaus · Nov 6, 2012

Morrus said:
I don't see that it really matters in terms of old properties Star Wars and stuff. More SW films is good for customers; no more SW films is the same as it is now.

For artists and innovation? It doesn't affect artists innovating with new stuff.

In terms of D&D - I wonder how different Disney would be to Hasbro. I mean, on our scale they're both giant behemoths. I guess third-party products might - in the long run - be affected. But there aren't many 3rd party D&D products these days anyway.

At the very least Disney's lawyers could grab back the rights to D&D movies, eh?

Kaodi · Nov 6, 2012

Oops. I just posted a thread on this in Media which could probably be deleted now.

In any case, sooner or later anti-trust is going to come back into style. Up here in Canada we have already had the CRTC, which is our media regulator, nix a takeover of Astral Media by (our) Bell because they figured it would give Bell too much control over content that both they and the other telecompanies rely on. Someone could look at a Hasbro deal and ask how much control over popular entertainment is too much for Disney to be allowed to have. Once traditional media companies and video game companies begin to merge, then you will know things are really getting dicey.

delericho · Nov 6, 2012

Morrus said:
I don't see that it really matters in terms of old properties Star Wars and stuff. More SW films is good for customers; no more SW films is the same as it is now.

Agreed.

In terms of D&D - I wonder how different Disney would be to Hasbro. I mean, on our scale they're both giant behemoths. I guess third-party products might - in the long run - be affected. But there aren't many 3rd party D&D products these days anyway.

And agreed.

For artists and innovation? It doesn't affect artists innovating with new stuff.

Here I don't agree, though. Sure, as long as you're being truly unique and innovative you're in the clear, but there are very few genuinely new ideas out there.

But the issue comes when you're working in something close to existing IP - a story about a schoolboy wizard, or something about giant transforming robots. Provided you stay clear of the actual IP owned by the various people, you should be fine. After all, Hogwarts is nothing more than an archetypal boarding school crossed with magic, and Rowling can't claim ownership over either concept - only her specific implementation.

However, if you were to actually write a story about such a thing (and achieve enough success to be noticed), there's a real good chance that Rowling's people would send a C&D. At which point you'd very quickly find your backers pulling the plug on their involvement in your project. There wouldn't even need to be a case - faced with just the risk of losing, all but the bravest of backers would walk away.

(Also, see the way TSR hounded Gary Gygax after he left. Several times he tried to publish a game, only to see TSR sue. At which point, either his publishers just pulled the plug or, in the best case, they'd agree to settle. Of course, as part of the settlement, TSR agreed to buy out the game... which they promptly shelved. The net effect was that GG couldn't publish a game - which wasn't good for him, wasn't good for us, and actually wasn't all that good for TSR either.)

delericho · Nov 6, 2012

Klaus said:
At the very least Disney's lawyers could grab back the rights to D&D movies, eh?

I'm surprised Hasbro haven't tried to buy them back already. Though maybe they have - it's possible that Courtney Solomon is determined not to sell them and/or he wants more money than Hasbro believes the rights to be worth.