HG and Robotech Debates

[Gubaba]

Sure....BUT, you'll probably want to read the stuff I have in there since most people don't nor do they take the time to even understand what any of it means. And actually research Japanese copyright (i.e., Just spend an hour on Wikipedia) and other material. Five seconds using Google will probably give you more than enough material to research. Heck, I would pick the brains of an intellectual property lawyer.

I heartily second this.

[terry the lone wolf]

Since nobody's talking about it I might as well be the first. The Robotech exhibit at the Cali State Fair:

http://www.toyfusion.com/pages.cfm?cp=robotech_exhibit

Don Yee's gonna be there; I love his artwork in RT Art 2.

Edited July 28, 2010 by terry the lone wolf

[azrael]

Conveniently enough my track director actually has 14 years of experience in dealing with Japanese intellectual properties.

I'll probably call it "25 years of Robotech" or something, still working on wording the blurb for the programming guide actually. As for the debate issue its all the more reason I want to use solid documented sources when I cover the copyrights issue in my presention before time permitting I open up for a Q&A.

I probably should mention that if HG is going to be any part of the panel, you'll probably want to drop the whole license thing altogether, as it would be a 30-min of Carl-tribute from them.

[Einherjar]

You serious, Freiflug88? It sounds like something a certain company would want to derail, especially with info from here.

[Jasonc]

If HG really tried to derail that panel, it'd probably look bad on their part, and would show how they wouldn't want that news getting out, not that they're able to, but still. I'm sure they're a bit paranoid about any type of "negative" feedback on their situations, especially if they're trying to sell off RT as a franchise to WB, or trying to get new licenses for the product. As I said earlier, any franchise worth its weight doesn't need to be defended in such a manner if it's running and operating the way it's supposed to. With good product and great fan interaction, any "naysayer" should just be shrugged off. Instead, HG does a militant job of cleaning out that issue from their site. What's more funny, is that people still think that it's us making all the noise, but in reality, it's the fans within that are sick and tired of the ho-hum, same old spin they give everything.

On a side note to that, if you have to work that hard just to defend those actions and the stance of a franchise you support, is it really worth supporting? Fans would, of course, say yes, but when it stops becoming fun, maybe those fans should re-evaluate their positions. Just some food for thought.

[Keith]

HG wouldn't have to do anything, they'd just sick some rabbid fans on your to pie-snipe you, duck!

[Seto Kaiba]

If HG really tried to derail that panel, it'd probably look bad on their part, and would show how they wouldn't want that news getting out, not that they're able to [...] I'm sure they're a bit paranoid about any type of "negative" feedback on their situations, especially if they're trying to sell off RT as a franchise to WB, or trying to get new licenses for the product.

Oh, naturally... though I wouldn't put it past them to attempt to duck the questions it would prompt later with their habitually vague responses. The exact extent to which the mooks at Harmony Gold itself are paranoid about negative feedback is unclear, though it certainly looks like their volunteer moderators THINK they are. Back when Maverick_LSC and MEMO1DOMINION were banning people left and right for asking awkward questions about Harmony Gold's (in)ability to use Macross designs, they justified a lot of what they did by claiming that Warner was keeping an eye on robotech.com and that HG didn't want them getting a negative impression of the franchise.

Whether or not that's actually the case is certainly open to debate, but at the time I interpreted it as a blatant ass-pull on Maverick's part, since he was (and still is) a habitual liar prone to telling any tall tale to make it appear that he's an insider.

What's more funny, is that people still think that it's us making all the noise, but in reality, it's the fans within that are sick and tired of the ho-hum, same old spin they give everything.

Not just "us", mind you... quite a few of the more devoted Robotech die-hards are firmly convinced that it's an organized conspiracy of MacrossWorlders headed up by yours truly. I'm told that some of them even attribute events like the cease and desist letter sent to UEG Productions and the gradual decline of the robotech.com community section to the influence that shadow cabal of Macross purists and me in particular. I guess it helps them feel like the heroic underdog if they make us strawmen to rail against in the defense of the dying Robotech brand.

(Personally, I find the whole affair extremely amusing. It gives me all the street cred of a supervillain without having to actually do anything overtly evil, and I don't have to worry about being beaten up by an overmuscled guy who wears his underpants outside a spandex bodysuit every alternate tuesday)

HG wouldn't have to do anything, they'd just sick some rabbid fans on your to pie-snipe you, duck!

Crap... now I want to attend one of their panels just to see if they'll try.

[Einherjar]

On a side note to that, if you have to work that hard just to defend those actions and the stance of a franchise you support, is it really worth supporting? Fans would, of course, say yes, but when it stops becoming fun, maybe those fans should re-evaluate their positions. Just some food for thought.

If someone is still having fun with Robotech beyond reminiscing about abandoned plotlines and stuff about it that has yet to be addressed in 3 to 25 years, I'd like to know. For all the commotion people were making about this year, the 25th anniversary celebration is turning out to be a lot of BS. Everyone is doing the same thing they do on any other regular year, from the convention panels, edited recordings, and bland after panel reports. And now it's BS focusing on a mystery project that might be ready for the franchise's 26th anniversary... maybe.

I still believe the celebration people were looking for already happened two years ago and counting from a show that pretty much only heavily invested/bias Robotech fans on the Internet had harsh criticisms about. Oh, and shippers.

Edited July 29, 2010 by Einherjar

[Seto Kaiba]

If someone is still having fun with Robotech beyond reminiscing about abandoned plotlines and stuff about it that has yet to be addressed in 3 to 25 years, I'd like to know.

Oh, there's no doubt that there are still a few determined dimwits out there in the vast hinterlands of the internet who are trying to have fun with Robotech that doesn't involve endless reminiscences and long-unresolved plot threads. Their efforts don't meet with much success... but at least they're trying, right? Here's a brief rundown of those I'm familiar with:

Earlier this month, an enterprising thread necrophile by the name of eihwaz tried to build interest in restarting the long-dead Robotech MUSH by reviving the tired old proposal first tabled by Brooklyn Red Leg back in 2005. Needless to say, he's having no luck whatsoever. There's no mystery as to why, since most Robotech fans seem to be under the impression the RPG books are tech manuals instead, and most are too apathetic to invest time in such a game.

Last I checked, there were also one or two modestly sized groups playing the old edition of the Robotech RPG on RPOL. I know they were still trying to recruit new players via advertising on Robotech.com, but I don't think they met with any success. I'm fairly sure one of the old Robotech RPG groups founded in the 2003-2005 period is around and active still... though I would hesitate to call it a proper Robotech game, on the grounds that apart from the setting the game's story has more in common with the old Outlaw Star spinoff Angel Links than with Robotech, and many of the mecha are stolen from various Macross titles incl. Macross Flashback 2012, Macross 2036, Macross Digital Mission VF-X, the videogame version of DYRL, Macross: Remember Me, and Kawamori's Macross Design Works book.

Also on the RPG front, I had the great displeasure of being subjected to a fan-made RPG for Robotech based heavily on shamelessly ripped-off from D20 Future. The author (Jeebers) is still working on the game, as I understand it, though he may have finally given up on it due to everyone telling him to shut up about it and hearing that Palladium took a dim view of such things and might come after him for it.

There has also been some noise from robotech.com user Jono and imbecilic moderator MEMO1DOMINION about their own Robotech Wiki projects, both of which seem to have been roundly ignored, though the latter seems to have only drawn attention (and of the malicious sort) from 4chan's /m/, whose acts of vandalism have been the Wiki's only actual contributions to date.

One could also argue that when JT isn't being bogged down by the clouds of drama given off by jealous wannabe-rivals, he rather enjoys his work on the Protoculture Times podcast, though that falls into a gray area of your definition since it's technically also just reminiscences about how great Robotech was back in the day.

For all the commotion people were making about this year, the 25th anniversary celebration is turning out to be a lot of BS. Everyone is doing the same thing they do on any other regular year, from the convention panels, edited recordings, and bland after panel reports.

What, don't tell me you expected actual SUBSTANCE from them this time around? After all, twenty-five is just a number... so is zero, and zero happens to be the number of people with working brains who expected the twenty-fifth anniversary to be anything other than another damp squib. Of course they're repeating the same old garbage... that's all they know how to do, because it's all they've ever done in twenty-five years of wallowing in mediocrity and failure.

And now it's BS focusing on a mystery project that might be ready for the franchise's 26th anniversary... maybe.

If their estimates here are the same kind of estimates they made back when they started work on Shadow Chronicles, we can expect to see it sometime in 2012 or 2013, tho that's assuming it doesn't die early on like most of them did.

I still believe the celebration people were looking for already happened two years ago and counting from a show that pretty much only heavily invested/bias Robotech fans on the Internet had harsh criticisms about. Oh, and shippers.

[Dynaman]

Earlier this month, an enterprising thread necrophile by the name of eihwaz tried to build interest in restarting the long-dead Robotech MUSH by reviving the tired old proposal first tabled by Brooklyn Red Leg back in 2005. Needless to say, he's having no luck whatsoever. There's no mystery as to why, since most Robotech fans seem to be under the impression the RPG books are tech manuals instead, and most are too apathetic to invest time in such a game.

Considering how terrible a game system the Robotech RPG is I don't blame them for treating it as a tech manual. Other then the tech specs(*) there is nothing of value in the game...

(*) - Please note, I do not make any claim that the specs listed in the game are accurate or make any sense...

[TheLoneWolf]

And on that note LoneWolf, Seto, Azrael may I incorporate your great info and sources from the first post into my presentation?

By all means. Information is meant to be free.

You serious, Freiflug88? It sounds like something a certain company would want to derail, especially with info from here.

*shakes head*

Harmony Gold's a business. Their goal, like any other business, is to make money while keep expenditures at a minimum. Silencing naysayers doesn't bring in money.

While it's true that they've banned critics on RT.com, it's because those are commercial message boards meant to market Harmony Gold and their products.

If Harmony Gold had nothing better to do than silence their critics beyond RT.com, they could've easily shut down MacrossWorld long ago.

[Freiflug88]

I probably should mention that if HG is going to be any part of the panel, you'll probably want to drop the whole license thing altogether, as it would be a 30-min of Carl-tribute from them.

Well I did inquire HG for video permission... so I can actually illustrate a few of the edits in Robotech and they have asked for a details on how I am going to run the panel. If they don't like the power point presention and schedule I submit to them when I am done with them. Then understandably they will probably deny me video permission.

If they do deny me video permission though no big deal I'll just cancel the video presentation aspect and just say what I want say to the 3 or so tired attendees who may show up at the panel Monday morning.

As for the HG crew they are already scheduled for Kumoricon in Oregon that same weekend and its probably not worth it to fly to Atlanta just for a Monday morning Robotech panel that's a last minute addition.

HG wouldn't have to do anything, they'd just sick some rabbid fans on your to pie-snipe you, duck!

Nothing to worry about. By Monday morning's Robotech panel even the most violent of D*C fans will have been cultured after attending Sunday night's "dub your own Hentai" Panels .

Edited July 29, 2010 by Freiflug88

[Einherjar]

Well I did inquire HG for video permission... so I can actually illustrate a few of the edits in Robotech and they have asked for a details on how I am going to run the panel. If they don't like the power point presention and schedule I submit to them when I am done with them. Then understandably they will probably deny me video permission.

This is the part I was concerned about. They might not let you, or anyone say whatever and stuff with their collaboration.

[Seto Kaiba]

Considering how terrible a game system the Robotech RPG is I don't blame them for treating it as a tech manual. Other then the tech specs(*) there is nothing of value in the game...

Eh... to be honest, I think their bizarre tendency to view the Robotech RPG books as tech manuals instead of game books has more to do with the truly underwhelming nature of Harmony Gold's official coverage of the characters, mecha, and story than an entirely justifiable loathing of the game system itself.

Regardless of the sizable body of incorrect and author-created information they contain, the Robotech RPG books are still the closest that Robotech fans have ever come to having a reasonably detailed and comprehensive guide to the series. Outside the RPG books and their manifold errors, all they have are the teaspoon-shallow coverage in Robotech.com's Infopedia section and a modest assortment of fansites whose contents are generally even less accurate than then RPG books. Despite having been around for a good 25 years now, Robotech has never really had anything on par with the old This is Animation series of books, or any other official artbook. The best they've ever done on that note is the old Robotech Art books and Tommy's Art of the Shadow Chronicles, which is "Robotech Art 4" in everything but name. Those were hardly informative, as they were made up primarily of an overlong explanation of the production process (and how it went so badly awry), with a few badly copied pictures of the mecha and, if you were lucky, a glossary of key terms.

(*) - Please note, I do not make any claim that the specs listed in the game are accurate or make any sense...

Oh, I'm no stranger to Palladium's many inaccuracies... after all, my research into the Macross II OVA and its supporting continuity started as an attempt to sort out a few of the more obviously-incorrect things set down in the Macross II RPG books. To be fair to them though, the old Robotech RPG's inaccuracies can largely be put down to a lack of support from Harmony Gold that forced them to pay for translations of what little they could obtain in the way of artbooks, and to frequently fall back on the tried-and-true practice of freeze-framing the animation to count beam weapons, missiles, and the like.

[BeyondTheGrave]

If some words are switched around in this song then it can become the new robotech theme.

[Jasonc]

If some words are switched around in this song then it can become the new robotech theme.

That would definitely be a detachment from Ulpio Minucci.

[BeyondTheGrave]

That would definitely be a detachment from Ulpio Minucci.

Or they could auto-tune an episode and name it robotech the musical.

[taksraven]

Well I did inquire HG for video permission... so I can actually illustrate a few of the edits in Robotech and they have asked for a details on how I am going to run the panel. If they don't like the power point presention and schedule I submit to them when I am done with them. Then understandably they will probably deny me video permission.

If they do deny me video permission though no big deal I'll just cancel the video presentation aspect and just say what I want say to the 3 or so tired attendees who may show up at the panel Monday morning.

As for the HG crew they are already scheduled for Kumoricon in Oregon that same weekend and its probably not worth it to fly to Atlanta just for a Monday morning Robotech panel that's a last minute addition.

Nothing to worry about. By Monday morning's Robotech panel even the most violent of D*C fans will have been cultured after attending Sunday night's "dub your own Hentai" Panels .

You should let some of us who can't be there video conference in with Skype.

Taksraven

[Ginrai]

I will be at the Sacramento event and filming and asking some questions. Anyone have any questions they'd like asked from the HG people or Macek's widow? Don't bother making inflammatory suggestions as I will completely ignore them.

[areaseven]

I wonder why HG hasn't taken any legal action from these guys yet.

Robotech Expo

[waters7]

I wonder why HG hasn't taken any legal action from these guys yet.

Robotech Expo

HG can only claim trademark infrigment if the expo in question is using the name to advertise/promote products related or similar to Robotech without a HG lincense

Since this a technology expo and has nothing to do with the Robotech we all know, HG has no grounds for a C&D of any kind.

On a similar note has any one posted a translation or a detailed summary of the japanese rulings???

[Seto Kaiba]

I wonder why HG hasn't taken any legal action from these guys yet.

Oh, it's simple enough... there are two basic reasons why Harmony Gold can't do squat to these guys. You see, unlike copyrights, which are respected around the world under international law, trademark laws only apply in the jurisdiction of the country where the trademark was filed and registered. In short, there's really no way to register a trademark once and have it apply all around the world like you would a copyright. You would need to register your trademark in every country you wanted it to apply in. Not to say that there aren't some means to internationally enforce trademarks, but really they have no grounds for a complaint anyway... the Robotech "brand" literally has no presence there, and is contractually prevented from having a presence there by the terms of their license agreements and copyright law.

They could hop up and down and make a fuss all they liked, but they can't do a damn thing about the expo's name.

On a similar note has any one posted a translation or a detailed summary of the japanese rulings???

Not that I'm aware, no... the salient points of the court opinions have already been summarized several times over. It's a twitchy thing, posting full translations of the court rulings, since in some states (notably California) court documents and the like are considered copyrighted property of the government body that generated them, so an online, unauthorized translation could be problematic depending on where it's hosted. I think you and I actually discussed this before. ^^;

[taksraven]

I will be at the Sacramento event and filming and asking some questions. Anyone have any questions they'd like asked from the HG people or Macek's widow? Don't bother making inflammatory suggestions as I will completely ignore them.

You won't ask this but I will think it aloud. Was Macek's widow on the HG payroll before his death of has she been signed up since? Or is she doing all of this promotion of her late husband for free.

Not a nice question, but if she is not getting paid then HG are a bunch of bigger arseholes than most of us previously thought.

(Clarification - I am not saying that she is wrong for making money off her husbands death if she is being paid, that is just free enterprise.)

Taksraven

[Keith]

I will be at the Sacramento event and filming and asking some questions. Anyone have any questions they'd like asked from the HG people or Macek's widow? Don't bother making inflammatory suggestions as I will completely ignore them.

Too many rules!

[Seto Kaiba]

You won't ask this but I will think it aloud. Was Macek's widow on the HG payroll before his death of has she been signed up since? Or is she doing all of this promotion of her late husband for free.

One would imagine that if the idiots in charge at Harmony Gold were decent people (a longshot, I know) they would at least pay her travel expenses while they drag her out to various conventions in their ongoing use of her husband's death to promote Tommy's shitty Sentinels fan-films and the live action movie that doesn't look like it will ever happen.

Not a nice question, but if she is not getting paid then HG are a bunch of bigger arseholes than most of us previously thought.

(Clarification - I am not saying that she is wrong for making money off her husbands death if she is being paid, that is just free enterprise.)

Really, I think it would say worse things about her AND them if she WAS getting paid to eulogize her husband over and over again as part of Harmony Gold's ongoing use of his death to promote the franchise. I can't imagine many things sleazier than using someone's death as an advertising tool, and for her to help them use her husband's untimely death to promote that hackneyed mess is just disgustingly disrespectful.

[terry the lone wolf]

One would imagine that if the idiots in charge at Harmony Gold were decent people (a longshot, I know) they would at least pay her travel expenses while they drag her out to various conventions in their ongoing use of her husband's death to promote Tommy's shitty Sentinels fan-films and the live action movie that doesn't look like it will ever happen.

Really, I think it would say worse things about her AND them if she WAS getting paid to eulogize her husband over and over again as part of Harmony Gold's ongoing use of his death to promote the franchise. I can't imagine many things sleazier than using someone's death as an advertising tool, and for her to help them use her husband's untimely death to promote that hackneyed mess is just disgustingly disrespectful.

Whoa, those are a lot of accusations from people who aren't even sure what is the true relationship between the Ms. Svea Macek and Harmony Gold. She even said when they first met she was an employee for HG and even drew Comico's English adaption of Macross. To trash that woman on the way she deals with the death of her loved one to me is very disrepectful. You want to diss HG or even Carl's treatment of Macross fine but to cast judgement on her is way over the line.

[Freiflug88]

You should let some of us who can't be there video conference in with Skype.

Taksraven

I would be happy to do so for anyone willing to reimbursement at least some of the cost of acquiring a Skype account and renting over-priced Internet access from the Regency Hotel.

Edited July 31, 2010 by Freiflug88

[Robelwell202]

Whoa, those are a lot of accusations from people who aren't even sure what is the true relationship between the Ms. Svea Macek and Harmony Gold. She even said when they first met she was an employee for HG and even drew Comico's English adaption of Macross. To trash that woman on the way she deals with the death of her loved one to me is very disrepectful. You want to diss HG or even Carl's treatment of Macross fine but to cast judgement on her is way over the line.

Those comments aren't accusations, actually, but mere speculation. You might do well to read a person's comments more carefully before you accuse them of such things.

[Jasonc]

I would be happy to do so for anyone willing to reimbursement at least some of the cost of acquiring a Skype account and renting over-priced Internet access from the Regency Hotel.

I'm actually curious as to why you'd ask HG for permission to use some video in a presentation? I think you asking them is a way for them now to red flag you, and I don't think HG would've been able to do a thing about you showing video in a powerpoint presentation. Not like you're getting paid off of their work. that just came to mind about that whole "lemme ask HG for permission" thing. It was probably unnecessary. Don't be surprised if Tommy, or HG try to have panel cancelled.

[Einherjar]

Here's a weird thing I experienced while doing errands around town. I went to the 99 cent store and came across some individual DVDs of anime released by ADV back in the day. I decided to look further to see what else was in stock and found the first volume of their release of Macross (the one with the dub with Mari Iijima and the other bells and whistles). For all the promoting ADV and Harmony Gold did for that, it's pretty sad to see it end up this way. It's possible that the rest of ADV's unsold stock of merchandise, like the various Robotech DVD releases that came along over the years, can also be found somewhere in the various dollar stores in the U.S.

I don't know, the whole thing made me glad I invested in the Animeigo release at the very beginning.

And no, I didn't buy it. I bought the first volume of Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor instead.

Edited July 31, 2010 by Einherjar

[Seto Kaiba]

Whoa, those are a lot of accusations from people who aren't even sure what is the true relationship between the Ms. Svea Macek and Harmony Gold. [...] You want to diss HG or even Carl's treatment of Macross fine but to cast judgement on her is way over the line.

Okay, what we have here is a clear failure of basic reading comprehension skills on your part here, terry. At no point did I say that's how it was, all I said was that it'd be a truly disgusting thing IF she was taking advantage of her husband's death to make a buck by helping Harmony Gold exploit his death to advertise what they're doing with the Robotech franchise.

Even if she's not an active participant in Harmony Gold's exploitation of Carl's untimely death, you'd think she ought to be outraged that they're cheapening his death by using it to promote a project he had nothing to do with.

In the future, please make sure that you actually understand what you've read BEFORE you start needlessly accusing people... not after.

[Freiflug88]

I'm actually curious as to why you'd ask HG for permission to use some video in a presentation? I think you asking them is a way for them now to red flag you, and I don't think HG would've been able to do a thing about you showing video in a powerpoint presentation. Not like you're getting paid off of their work. that just came to mind about that whole "lemme ask HG for permission" thing. It was probably unnecessary. Don't be surprised if Tommy, or HG try to have panel cancelled.

Showing videos at a convention panel is considered a "public performance" regardless of if I am profiting off their copyright work. If I am going to show copyrighted material at a panel I want to present it legitimately or not at all. If I can get video permissions to go on along with my planned project that is still a big WIP presentation awesome, if not I will just continue the panel minus the copyrighted videos.

Then again if I do a video presentation I doubt I will be able to open up the panel via Skype for Taksraven and others as it 's probably considered an internet transmission.

[BeyondTheGrave]

Then again if I do a video presentation I doubt I will be able to open up the panel via Skype for Taksraven and others as it 's probably considered an internet transmission.

Then use a telegraph machine.

[terry the lone wolf]

Okay, what we have here is a clear failure of basic reading comprehension skills on your part here, terry. At no point did I say that's how it was, all I said was that it'd be a truly disgusting thing IF she was taking advantage of her husband's death to make a buck by helping Harmony Gold exploit his death to advertise what they're doing with the Robotech franchise.

Even if she's not an active participant in Harmony Gold's exploitation of Carl's untimely death, you'd think she ought to be outraged that they're cheapening his death by using it to promote a project he had nothing to do with.

In the future, please make sure that you actually understand what you've read BEFORE you start needlessly accusing people... not after.

Do you think if Mrs. Macek read your post she would think hey this guy isn't really accusing her of pimping out her late husband's death for profit? It's ok; he said "IF"...

"IF" is convenient out to say something you really mean but pretend you don't.

I understand what you meant when you said "IF" but it's still pretty disrespectful to even go there. That poor woman has lost her husband and it's only been a few months.

So I'll play the "IF" game. Has anybody even thought that maybe its therapeutic for her to face the fans of her husband to experience the love and respect they had for the man. Or maybe it's an obligation because Carl left his future projects unfinished that this might be her way of completing Carl's legacy.

Y'know"IF".....

Edited August 1, 2010 by terry the lone wolf

[Seto Kaiba]

Then again if I do a video presentation I doubt I will be able to open up the panel via Skype for Taksraven and others as it 's probably considered an internet transmission.

Somehow, I can't see them having any reason to object to opening the panel via skype if they're already cool with public performance to the panel audience. Still, I imagine it would probably go over poorly to discuss the Macross legalities issue there when they wouldn't be able to directly shoot it down with more vague answers.

Do you think if Mrs. Macek read your post she would think hey this guy isn't really accusing her of pimping out her late husband's death for profit? It's ok; he said "IF"...

Personally, I think that Mrs. Macek would probably be intelligent enough to realize that people are bound to wonder these kinds of questions since she's affiliating herself with a sleazy outfit like Harmony Gold and they've already shown they're ready, willing, and able to hijack any commemoration of his life to push their shitty products.

"IF" is convenient out to say something you really mean but pretend you don't.

"If" is also an excellent way to define a conditional statement in basic, logical terms. For example: If you weren't a self-righteous troll belaboring a point you raised because of a silly mistake you made, then I wouldn't have to report your post as the trolling that it is.

See? Isn't that simple?

All I've said is that if Svea Macek is knowingly permitting Harmony Gold to use her husband's death to promote products that he had nothing to do with and/or accepting money to help them do it, then I would be offended on the man's behalf.

Regardless, while I feel that Macek's methods are still very much open to criticism even after his passing, there are some things that even I find to be objectionable or out-of-bounds. One such thing is the way Harmony Gold has made a habit of trying to attach an advertisement for their live action movie to most every commemoration of the man's somewhat dubious achievements. I'm frankly astounded that Mrs. Macek isn't similarly offended by the way they're using his death to plug a project he had nothing to do with. I know that if someone were using the death of someone in my family to plug their products, I'd have a summons on the desk before their words were even cold.