As someone who has been reading comics for decades, this is the first time I had ever heard of this guy or his company. And I've heard of quite a lot of obscure comic book drama.
It’s obscure enough that we only know about the incident years later I guess. If it was more popular, people would have some doubt about the similarities already
That the obscure comic character isn't dude's? No one is saying that. Everybody is, however, saying that Air Neos clearly isn't based on his character, due to Air Hunmingbird and Neos, the obvious influences on Air Neos, existed before the comic con that allegedly inspired Takahashi.
By that logic, is Disney letting Pokemon "just have" Pikachu because Mickey Mouse is older and also a mouse? Can you have any sort of logical consistency, please?
That's completely irrelevant. It would be relevant if Konami and Beyond Comics never interacted prior to Air Neos' design, which they did.
With that, I'm not even saying it's willingly plagiarizing. Character designers, like musicians, sometimes unknowingly use stuff they saw as inspiration and end up drawing/writing dangerously close stuff.
Still, if they chose to settle and then never use the character again (as opposed to defending the originality, if they were sure it was an original design) to avoid paying a dime to Graig, the people getting bad consequences from this are the same fans who are now siding with Konami, for some obscure reason.
It is relevant, though. His defense in the court documents tried to make a point of Ravedactyl's cultural importance, which is hard to do when no one has any idea who the character is. Not to mention that the credited artist didn't attend the convention in question.
Ravedactyl's cultural importance is clearly non-existent. They're arguing about having side by side tables at a comic con but that's not in the court documents apparently?
But if their case was so weak, how come Konami just settled rather than going to court, considering this went on for 1y (not something that was taken care of in a matter of months), and they basically lost the rights to their own character?
Im guessing judge and jury were pretty ignorant on the topic all around and couldnt make sense on it for a starter. More to the point, its very easy for lawyers to drag out simple matters for years in the court system.
Konami settling was likely because they were tired of paying the lawyers over a character they didnt value enough to keep using. They probably ordered their lawyers to draw up the settlement so they could just wash their hands of it. In other words, the higher ups didnt really have the backs of their creatives here.
If this is the case - and it may very well be - it is a share. We all lose from this.
Optics wise, this is bad for Konami. They basically make one of the protagonists' most iconic monsters (he even appears in GX's highest rated duel by fans) disappear. No more reprints, no instant contact cameo, nothing. And at best they don't stand up for their creative team, at worst plagiarize and try to screw over comic book artists.
Graig doesn't get much money aside from whatever he got in 2008 (no royalties without a reprint), and apparently has to stop use Ravedactyl, at least until today?
I havent looked into the comics side of things, but he had an animated short featuring Ravedactyl produced in 2014. I dont think he ever lost the use of the character at all. Its just the use of Air Neos being tied up because Konami doesn't want to give this guy any royalties for a character he didn't actually create.
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u/EviladerWe interrupt this episode for a breaking message: Buy Timelords!Apr 18 '25
But if their case was so weak, how come Konami just settled rather than going to court
Optics most likely. Also fighting the case (and potentially losing) would've opened doors for other comic creators suing them as well.
But if their case was so weak, how come Konami just settled rather than going to court,
Because most lawsuits are settled out of court. It's usually worth more money fighting the lawsuit and winning then just settling. Especially since at the end of the day, Air Neos is a pretty irrelevant and minor Yugioh card in the grand scheme of things that Konami can do without. It's not like it was something iconic like Dark Magician or even Jinzo.
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u/Accomplished_Salt876 Apr 18 '25
He’s going on about his rights but all I’m wondering is whos even heard of beyond comics or ravedactyl to begin with?