On Copyrights

I actually wanted to make this post right after I made the one about the "officialness" of things, but then I had to let the big news in my Pokémon Go tenure break out. No matter; a topic is a topic, and a post is a post. The thing is, it's hard to talk about the official nature of things without talking about the legal side of things. It's something that perhaps most people or even most Pokémon fans don't often discuss. But as an intensely passionate Pokémon fan, I feel that I have to discuss it to some extent.

The three parties that have a hand in just about all Pokémon-related things are Nintendo, Creatures, and Game Freak. They are also the ones that I've acknowledged in the copyright notice on this blog. Nintendo is the brand owner, Creatures is a secondary developer and media creator, and Game Freak is the primary developer and originator. What they do with Pokémon is what enables all fans around the world to enjoy it in various forms, even as something that some people consider far removed as Pokémon Go, for which they are also ultimately credited in its various sites. (Creatures did the Pokémon models for Go and some other games.) They certainly hold the copyright.

Meanwhile, the entity known as The Pokémon Company acts to manage, market, and license all things Pokémon, including the games and media. It was established by the trio above for these purposes. There's one arm for Japan and one arm for America and Europe (The Pokémon Company International, often abbreviated as TPCi), as well as other divisions for certain regions. They're responsible for "who-gets-what" matters, like the English TCG for English-speaking regions and the localized TCG for certain markets. So no matter what, everything goes back to the copyright holders somehow.

As for this blog, the writings and text are my own, of course. I don't own any stake in any of them, and I most likely never will. I'm not affiliated with them either, and I'm just one passionate person. But someday, if a Pokémon book by me is ever realized, then they will surely have some sway over it. And it would just be an absolute dream to be able to directly contribute somehow to any of them, even if the "how" is unclear. Yet I'm sure my penchant for writing and passion for Pokémon will have a role in that.

In a nutshell, Pokémon is theirs. They have the copyright (and thus, supreme authority) over all things Pokémon. People like me can make creations that tie into Pokémon - such as this blog - but only by their blessing do things really become official. Yet while Pokémon doesn't belong to everyone, Pokémon is for everyone. I'm sure that I and they would agree on this matter.

One year ago: Boxes of Go-Goodies
Two years ago: There Is Only One Ball