Inafune Will Still Draw Mega Man for You, But Reminds You Who Still Owns Him
The pic at right came from PlayStation Europe’s Twitter a few months back, following a visit from none other than former Mega Man Producer Keiji Inafune to their offices. And, as is often his custom, he even made a quick sketch of the Blue Bomber for the staff there. But this one is a little bit different…
If you take a closer look (click the thumbnail to enlarge), you can see that since he has parted ways with Capcom, Inafune is careful to include a note which says “© Capcom.” This is, of course, due to the fact that Inafune is no longer involved with the Mega Man series, and to no doubt protect him from legal action out of Capcom.
But could Capcom file a case against Inafune for producing autographed sketches of Mega Man? Well, none of us here are lawyers, so the best we can offer is a “maybe.” Earlier this year, former Marvel creative talent Gary Friedrich found himself on the losing end of a case which now prevents him from drawing Ghost Rider, a character he co-created, for fans at comic conventions.
Could the same apply in this situation? Maybe; of course, Friedrich threw the first stone at Marvel, and was making money from those drawing to boot, so that does seem to differentiate the two somewhat. Plus, Capcom is no Disney (owners of Marvel Comics). Still, if we were Inafune (and you can just imagine how crowded it would be in his head as a result), we probably wouldn’t take any chances, either.
Thanks for the tip, Rockman!
Tags: Capcom, Keiji Inafune, Mega Man, Mega Man Classic
Filed under: Mega Man News
Capcom has surprised me in a bad way lately (MM X-O, Hidden DLC on RE6 disc, Darkstalkers Resurrection), I think that Inafune added that “copyright thing” as a sign that he’s annoyed with Capcom somehow about what they’re doing with Megaman, after all, it’s his creation.
Well, I’d be angry if I was him.
I wouldn’t read too much into this. He’s just acknowledging the fact he’s not connected to the Rockman brand anymore.
Sad…. :’(
Its just “fan art ” now. He is not selling the pics…..that we know of
Oh don’t worry that’s fine. You see that’s why we’re calling on “Capcom” to file the bankruptcy and truly drop dead. When that happens, not only will you not have add a copyright like that but, you’ll be able to start pleasing us with good and for that matter “actual” games once again.
@ Halcreix Darkstalkers Resserrection is a BAD thing now? You know, like, the one thing Capcom can do see if there’s anyone outside of the super base (The folks who are calling moral boycott on fighting games they love getting online) who would actually buy Darkstalkers 4?
Otherwise, yeah, Inafune covering his bases. Hopefully Capcom will give him this much.
But that doesn’t mean that he’s abandoning Mega Man. He’s still a creator of the series. =P
Friedrich first off was suing Marvel for the rights to Ghost Rider, then was selling prints of a previous ghost rider cover (not original art, xeroxed’ copies of the printed cover) where he wasn’t even the artist.
That would like Inafuane selling pirated copies of Mega Man 2.
Capcom don’t do anything for Inafuna doing head sketches
Guys, if you’re leaving TMMN a tip, a handle other than Rockman would be nice. Unless there’s like one consistent guy that goes by Rockman.
You need to be no layer to know this wouldnt cause any legal issues, as this could be just considered “fanart”, and not getting any profit out of it.