Things were looking grim for our heroes, but lady luck was on FASA’s side. However, part of that settlement meant that FASA could no longer use the ‘Mechs that were sourced from Macross. This case looked like it could go badly for FASA – having purchased the rights from Twentieth Century Imports meant that they were once removed from the original art production company, while Harmony Gold had gone straight to the Tatsunoko art studio to secure the rights for themselves. Well, Playmates also made a line of toys for Robotech, and they got their Macross image license from – you guessed it – Harmony Gold. One good lawsuit deserves another though, and in a legal bait-and-switch, Playmates brought in Harmony Gold, who were all too eager to counter-sue FASA for copyright violations of their Macross-sourced imagery. However, to a circa 1994 judge’s eyes, deciding a case between two long-feuding companies, the similarities weren’t enough, and the case was dismissed. From the hindsight of 2017, it’s pretty easy to see that toy rather strongly resembles a Timberwolf. That was enough for FASA, and they sued Playmates for copyright infringement, arguing the new toy line infringed on exclusive imagery owned and produced in-house. Then, Playmates decided to throw a Timberwolf-esque design into their Exosquad line of toys. FASA had previously pitched the idea of a line of similar BattleTech-themed toys to Playmates, along with supporting sketches, but Playmates turned them down. That is until 1994, when another company, Playmates, came out with a line of toys that looked suspiciously familiar.Įxosquad was a short-lived cartoon for which Playmates made little robot action figures. In fact this went on for nearly a decade, and while there was a lot of animosity between the two companies, nobody was willing to sue. Now FASA was paying attention, and according to court documents, this “sparked an exchange of correspondence between the parties, including numerous cease and desist letters from Harmony Gold.” That exchange can be boiled down to a he-said, she-said where Harmony Gold argued they bought the rights to the Macross images, to which FASA countered by saying they owned them since they bought them a year earlier from Twentieth Century Imports. Then, FASA got another letter from Harmony Gold, again saying they owned the rights to those ‘Mechs, and they had to pull them from their games. Then, in 1985, a new show started appearing on TV called Robotech, which was essentially Macross recut and rebranded for the more refined American pallet, and wouldn’t you know, it had robots that looked strikingly similar to the ones featured in BattleTech. OK, we don’t know if they literally threw it in the garbage, but they essentially ignored it – at least, at first. Then, in 1985, a new show started appearing on TV called Robotech, which had robots that looked strikingly similar to the ones featured in BattleTech.īut it was the 1980’s, nobody had really ever heard of Macross, and FASA crumpled up that letter and threw it in the garbage. The letter said they owned the rights to the mechas that FASA thought they licensed from Twentieth Century Imports, and they had to cease all use immediately. Then, FASA got a letter in the mail from another company called Harmony Gold. All seemed well at first sales of the game were solid, and plans were already being made to expand the universe and release a second edition. ![]() That was 1984, the year the first edition of BattleTech (then called Battledroids) would be made. While these cartoons were middling at best, the mechas they featured were something the West had never seen before, and this novelty drew the owners of FASA to license the imagery from Twentieth Century Imports for use in their robot-inspired tabletop game. Many of you older MechWarriors recall (or remember from our previous article) that the original ‘Mechs featured in BattleTech were actually all taken from Japanese anime, namely Macross, Fang of the Sun Dougram, and Crusher Joe. What I refer to is known colloquially as the Unseen ‘Mechs. But another fateful decision would cast a long shadow over the fledgling universe, one that only recently has been put to rest. Even the first edition name landed BattleTech in hot water. From the very beginning, BattleTech has been a game with a lot of controversy.
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