Ponyarchive just Received a Cease and Desist Message...

[Tempest Rime]

Watching pony episodes on Youtube doesn't break any laws actually.

Yet.

Once SOPA passes, it's quite possible that there won't be a YouTube for much longer.

[lordbrony]

this is the interwebs, people will download it by hook or by crook anyway

:trollface:

[Imagination]

Watching pony episodes on Youtube doesn't break any laws actually.

In fact I thought I read somewhere that Hasbro does officially allow youtube to upload MLP episodes. Of course I read that awhile ago and I may be mistaken.

Why whole opinion on this? Don't sweat it. There's all this and that about the target demographic and they don't care about bronies and all they want is money and burpdi durpdi burr.

BUT

What we have to remember is that Hasbro IS a company. These guys' LIVES is business. Now, with that said, they're not robots. Not everything in business is black and white, and My Little Pony is no exception. They're going to do what's in their best interest to make money, and Hasbro IS aware of the Brony community. If fact, those producing MLP have given behind-the-scenes headnods to the Brony community, and I highly doubt Hasbro hasn't taken notice.

They're not going to completely ignore the brony fan base because, as others have said before, it's not in their best interests to do so. Of course there's nothing STOPPING them from doing that, but at the end of the day all they're interested in is numbers.

[Hippo]

You make it sounds like there is something fundamentally wrong with us being fans. AS it would be somehow ethically or morally wrong to cater to the non-traditional audiences.

Really its about money. As big as the bronie community is (and it isn't that big), the target demographic is much bigger.

Every big business started with a dream. Those dreams came from someone or a group of people passionate about something. What I've learned over the years is that the people who end up on top are there for more reasons than just because they are good at making money. I don't know Hasbro very well, but I'm willing to believe there is someone on top there that is more concerned about the distribution of toys for girls in America than they are how much their stock went up.

IMO, it's the people that have legit dreams and goals and execute them well that end up in big business. Several businesses fall into the money-grabbing mistake, but a lot of them are more driven by the effect their products have on the community.

And I don't think there's anything wrong with the brony community (well, we have our share of issues), but I think we're kidding ourselves if Hasbro is going to change their game plan because an internet craze caused a bunch of adults to become avid watchers of the show.

Once SOPA passes, it's quite possible that there won't be a YouTube for much longer.

That's ok, dailymotion.com has all the episodes as well.

[brianblackberry]

Yet.

Once SOPA passes, it's quite possible that there won't be a YouTube for much longer.

It didn't actually get voted on.

Even if it passes the House it must pass the Senate, and then a president who has so far opposed the act and has veto power.

Did you call your representative and told them how you feel?

[Dessa]

but I'm willing to believe there is someone on top there that is more concerned about the distribution of toys for girls in America than they are how much their stock went up.

Yep. And there are people above them, the shareholders, who pretty much only care how much the stock went up.

Assuming, of course, that the founder runs the business and didn't change their priorities as the company grew.

I don't know for sure what Hasbro's goals are, I just know that making money is one of them.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

Guys, Hot Topic sells pony shirts. Sure, they're aren't a whole lot of designs, and they may or may not be that great... but I remember Equestria Daily had some sort of petition or letter thing, some poll they did and then someone sent it off to someone running Hot Topic, something like that. Anyway, see what happens if you get a lot of people together and then ask as one?

I guess what I'm saying it, we can't expect Hasbro to start making better or cooler stuff unless we tell them what we would be willing to buy. Or the company that makes the toys, whatever. Point is, Bronies spoke out, and they got something in return. If you ask, and can show that there is actual interest, it might get you somewhere.

Equestria Daily: How to: Get Better Pony Toys

[DaBatGuy]

If worst come to worst I don't mind buying the episodes off iTunes since I feel Hasbro is completely within their rights to do so. My only concern is with the DRM interfering with my PMV production, doesn't it prevent people from editing the episodes they purchase?

Also I hope Hasbro is only after the episodes themselves and not the fan content created from it. Losing episodes might be bad but destroying the fan works is what will truly tear apart the fandom.

[accountdeleted]

Also I hope Hasbro is only after the episodes themselves and not the fan content created from it. Losing episodes might be bad but destroying the fan works is what will truly tear apart the fandom.

This.

As much as Pony-Archives... deletion would suck (hay, I have it bookmarked and have all of the episodes thanks to those guys), there would always be another way. This is the internet.

As long as there are bronies, there will be a way to get the episodes. If the lawyer-people start killing the fan-content, then they will (most likely) kill the fandom. As to why they would do that, i have no idea.

[Tenkan]

To be honest, I'm not surprised.

I'm not surprised, but I'm just sad it's happening so soon.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

Hasbro has a right to protect what is theirs. With PonyArchive, they were providing direct downloads to episodes. Getting episodes for free could take away from iTunes sales NOW and DVD sales in the future. Not to mention, it's illegal. Yes, you can download from YouTube by certain means, but YouTube does not specifically endorse downloading from their site. Those videos that supposedly get taken down by "Hasbro" are probably just reporting trolls. I mean, it's EASY to find people who put up episodes. If Hasbro was serious, they could be gone in 10 seconds flat. Multiple uploads of each episode exist on YouTube.

Another thing... maybe Hasbro doesn't want anything to get out that could potentially be in a future episode. Heck, maybe what Michelle Creber posted was SPOILERS for something to come. It's like how the creator (and probably others working on the show) aren't allowed to read fanfiction because of legal reasons. Maybe it's not even Hasbro's fault, maybe it's something legal that they don't have control over.

I think you guys are being too hard on Hasbro, seriously. They let people have pony shops, making hats, shoes, necklaces, keychains, plushies, everything! They let the fans make cool stuff, when they could probably actually SUE, or at the very least cease and desist. What PonyArchive was ILLEGAL, does no one get that? Yes, illegal things go on on the internet all the time, I know that. But this was something that was very public; they weren't even trying to hide the fact that they were giving away downloads to episodes.

If Hasbro does not get revenue for this show, THE SHOW DOES NOT GO ON. Ratings are important, but so is money. Downloading episodes is not only illegal (yes, again, I want to stress this), it could cost Hasbro money from DVD sales later, and that's something they don't want.

Also, rather than just pulling PonyArchive no questions asked, they sent a letter and allowed the Bronies to take it down themselves, while still being able to keep the domain and anything else they had up there. It's likely that Hasbro could have contacted the correct parties and gotten the site totally pulled all of a sudden, but no, they went the nice way and the owners refused. Now everypony is mad at Hasbro for doing WHAT ANY OTHER COMPANY IN THEIR POSITION WOULD DO. They may have even been nicer about it (as mentioned above), but THEY are the ones to blame. Real love and tolerance Bronies.

Don't whine and complain that you can't download episodes, no one else can either. Be grateful that Hasbro has let the YouTube uploads stay up, has let Brony sellers continue to sell copyrighted products, and that people working on the show have cared enough to take the time to acknowledge us, the fans.

We got the mention of Bronies in Equestria Girls.

We now have Derpy popping up Where's Waldo style. They took the time to plan that sort of thing into the show.

Daniel Ingram has helped out EuroBeat Brony (I believe that was the Brony composer).

Lauren Faust takes time out of her day to answer questions from the fans on her DeviantArt. Even now, even though she's not working on the show anymore.

Jayson Thiessen went to BronyCon and 'hung out' with fans.

Point is, the actors, writers, creators... these people take the time to talk with us, to talk ABOUT us. Now, Hasbro as a whole may be a bit different than the cast and crew of a TV Show. Hasbro is the company that calls the shots, okay? But there are all these other guys working for Hasbro, who do stuff for us Bronies, and that's not enough because one pony site went down?! (Which, need I remind you all again, was illegal in the first place. I feel that people aren't getting this because they're too busy complaining about non-HD episodes. Boo hoo, there are kids starving in Ethiopia who are never going to see a television their entire life.)

Basically, you guys should be grateful for everything you've already been given, rather than complaining about what you can't have.

[accountdeleted]

Tales I agree with you to an extent. Yes the creators of the show are awesome in regards to their interactions with us, yes hasbro was within their rights to pull the site and yes the archive was illegal.

But I still think that it is a bad thing that the archive may soon disappear.

At a basic level, who is going to download the vast majority of the epps from the site? Us. Are we a global community? Yes. Does hasbro make the episodes available globally? Well, the only outlet for me is iTunes, and a search for my little pony yields 0 results. Also, the hardcore fans are likely to buy season box sets if they ever become available.

Also, from personal experience, the ability to easily (yay for vlc) watch the mlp episodes mutiple times has made me more of a brony. From this I believe that it is not absurd to suggest that other people would have the same experience. People becoming more serious about the fandom can only be good for hasbro.

It's not the end of the world (that's late december 2012 ) and i don't think any less of hasbro for their choice. It still sucks though, it makes my getting of my weekly dose of cheer and ponies that bit harder.

[weesh]

Tales I agree with you to an extent. Yes the creators of the show are awesome in regards to their interactions with us, yes hasbro was within their rights to pull the site and yes the archive was illegal.

But I still think that it is a bad thing that the archive may soon disappear.

At a basic level, who is going to download the vast majority of the epps from the site? Us. Are we a global community? Yes. Does hasbro make the episodes available globally? Well, the only outlet for me is iTunes, and a search for my little pony yields 0 results. Also, the hardcore fans are likely to buy season box sets if they ever become available.

Also, from personal experience, the ability to easily (yay for vlc) watch the mlp episodes mutiple times has made me more of a brony. From this I believe that it is not absurd to suggest that other people would have the same experience. People becoming more serious about the fandom can only be good for hasbro.

It's not the end of the world (that's late december 2012 ) and i don't think any less of hasbro for their choice. It still sucks though, it makes my getting of my weekly dose of cheer and ponies that bit harder.

Just wondering...

If buying both seasons on iTunes costs $80, but it is not available in your country, does buying $80 worth of MLP merchandise (either that you had no interest in buying, or as gifts or donations you had no other reason to offer) ethically allow you to download bootleg episodes?

[Davroth]

I don't understand the notion to actually download episodes where they are so readily on video streaming sites. If you want to go the highroad, there are ways to make a US account in iTunes. The drawback is that you run into the risk to loose all of it, since it's against the EULA of iTunes.

[Hippo]

I'm optimistic. I mean, the fandom has only had a little year of total life. And about 50% of bronies came during this past summer (I'm just guessing). I think we just need to give it more time to develop. Hasbro isn't going to abandon their primary demographic for us. But they could still give us a few specials since they know we are here.

I like to think of it this way: A good cartoon is timeless. That means, other than watching the premiere of an episode, the cartoon is continuously enjoyable, mostly by a younger audience. I remember as a kid, some of the best cartoons I watched were darkwing duck, tales spin, and duck tales. But, as great as duck tales was, I think I only started watching it towards the final productions of the show. I still got to see plenty of reruns and being late to the party did not spoil my appetite. MLPFiM is still in its earliest ages of reaching the children demographic. And sense the Hub is only carried by 60 million subscribers in the states, which is only one fifth of the population of the states. The number of people that actually watch the channel are probably even smaller.

Syndication. I've been barking about this for awhile now, but only because it makes sense. FiM can explode in popularity both with kids and adults by it being syndicated for television once they get a reasonable number of episodes. I think this number is 65. Weather they will make more than 65 remains to be seen.

We are all 'complaining' about no DVD and lack of merchandise Hasbro Studios has given the brony community. But once syndication happens, this cartoon will explode with production value and extra merchandise will be available and on a wider spectrum. Networks are legalistic when it comes to viewership of a show, and our broniness will not go unnoticed. They will see the popularity of this show and eventually release satisfying DVDs blurays.

For a comparison, too, the PPG first season didn't come out on DVD until 2007, 8 years after it first aired. PPG's first complete box set didnt come out until 2009.

[Dessa]

With season one being 26 episodes, and season 2 likely to land between 24-26, and season 3 being on ordred for... 15 episodes was it? I think Hasbro is almost certain to syndicate this. If they do, or even better, if they can get it onto network television, this show will explode in popularity.

If I was Hasbro, and if that happened, I wouldn't feel like I needed youtube anymore.

[FrankT]

I cannot rely on theft for my Bronydom! You're right, syndication is the only way forward!