Seto Kaiba

It's still not a ruling on the case MEMO, all that document pertains to is the court's decision not to grant FASA's motion for summary judgment. Its only relevance is in that it establishes that the court didn't think FASA had the grounds to file for summary judgment. No matter how much you quote it, the fact that it is not a ruling and has no force will not change. What court order? That document has no relevance whatsoever outside of the court case it pertains to, and specifically FASA's motion for summary judgment in that case. There's no need to change it because there's nothing to change. The case is over, has been for ages. It wasn't ended with a judgment by the court, it ended in a confidential settlement. Just so we're clear here... "changing" that decision to deny FASA's motion for summary judgment would accomplish one thing, granting FASA's motion for summary judgment in a case that was settled a decade ago. (In short, it would accomplish NOTHING)

I guess you could say that FASA "lost", in that they decided it would be less costly to settle rather than fight it out in the courts. No matter how much of a fuss you make about it, it's still not a ruling on the case so it doesn't mean squat. Because there's nothing to challenge? The business with FASA was settled confidentially and by the look of things the current Battletech and MechWarrior license holders don't think it's worth it to go back to court when they know they'll lose on the grounds that Harmony Gold has exclusive merchandising rights to Macross (outside of Japan) obtained under license from Tatsunoko. The Japanese court rulings concerning ownership of the copyrighted intellectual property of the Macross series and ownership of the copyright on the footage have been appealed several times, and I believe both sides have run out of appeals... so the rulings stand as they are.

Yeah, right now the only thing keeping Macross out of the US is a trademark beef centering around Harmony Gold's ethically-questionable but at least nominally legal trademark on the name "Macross". Had you actually read the document in question, you would know full well that it isn't a court ruling on the case... and that as such it has no weight whatsoever. What you have here is the outcome of FASA's motion for summary judgment in the case (denied), and as you know the case concluded with a confidential settlement rather than a ruling. If only it were a ruling on the case, you might have had a point. Too bad it isn't one. This is why you should read the whole document before attempting to use it as evidence.

Oh, what the court decided is legal enough, it's just concerned with a completely different, essentially unrelated set of rights to the original Macross series. Specifically, the Harmony Gold et. al. v. FASA et. al. court ruling concerns only the merchandising rights to the show. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the intellectual property in the show. Yes, but as I have illustrated, the ruling does not contradict or in any way conflict with the Japanese court rulings because the US court ruling has nothing whatsoever to do with intellectual property rights. It's all about the merchandising rights Harmony Gold acquired from Tatsunoko in the 80s.

We don't need to "say" it's all true, it IS all true... and just for yuks, I'll prove it. Copyrights are protected internationally under a variety of treaties, including the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. Big West and Studio Nue's copyrights on the intellectual property of the Macross series are honored in all 164 countries which honor the Berne convention, as well as other treaties. Both America and Japan are included in the list of countries that honor those treaties. That the copyright on a derivative work only covers new material not present in the original work and does not affect or enlarge the scope, duration, ownership, or subsistence of the copyright protection for the original work is established by law... specifically, 17 U.S.C. § 103(b). Carl Macek explained that Harmony Gold couldn't use the original character designs in an interview published in the August '95 run of Robotech comics. The pertinent excerpt from the interview is thus: There you have it... no assumptions necessary MEMO, I deal in hard facts. Well, the only company that could conceivably attempt to overturn the Japanese court rulings would be Tatsunoko, and as the appeals on both sides are pretty much exhausted, the situation regarding who owns what rights to Macross won't change. Big West/Studio Nue still own the copyrighted intellectual property of the series and the franchise itself, while Tatsunoko owns only the footage they funded the creation of (but not the Big West/Studio Nue-owned IP it contains), and the rights they were granted under their initial contract with Big West/Studio Nue (merchandising and distribution outside of Japan). As to whether someone could attempt to overturn Harmony Gold et. al. v. FASA et. al., it's certainly possible if the current owners of the Battletech/MechWarrior franchise want to make a fight of it. They'd lose horribly since there's no arguing that Harmony Gold's merchandising rights to the series in the US and abroad are exclusive and quite legitimately acquired. That whole Mechwarrior 5 thing has nothing at all to do with the intellectual property rights.

It's misinformed statements like this one that make it very difficult to take your argument seriously... you're not doing your homework before you post. Harmony Gold et. al. v. FASA et. al. was a lawsuit prompted by a violation of the merchandising rights Harmony Gold acquired from Tatsunoko under license. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the intellectual property rights to the series. Also, as I have repeatedly reminded you, the Japanese court rulings are rulings on ownership of copyrights, and those copyrights are protected by international law. I will also remind you that US copyright law firmly establishes that copyrights on derivative works only cover material which was not part of the original work, and does not grant the author of the derivative work any rights to or ownership of the original work, and thus Harmony Gold's copyright on the Robotech adaptation doesn't give them any rights to the content of the original work. Additionally, please recall that Carl Macek has gone on record to say that Harmony Gold could not use the Mikimoto character designs of the original Macross series, and Harmony Gold has never EVER offered any statement that contradicts that.

Which court ruling(s) are you referring to? None of the Japanese court rulings have been overturned, so Big West/Studio Nue still own the copyrighted intellectual property of the Macross series, the right to create derivatives based on it, and the franchise as a whole, and Tatsunoko still owns the copyright on the footage they created for the original Macross TV series but not the intellectual property contained within (as per the '03 ruling). To the best of my knowledge, nobody has challenged Harmony Gold et. al. v. FASA et. al. either... though it is quite possible that such a thing is underway and that neither party has publicized it because they're hoping for a settlement rather than a ruling handed down by a judge. I'm not convinced it's not sarcasm.

Clearly... you haven't listened to a goddamn thing I've said. Pete, I know you think you're doing something profound here, but you're thinking about this a little TOO hard and starting to see things that aren't there. This is not, nor has it ever been, about hurt feelings or any of that emotional BS. This isn't anything against MEMO as a person either. What this IS about is finding MEMO's abuse of his authority to censor opinions, silence dissent, and willfully spread misinformation objectionable. This has nothing to do with feelings and everything to do with how he does his job as a moderator and the negative impact his behavior is having on the entire Robotech fandom. You're trying to make this into a personal grievance when it isn't one. Now, can we PLEASE get back to a reasonable topic instead of all this faux touchy-feely BS?

I have no idea why you're so determined to make this into a case of "hurt feelings", I assure you it isn't. Being banned from Robotech.com was nothing more than a mild inconvenience. It hasn't stopped people from coming to me with their questions, it's just changed the way I give them their answers. As far as I'm concerned, nothing of value was lost. The same can be said for being banned from RobotechX, the site was virtually dead when I arrived, and in short order the apathy of those in charge allowed one troll after another to run riot over the site, so I consider myself well shut of the place, as do many others. If people didn't feel that way, there wouldn't be an organized boycott of the site. Like I said, I don't hate MEMO, I hate what MEMO stands for... ignorance, misinformation, censorship of opinions, and abuse of authority for personal gain. I'm not hurt by what he did to me, I'm disgusted with what he's doing to his fellow Robotech fans. Seeing jerks hopped up on fake authority mistreating people just because it makes their balls feel big really hacks me off. It wouldn't bother me much even if they did, I don't do what I do for the kudos or the respect of my peers, I do it because I want to do something nice for my fellow fans. No, I assure you that I meant what I said, and that the other people he's banned have similar feelings. There are no hurt feelings involved, just disgust at what he's done and how he treats his fellow fans. I don't give a toss if he unbans me or not, and most of the others he's banned don't either. It's not worth it to go back to those sites just to endure the same indignities again as soon as the guilt trip you're trying to use on him wears off. Rather than once again place ourselves under the ridiculous restrictions of Harmony Gold or trust that MEMO won't come over all censorship-happy again, we'd rather make our own way and deliver on the promise that RobotechX failed to fulfill and go further to do something for everyone and maybe even take some steps to remedy the shortcomings with Robotech resource sites that often lead to debates turning into games of he-said she-said. Eh, it varies depending on the individual... enough of them cared when I was banned that they still take pains to refer people to me when they fail to get the answers they need from the boards, and there's been more than one petition to unban me despite my protestations that I desire no such thing. I'd say there hasn't been much to be critical about only because there hasn't been anything worth talking about in years. It's been nothing but rehashes of the same old topics for ages now, and the lack of movement on the live-action movie and the lack of a follow-through on Shadow Chronicles did not help matters. The turnover in members has been the result of a growing discontent among the old-timers, and an increased insistence on kid-friendliness on a site devoted to a show only people in their 20s and 30s remember. Eh, the powers that be certainly took umbrage over what I had to say... but then again I understand our pal Tommy Yune is a sensitive soul.

I most sincerely disagree... MEMO didn't wrong himself, he got EXACTLY what he wanted. He silenced the people who were making him look like a fool and who were saying things he didn't like. Ultimately, the people MEMO has done the greatest disservice to are the regular Robotech fans... the fans who are now afraid to even voice their opinions about the franchise because they're afraid the Thought Police (MEMO and Maverick) are going to come along and kick them out. There's a world of difference between being vindictive and being unwilling to give someone a second chance to plant a knife in your back. I don't hate MEMO and I don't want revenge on MEMO, I find him utterly untrustworthy and I think what he stands for is disgusting, and I lament the fact that the imbeciles at Harmony Gold entrusted him to look after part of the Robotech fandom. Pete, I can't call it a victory. None of us can. It came at a high cost, and too much of that cost is falling on the fans who had nothing to do with it. I may have been vindicated, but at the expense of allowing MEMO and Maverick to stifle what little intelligent discourse remained in the fandom, and permitting them to continue spreading lies, half-truths, and malicious misinformation among the fans. While I appreciate the impassioned plea on my behalf, I have no interest in returning to Robotech.com or RobotechX, and neither do most of the people Maverick and MEMO have banned under a series of flimsy excuses for doing nothing more offensive than speaking their minds. I have no use for a website where I'm forbidden to express any view other than "Harmony Gold is great, Robotech is perfect, and Shadow Chronicles is a masterpiece". Frankly, I have even less use for a site run by someone who makes a habit of spreading malicious misinformation and supporting the hateful, frequently slanderous work of an ignorant roll. No, no it is not. It's just somewhat topical here because it illustrates exactly how deep in the shitter Robotech is these days. An alternative for the now essentially-defunct RobotechX, one that can truly live up to the moniker of "By the fans, for the fans", is already under construction and should be available by year's end. Normally I wouldn't devote my time to a project like this, but the enthusiasm and creativity that the few remaining decent people in the fanbase have shown is kind of infectious... so I don't mind lending them some unused space and bandwidth on my server. Eh... actually I've known a few that do... but they're physics majors, and physics majors do that kind of crazy poo on a daily basis. Even if he does, it proves nothing except that you can guilt him into reconsidering his actions at least in the short term, it's no guarantee that he won't slip right back into his usual MO of "YOU DISAGREE WITH ME? YOU BAN!". Nobody wants to go back to the sites he's banned them from Pete, so even if he does unban us, he's just wasting his time. We've seen how he treats people, and we've seen who he's supporting, and we want none of it.

Eh, I very much doubt it's anything along those lines... every now and again we get a particularly sensitive Robotech fan who'll come charging to the defense of Harmony Gold and/or Robotech without stopping to read more than a few posts, which generally leads them to leap to some creative, but absurd, conclusions about the reasons people here take exception to Harmony Gold's treatment of Macross and the like. If you've been, as you say, following this thread for some time now, you probably saw the interesting conclusions that bloke Donovan jumped to and the brouhaha he started based on those faulty conclusions. As such, I'm sure you can understand why some of the regulars in this thread have a low tolerance for that sort of thing. Yep, I saw... did you catch my response to it in my last post?

Oh puh-leeze... if you're going to lie at least take the time to come up with something a little less obvious. You're quite notorious for your attempts to shut down any opinion that doesn't agree with your own. You banned me on RT.com for contradicting you by pointing out the truth about Harmony Gold's rights to Macross on RT.com, and you changed SIGHUP's temporary suspension of my account on RTX into a permanent ban because I wouldn't take Doug Bendo's accusations that everybody who likes Macross Frontier is a pedophile lying down. Nobody doubts that your real reasons for moving JT's podcast thread to a part of the site where nobody can see it is because he's not drinking the Harmony Gold kool-aid either and he's still doing better than your boy Bendo. Don't come here and try to feed us a line about how I say "bad words" when you sat back and let Doug Bendo drop the "n" word like it was a goddamn conjunction, accuse everybody and their dog of being pedophiles and supporters of child pornography, and threaten JT and half the other members on your site. You're a liar MEMO. You always were. I'm just disgusted that it took me so long to see you for what you were. Exactly what we've been saying... it's the norm to accuse anyone who isn't satisfied with the status quo of RT of being a Macross Purist. Hell, you twits were accusing JT of being one, and he's never even seen Macross. 's cool. I may be quite critical of Robotech's creators and the more belligerent, ignorant members of the fanbase, but I still have quite a few friends who are Robotech fans... some of whom I'll be helping build a replacement RT board and reference site now that MEMO has run most of the population of RobotechX off the site and turned it into a miniature version of RT.com, complete with censorship of any opinion other than "Harmony Gold is wonderful and Robotech is the best anime series of all time".

But you can be! For the low low price of the few minutes of your time it'll take to go back to read the first couple of posts at the beginning of this thread and the last one! I guarantee you do yourself no favors by trying to pass judgment on those participating in this thread without actually reading and making an effort to understand the topic. Please refer to my remarks above about trying to pass judgment without having actually reading and understanding the topic. In the interest of brevity, let me explain something to you... Just as many Macross fans couldn't be prevailed upon to give a tinker's damn about Robotech one way or the other, many Macross fans have no strong feelings either way when it comes to Robotech fans. Every now and again some Robotech fan will come here and annoy people by treating Macross and Robotech as though they were interchangeable, or running off at the mouth about things they don't understand, so being a Robotech fan might carry a bit of a negative connotation around here, but most people don't care. In order for an individual RT fan to be singled out for criticism here, they would have to do something spectacularly ignorant or offensive (usually both) or something that reflects poorly on the entire Robotech fandom. Needless to say, such individuals are fairly rare, and probably less than half a dozen have been mentioned in the last three or four threads combined. We DO also comment on the general state of affairs in the fandom and particularly the bizarre tendency to persecute each other that so very many Robotech fans have been exhibiting recently and at various points in the past. If you are who I think you are, you've been on RT.com since '01, and you should know full well exactly what a mess the rapidly shrinking Robotech fanbase has become.

Uh-oh... I sense impending retribution in the form of ten more VF-1A sheets. Hey Chronicle writer guys... if I tranq him before he beats you, can I please have my Metal Siren sheet and Valkyrie II B-sheet soon? Alternate universe VF designs? I dunno... it'd make my day if they did.

I think you may have picked up a few misunderstandings along the way... while there are some Macross fans who take the extreme view that Robotech itself is offensive, most Macross fans are generally indifferent towards the Robotech franchise as a whole. What little genuine animosity can be found in this thread is generally directed mainly towards Harmony Gold, who are the ones using sleazebag business practices to keep almost all of Macross out of the hands of western audiences. There's little point in getting angry at Tatsunoko for licensing it to Harmony Gold, since by in large they're not actually doing anything to actually hinder Macross. It's not even really worth it to get worked up over Harmony Gold, since their blocking Macross imports has been the status quo for ages, there are a multitude of readily available ways to work around the problem, and they're running their Robotech franchise into the ground anyway. The whole legal debate has been effectively over for so long that most of what we do here is commentary on the foibles and follies of Harmony Gold and the Robotech fanbase and the various "spokesmen" who give it a bad name.

Eh, let's be fair... the mechanical designs from Five Star Stories are considerably more complex, streamlined, and organic-looking designs than the early versions seen in Heavy Metal L.Gaim, which I suppose is fitting, as FSS is a more advanced setting, and the mecha are (in-universe) considered not just weapons of war, but individual works of art, and their complexity is such that some mortar headds do walk the line between simple robot and inorganic lifeform... like Amaterasu's first Knight of Gold, Colus XXIII's Junchoon, the Jagd Mirage "Green Dragon", and to a lesser extent, Alan Bradford's old MH Apache and the Terror Mirage he gets after (unwittingly) joining the Mirage Knights. EDIT: I just remembered one other incident where a Mortar Headd acted of its own accord... the Fillmore Empire's one-of-a-kind V Siren 103 "Neptune" (Emperor Lader VIII's personal MH) moves on its own to protect its future owner (Christine V) from the Knue Syltiss knights pursuing her.

And stepping outside of Heavy Metal L.Gaim, the MSN-00100 Hyaku Shiki from Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam has a fair few design elements in common with the Junchoon as well, and shares the Knight of Gold's ridiculously showy gold plate.

Sure thing... in fact I can share several! L.Gaim: http://www.mahq.net/mecha/l-gaim/l-gaim/l-gaim.htm FSS: http://www.gearsonline.net/fss/mh/junchoon/sr1.html FSS: http://www.gearsonline.net/fss/mh/junchoon/junchoon.php L.Gaim: http://www.mahq.net/mecha/l-gaim/l-gaim/l-gaim-mk2.htm FSS: http://www.gearsonline.net/fss/mh/cloudssc...udsschatze.html L.Gaim: http://www.mahq.net/mecha/l-gaim/l-gaim/a-taul-v.htm FSS: http://www.gearsonline.net/fss/mh/atoll/atoll.php L.Gaim: http://www.mahq.net/mecha/l-gaim/l-gaim/ashuratemple.htm FSS: http://www.gearsonline.net/fss/mh/ashura/ashura.php L.Gaim: http://www.mahq.net/mecha/l-gaim/l-gaim/auge.htm FSS: http://www.gearsonline.net/fss/mh/auge/mm-auge.html L.Gaim: http://www.mahq.net/mecha/l-gaim/l-gaim/bat-shu.htm FSS: http://www.gearsonline.net/fss/mh/vatshu/vatshu.php L.Gaim: http://www.mahq.net/mecha/l-gaim/l-gaim/g-roon.htm FSS: http://www.gearsonline.net/fss/mh/groon/groon.html L.Gaim: http://www.mahq.net/mecha/l-gaim/l-gaim/bloodtemple.htm FSS: http://www.gearsonline.net/fss/mh/blood/blood.html Those are the ones that not only share names, but share a clear design lineage between the original Heavy Metal L.Gaim series and the Five Star Stories manga. There are also a few cases of name reuse for different designs, such as the Helmine. Additionally, both L.Gaim and Five Star Stories make reference to and/or are set at least partially in an AD era where AD stands for "Ammon Duul". The designs of the various mecha transports, spacecraft, and personal vehicles are also startlingly similar. Yeah, there're a lot of commonalities there... which I found extremely surprising and amusing since I saw the latter of the two works (FSS) before the former (L.Gaim).

Speaking of Heavy Metal L.Gaim... I ended up seeing it AFTER I first got into Five Star Stories, and boy was I ever amused by how many designs ended up getting reused between the two series, even under the same names.

Wisdom.

If it didn't have that Sound Force hardware on it... I'd probably be a lot kinder to it as a design. I like the head turret rather more than the stock VF-11C, though the "double bubble" canopy kind of bothers me. Yeah... unfortunately for those of us who aren't collecting all the various Macross Frontier publications, it's kind of an embuggerance to have so little detail on a character that does play a reasonably significant role in the series. I'm not surprised that they've covered all the New U.N. Spacy characters in only three sheets, they REALLY took the piss out of the NUNS in Macross Frontier to play up how awesome the resident PMC is. Eh, as much as I'd like to see a Nupetiet-Vergnitzs sheet for the 2092 U.N. Spacy version with those massive launch arm systems under the main hull, I doubt they'll cover it in more than one side of a sheet... there's just not enough art of it to swing it any other way. I'm magic like that...

Cont'd from previous post... Frankly, I think you're giving him far too much credit. Did MEMO stick around to discuss his argument? No. Did he even offer justification for his statements? No. He did what he has ALWAYS done... he made a drive-by post where he simply stated his opinion as though it were fact, and, having "laid down the law", took off. He could have chosen to write that over on RT.com, but who would have bothered to read it? That site has MAYBE two dozen active members, and most of them don't give a damn about any part of the site except the off-topic section. That he posted it here means nothing other than that he found what we had to say disturbing enough to his comfortable little Robotech fantasy world that he had to speak up, and that he thinks he has the right and the authority to simply TELL us how it is and how it's going to be and that we'll have no choice but to accept what he says as the gospel truth. You have done well... my not-so-young apprentice... *ditches the ominous black robe* No kidding... I'll eat my hat if MEMO has ever done anything without some ulterior personal gain-based motive. It's not exactly a secret that he's been doing what little he actually does for the Robotech fandom in hopes that he would land a job at Harmony Gold... and he's done some seriously batshit crazy stuff that most of us wouldn't even consider, and that's not counting some of the things he's done TO the fanbase. Altruism's a nice thing to ponder idly, but it doesn't work very well in the real world Pete. Why should the people who've been repeatedly wronged by this deluded egomaniac have to give him another chance to plant a knife in their backs or even treat him with civility? He certainly didn't extend any of them the same courtesy when it was in his power to do so. He told them his word was law, his opinion was fact, and he would tolerate no contradiction of either. Not only did he act to censor perfectly legitimate expression, he attacked people after doing so, to twist the knife. MEMO doesn't want to let people be themselves, he wants everyone dancing to HIS tune and he's provided ample proof that he has nothing but contempt for the thoughts and opinions of others. Ultimately, the only thing MEMO has even shown that he wants is a pulpit from which he can preach his views as fact, and a (literally) captive audience to preach to, all in the name of being recognized for his efforts by Harmony Gold. I couldn't possibly care less if MEMO is bored with being lonely and having nobody to talk to but himself. He has nobody to blame for his loneliness but himself. It came about solely as the result of his actions against his fellow fans. He has made his bed, now let him sleep in it. I see no reason to take pity on him, or to give him yet another chance to abuse others. That's been MEMO's MO from the beginning... I've heard from a great many Spanish-speaking fans all about how when the Robotech fanbase was first getting established in Central and South America, MEMO landed himself an interview on some two-bit radio show and the first thing he did was made it sound as though the entire thing was his handiwork. I think it somewhat dishonest of him to take credit for RobotechX too... because most of that isn't his handiwork either, it's mainly operated and maintained by SIGHUP. His excesses of fabrication and obfuscation in the Macross legal debate threads on Robotech.com and RobotechX were just the latest in a long string of deliberate attempts to conceal the truth, not only from other fans, but from himself as well.

No kidding... of course it should come as no surprise after having me wax poetic about the various witch hunts and wars which plagued the online Robotech fandom in its early years earlier in this thread. It's those conflicts on RT.com and many of its antecedents that created most if not all of those labels that Robotech fans have spent the last decade or thereabouts branding each other with. I've kind of abandoned that as a bad job for the time being... I'll reeducate him later. Eh, they get along a lot better now than they did back when I first got into the Robotech scene... but that might have something to do with them segregating themselves on separate websites and forcibly scourging any dissenters from their ranks. It used to be like the Crusades, now the most overt hostility has quieted down, if only because there are fewer people left in the fandom to be hostile to each other. You're not the only one... not having to deal with MEMO's borderline-illiteracy, constant use of caps-lock, and his insane, blind faith in Harmony Gold in the aftermath of my initially-temporary ban from RobotechX (which MEMO saw fit to make permanent while promising to unban Doug Bendo, despite Bendo's near-constant attacks on most of the site's members) has been an enormous blessing. Now that my interaction with Robotech fans is mainly limited to talking with only those few remaining intelligent, reasonable people left in the fandom (yes, they DO still exist), I feel much, MUCH less inclined to waste my time helping the dangerous stupids that make up the mainstream Robotech fandom these days. I must admit, now that almost all of the decent people have gone from RobotechX, I have no qualms at all about sitting back and having a laugh as RobotechX rapidly becomes a ghost town, leaving MEMO nobody to preach to but himself and Maverick_LSC. I'm not entirely sure, but I THINK what he said was meant to be both an attempt to portray me as some kind of unreasonable radical spreading discord through the fandom (no surprise he's butthurt that at least half a dozen of his site's most active members are boycotting RobotechX after his perma-banning of me and his promise to unban Doug Bendo), and to portray the average Robotech fan as something other than ignorant and determined to scourge unbelievers from their ranks. Y'know, I actually posted something like this a few pages back... a joking definition of Robotech fans as being "Sadomacekistic"... Exactly right. For at least the last two years, Robotech fans have been using "Macross Purist" to mean any person who doesn't believe that the current state of affairs and/or the current handling of the franchise is practically perfect in every way. As with my previous explanation, the implication behind it is that no TRUE fan of Robotech would find anything objectionable about things as they are, so anyone who complains or voices a dissenting opinion MUST be a Macross fan trying to ruin everybody's good time. Don't expect HIM to understand that... this is MEMO you're talking to. Along with Doug Bendo and Pizza the Hutt, he set the gold standard for absurd fan behavior, and he's always been one of the main people spreading the lies, half-truths, and blatant misinformation. I shall endeavor to contain my disappointment.

/ Because that'd be too easy? I'd be inclined to say the reason the VF-171EX is getting much more attention than the plain vanilla VF-171 is because it's the only version of the Nightmare Plus to see serious combat as something other than just cannon fodder for the Vajra to blow up while they wait for SMS's VF-25s to arrive, and because the EX model is the only variant of the VF-171 that actually gets piloted by members of the main cast (Alto and Luca). Doesn't hurt my feelings any that they saved the good stuff for the VF-171EX sheet... it was breaking my heart to see the only design from Macross 7 that I actually liked so cruelly treated by Kawamori and company early in the series. Bleh... why was THIS worth a sheet at all? Couldn't they have just made this like a D sheet (lol) for the normal VF-11C sheet instead? If the VF-171EX article hadn't justified my purchase of issue 37, this sure did. Does the fabled Machida get a face? Can't say I care much about Kakizaki Lite, but Catherine Glass probably deserved her own character sheet, even if it was only just the one sheet. And everyone breathed a sigh of relief... at least until they start in with the VF-1 sheets again. If only they had thrown in a Metal Siren or Icarus mechanic sheet, I would've considered this issue a rousing success... but I guess I just get to keep crossing my fingers and saying "It'll be in the next one". Okay, mildly curious... just looked like a bunch of feather-like network structures to me when it was done in the show... any goodies about the application of fold quartz in this one? Y'know what... I'll take my victories where I can get them... and any Macross II coverage at all is good coverage in my book... so long as they take the time to get their facts straight. Hey azrael... it's baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack... Wondering what the "Zentradi Naval Vessels" business is... we've covered most of it already. Maybe this is the DYRL versions? Or, dare I hope, the modified U.N. Spacy versions from Macross II? Nah, better not get my hopes up. 'kay, I can get in on all this DYRL material... this is good.

Copyrighted songs are intellectual property... though it's pretty much a given that Tatsunoko's distribution rights cover the music in the show's audio tracks as well. That is to say, Tatsunoko's distribution and merchandising rights to Macross outside of Japan would permit them to use the original music in a dubbed/subbed release of Macross, and to sell the soundtrack outside of Japan, but just as with the copyrighted character and mechanical designs they aren't the copyright holder on that intellectual property, so they can't use it in derivative works... like Robotech. The only things they can actually use in derivative works are the parts of the show they hold the copyrights to... which limits them to using just the footage of the series itself, but none of the material actually contained within.