Licensing Lessons w/ Sora, Smash Brothers, Disney, and More (VL554)

The final Super Smash Brothers Ultimate character has arrived! And it's non other than fan favorite Sora of the Disney/Square Enix game franchise Kingdom Hearts.

But with so many intellectual property cooks in the kitchen, just how difficult was it to bring the character to life in a Nintendo exclusive? And how does the announcement itself hint at least some of the restrictions that may have been imposed on such a collaboration?

Can there be a Kingdom Hearts without the Magic Kingdom? Fans point to yes...in Virtual Legality.

#Sora #Smash #Sora4Smash

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SUPPORTING THE CHANNEL

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CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction
02:43 Who Owns What
11:19 Practical Business
13:24 A Tricky Collaboration
16:00 The Licensor Review Process (Nomura)
18:23 A Distinct Lack of Disney
25:38 Sora Fans Speak/Conclusion

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Discussed in this Episode:

"Super Smash Bros. Ultimate The Final Mr. Sakurai Presents Full Presentation"
YouTube Video - October 5, 2021 - Gamespot

Halo Manual Reproduction

Destiny Manual Reproduction

Kingdom Hearts Manual Reproduction

Sample Development Agreement

"HMK asks about Sora's rights and his chances at being in Smash Bros."
KHInsider Forum - May 20, 2018

"Special message by Tetsuya Nomura..."
Tweet - September 27, 2018 - Kingdom Hearts

"They were very thorough and did a great job..."
Tweet - October 5, 2021 - Kingdom Hearts

"Sakurai has stated that Smash Bros. is a Video Game celebration..."
Twitter Thread - October 5, 2021 - Eduardo Lamhut

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"Virtual Legality" is a continuing series discussing the law, video games, software, and everything digital, hosted by Richard Hoeg, of the Hoeg Law Business Law Firm (Hoeg Law).

CHECK OUT THE REST OF VIRTUAL LEGALITY HERE:

DISCUSSION IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS LEGAL ADVICE. INDIVIDUALS INTERESTED IN THE LEGAL TOPICS DISCUSSED IN THIS VIDEO SHOULD CONSULT WITH THEIR OWN COUNSEL.

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Twitter: @hoeglaw

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DESIGN WORK
Joe Ellis (Logo Design)
Chris Leroux (Motion Graphics)
For more information: contact Chris at @Chrisleroux on Twitter.

PODCAST VERSIONS ALSO AVAILABLE

[HoegLaw]

Can there be a Kingdom Hearts without the Magic Kingdom? Fans point to yes...in Virtual Legality.

[Eichro]

All the C&Ds Nintendo sent over the years were just acts of Nintendo ninjas grinding for XP in order to level up enough to negotiate with Disney and get Sora in Smash

[Arjay]

As to who kept Disney characters out of Smash, I could honestly see it being both. So Disney Obviously didn't want their IP characters to be in a fighting game, I don't think that's difficult to imagine. So they had an agreement that their character can not appear as a 3d model in the game. But then from a game design perceptive Sakurai made the decision that if the Disney characters models wouldn't be allowed in the game then there is no point in keeping the characters in the game in any form and removing them from the game also helps to keep his vision of the game as a games celebration. So in way, Disney being so protective of their IP made the decision easy for Sakurai to remove non game references.

Also about they keychain, I actually think Disney could have actually pushed for that and for that to be so prominent. Showing THE Mickey logo so prominently isn't something that just happens. So I think Disney could have pushed for it to be so in your face as a way to remind people that "We own this". Let's be honest, Sora isn't exactly that well known outside of gaming, the people that are mostly into Disney for Mickey and princesses and things like that, especially the parents likely don't even know that Sora exists. So having Sora show up in smash doesn't affect Disney proper at all and the only people that are really going to see that Disney connection with Sora are people that already know about it, so using it as a opportunity for a little bit of advertisement doesn't do them any harm.

[NonAtmospheric]

My God, it seems that Disney allowing the Mickey Mouse keychain for Sora's keyblade in Nintendo's biggest fighting game is truly going to be referenced for decades of copyright laws to come.

[ChibiQilin]

I guess when it comes to copyright, Kingdom Hearts isn't as Simple and Clean as I thought.

[TheCanipaEffect]

One point about that forum comment regarding whether Disney can use Sora without Square Enix's consent. That was actually mis-transcribed. In the original video, he states that it's something Disney does, not something they specifically have to do. Disney have used Sora in the past for a mobile game outside of Square Enix (with its own non-canon lore) and a rather freakish Disneyland costume. I think that a lot of the people at Disney today grew up with Kingdom Hearts and now have more respect for its creators. (In fact, it's been inferred that it was KH fans internally at Disney that made sure Sora got into Smash.)

[Twewy]

Really cool analysis, but I want to point out a few things:
The stained glass window was not made for smash. The one with Donald and Goofy replaced with the boat and fruit is from a limited edition coaster given out at the Square Enix café for the 15th anniversary. So I can very well see SqEnix saying "Hey we have these de-Disneyfied artworks already, if you use them we can save a lot of headaches".
Two, I'd point out that while the theme songs are iconic, they aren't really battle music. They're great but I think they would become grating if you had to listen to them on repeat.
And Simple and Clean was used for the announcement trailer, so they at least licensed it for that.

[MrSpiderspider]

I know i may strech this theory
But i think Mario hesitating and grabbing that fireball and when finally grabbed you heard a searing sound was the symbolic way of how much work was put into realizing
SORA IN SMASH ULTIMATE

[gmanz]

Keeping mainly focused on Sora is honestly the best way to keep this as “Simple and Clean” as possible

[XaraFang]

If you can view it this way, I see his base design/timeless river design as a nod to mickey obviously, thats what they are based on, but you can possibly see valor form and wisdom form as a way of incorporating Donald and Goofy. You need Goofy to transform into Valor Form, and you need Donald on your team to transform into Wisdom form. I know thats a little bit of a stretch but if you think about it that way, Donald and Goofy are in the game in spirit.

[KBroly]

I think Sora is that on-the-line character of how far the series can go in terms of how characters can appear in Smash Bros. It was either going to be 'yes, Donald and Goofy show up' and break the rule or 'no, they don't' and it's still valid for the next game, if there is one.

[zehorde]

I'm kind of glad this dlc minimizes the Disney influence tbh

[ryanwall]

I’m guessing the Disney Elements not being present was to preserve Smash as a celebration of games. The Mouse logo on the keychain is simply there to be true to the character

[ScenicFights]

Fantastic breakdown on copyright and trademark. I spent all day yesterday trying to find out who owned Sora and it's nice to have everything consolidated into this neat video.

[Powerman]

On the music side, while the absence of Utada Hikaru's music is a big loss, it's only in big moments in the game and the opening/ending sequences. For 95% of the rest of the game, you're hearing Yoko Shimmoura's music who has been composing for Smash as well. So it's actually not THAT bad a tradeoff.

[dexterdextrow]

So basically they allowed use of Kingdom Hearts original characters. if that is the case then that pretty much makes sense and isn't particularly surprising as far as I'm concerned.

[cydranzer]

I'm actually more inclined to believe this was Sakurai's doing for two reasons: 1) the only confirmed rule in Smash is that all characters must originate from a video game and 2) the licensing fees for using any likeness for donald and goofy must be through the rough.

Certainly "2" is likely the real reason given the cost of the character but "1" gives a ton of cover for it and, for me, how I cope with them not even being part of his final smash.

edit: By Sakurai I mean Sora Ltd and Nintendo.

[Jaxvr]

Glad that Valor and Wisdom form got included, since you need Donald or Goofy to get those forms.

[Ikcatcher]

I saw a joke tweet about the Mickey Mouse keychain costing 400, 000 USD just for a 12 second appearance and I was willing to believe that was real

[galren]

Both sides have their reasons to exclude further Disney properties. Some speculation here: I think it’s up to Sakurai to ask for permission to use the properties, then Disney has to approve it. Sakurai could choose not to use them as well. I can’t decide on who made the rejection.

On another note, my reaction to the reveal was to sing a few bars of the Simple and Clean chorus. The reveal felt equally shocking and elating.