Nobility Doll - Edward Moon

Never mind. I should have never entered into this conversation. Sorry! Carry on.

 

I still find it totally unfair towards the companies who actually buy the right to exploit a concept/image/name. Mattel and Tonner bought the rights to make Twilight dolls, why should Nobility be exempt from that?
Some will say: because they have enough money and Nobility doesn't. OK, will you say D612 and Mudoll (which was the international retailer) are big rich companies? No. But still, they bought the rights to make Le Petit Prince (which is not a cheap license) in a BJD. They made several wonderful dolls with this project, then when the rights time expired, they keep the original sculpt -which was THEIR creation- and took off all what's related to Le petit Prince. That's what I call an homage to the original book and a great collaboration. And when companies -or people- stole the rights of exploiting something, it's unfair not only to the original creators and companies, but also all the companies that makes their "homages" in a legal and clear way.

(sorry for my english)

 

=__= Me too! Mind you, I can resist male dolls more than female dolls. I have an Angelsdoll Ruby lined up and I am trying to not let any others de-rail me! XD

 

pls delete, thanks.

 

cedarheart > Maybe you're right! ^^ And I have nothing in particular against Nobility, I only find their Edward doll a good example of a very interesting theme, very frequently debated in all the places where artists talk. ^^

But to stay on topic: I wonder if the 70cm body will be sold separately. ^^

 

They are not advertising this as a Twilight doll in the way the link you have shown is advertised as a Le Petit Prince doll, complete with the replication of the author's signature! In the links I see a nearly flawless likeness of the character from the book's illustrations, and slavishly accurate replicas of the costumes. While I cannot read the text, I also assume the character name is identical to the one from the book. All of these things make a considerable difference that should not be overlooked -- because they are relevant under the law.

What you linked is not just an homage, it's a licensed product. They aren't always -- or even often -- the same thing.

Unless we know specifically what trademarks are in place for Summit and Stephanie Meyer, we don't know if this actually steps on any of them or not legally. It seems incredibly presumptuous to make accusations as serious as the ones all through the thread without that very vital information.

 

Wow. Seriously?

Yes, because if they HAD the rights, they'd put the Twilight logo everywhere. ^^;
They don't have them so they only make the same character, with the same name, and the same presentation, so that everybody will recognize it even without the logo.

It seems the "just an homage" thing works only in one way with you. ^^;
I only say that you CAN be a fan, and love a character, a concepts, a movie, and ALSO do the things honestly and legally.
I'm tired of people finding excuses to dishonesty ( poor lonely fans which didn't know, yeah right.) (but don't worry, It's only a matter of discussion for me, I am not making "accusations", I will not do any harm to Nobility - wait, I already said that ^^)

 

Yes, exactly. You've answered your own question.

They have changed the name and the appearance. That is usually, legally, enough to make a difference. You can cast any aspersions you like at me personally because my opinion differs from yours, but it doesn't change the facts of the matter -- it seems to be what much of this thread is about, after all: casting aspersions before all the facts are made clear.

 

I understand what you mean, of course maybe the little changes they made are enough to go under the law - I hope for them.
That doesn't change anything on the fact that they took an existing character which wasn't theirs, and they do advertise on the fact thats a famous one. ^^

 

Pssh. I was bound and determined to hate this doll, but I can definitely see where you're going with the VHD thing. Especially when you look at him in a 3/4. I'd definitely like to see him with a better/different face-up now.

 

Wow, after going back, you guys are right. A different face-up and we could have a very cool VHD BJD xD (I couldn't resist another D.)

 

I think that's the beauty of BJDs! Even if you don't like how they're initially presented in their promos...you can see past that and into their potential. This is actually why I like blank photos... XD

VHD is amaaaazing...and this guy has that lithesome look that really resembles the original artwork for VHD.

 

It's called "parody." It's the legal refuge behind which doujinshi and fan artists can replicate licensed characters in various ways and sell them. I don't see enough of a resemblance between ND's Edward and Robert Pattinson other than the eyebrows. I'm not sure you can trademark or copyright those.

Exactly.

 

In all seriousness, 'inspired by' is nothing particularly new.

Soom's Onyx was inspired by a video game character. There is a note on the page to that effect, at one point there was an image also -- after several people mentioned it.

What about this guy? Does he look familiar to anyone? How is this not the same 'cashing in' on a popular franchise? (I'd put this one about on par as far as similarities go as compared to the potential source I'm sure we all recognize.)

I'm sure there are more out there. It's not uncommon to see this happen. Black hair to blonde, the face doesn't look the same, the name has been changed, the franchise name isn't mentioned... this makes me think of a page of 'knockoff' superheroes I'd love to link, but sadly, many of the links from that page are not really PG-13 from what I recall, unfortunately. Seriously, we're left with a first name, a grey dress suit, and eyebrows.

I have to agree with idrisfynn. If this is such a concern, writing to NobilityDoll and asking them about it might be a good idea. I just really see nothing profoundly different here than what I see in any mall, any toy store, and so on.

 

Also, if you wipe off the face up and ask the average person (as would make up a jury) if this doll looks substantially like a certain character. . . what would the answer be? Or put that same face up on a different doll, would that doll suddenly be an infringement?

 

I think he looks more like the tenth Doctor from Doctor Who than Pattinson, although I do detect the same bland, features as the vamp. Shrug, maybe I am the only woman alive who thinks both Edward and this doll are equally unattractive. But yes, with different hair and eyes he could be anyone.

 

Wow. That's scary how much that looks like Robert Pattinson. I think he's going on the list too..... Holy crap.

 

Call me weird but I don't see the big fuss. I may not be a big Twilight fan, but this guy does not look like Edward to me. His style is definitely inspired by Edward, but the sculpt itself really doesn't look like the guy. It is as though the sculptor or someone at Nobility Doll is a Twilight fan and decided to do their new boys up in a Twilight-ish way. It is just a pale guy with a strong faceup, poofy hair, and a generic looking black jacket outfit -- its not as though they did a doll sculpted to look like Daniel Radcliffe (sp?) and dressed up as Harry Potter, complete with scar and Gryffindor insignia (though haven't quite a few companies done HP "inspired" dolls, now that I think of it?).

I do see how that could be problematic of course, but I honestly think that companies that do this sort of thing just don't get what the problem is. And maybe its just me, but I think some of the strong negative reaction here is more of an "OMG, Twilight, eeeeww! Get it out of my BJD fandom, get it ooouut!" xD

Disclaimer: I'm not an artist and know little about copyright law, so this is simply my opinion (translation: please don't take this as an invitation to throw law books at me ).

 

When it comes down to it, they still sculpted the doll from scratch, then styled it to look like the book/movie character and gave it a parody-type name. They didn't re-cast a licensed doll, and they didn't take a plaster cast of RP's face If the powers-that-be who own Twilight get upset, all they need to do is change the name, face-up and outfit and its a totally different doll. Problem solved.

I did find it slightly amusing, to be honest... its so blatant its down-right cheeky, and I do have to wonder what they are thinking...