trademark law

Whenever a fan project is shut down by the company that actually owns the work, a lot of stupid misconceptions seem to start to float around regarding "intellectual property" law. I typically avoid this word if at all possible because it's a confusing term which tries to lump several laws together. The problem with confusing several laws together is that it results in stupid statements like "They have to protect their IP or they'll lose it, that's why they just took down 200 fan projects". Ignore the fact that out of the four things most commonly cited as "intellectual property", only trademarks and trade secrets (not relevant to 99% of fan project litigation) can be lost through inaction.

Non-commercial videogame developer Mane6 has reported that their current development project, "My Little Pony: Fighting is Magic", has been cancelled due to a cease & desist letter from Hasbro, the owner of the "My Little Pony" franchise. This is pretty much the end of the line for the project, as Hasbro shows no interest in allowing the fan project to continue in any form.