Professor Layton: True Nintendo IP... or NOT!?

[Hope(N Forever)]

There currently seems to be some sort of confusion among a lot of people concerning the ownership of the Professor Layton series. Some people seem to agree that Professor Layton is an intellectual property (IP) of both Nintendo and the series' developer Level-5, whilst others claim despite Nintendo's significant contribution to the series, Nintendo does not own the Professor Layton IP at all!

I looked around, and checked which statement is more accurate. Turns out this confusion is mostly due the fact Professor Layton is exclusive to Nintendo consoles, and the series is entirely localised and published by Nintendo in both the United States and Europe. However, legally speaking, the Professor Layton is more or less a third-party series!

Nintendo never published the games in Japan; publishing in Japan was handled by Level-5 themselves, but since the company isn't that big enough they asked Nintendo to help them localise the games elsewhere. If any of you people check disclaimers and indices on any of the games' packagings and official media, you'd notice Professor Layton is copyrighted only to Level-5. No mention of copyright to Nintendo whatsoever, even outside of Japan (with exception of the Nintendo DS trademarks). Therefore, Nintendo does not legally own the Professor Layton IP anywhere in the world.

Keep in mind that Level-5 is an independent, private Japanese video game developing company, and is not a subsidiary of Nintendo at any extent. Level-5 had released dozens of games for different consoles, not just Nintendo ones, and many of these games still remain Japan-only releases. Although, I recently heard that the first game in the sports RPG series, Inazuma Eleven, will finally see release outside of Japan in 2011 (by Nintendo), but only in Europe so far.

So, what do you people think?

[Naesala]

There currently seems to be some sort of confusion among a lot of people concerning the ownership of the Professor Layton series. Some people seem to agree that Professor Layton is an intellectual property (IP) of both Nintendo and the series' developer Level-5, whilst others claim despite Nintendo's significant contribution to the series, Nintendo does not own the Professor Layton IP at all!

I looked around, and checked which statement is more accurate. Turns out this confusion is mostly due the fact Professor Layton is exclusive to Nintendo consoles, and the series is entirely localised and published by Nintendo in both the United States and Europe. However, legally speaking, the Professor Layton is more or less a third-party series!

Nintendo never published the games in Japan; publishing in Japan was handled by Level-5 themselves, but since the company isn't that big enough they asked Nintendo to help them localise the games elsewhere. If any of you people check disclaimers and indices on any of the games' packagings and official media, you'd notice Professor Layton is copyrighted only to Level-5. No mention of copyright to Nintendo whatsoever, even outside of Japan (with exception of the Nintendo DS trademarks). Therefore, Nintendo does not legally own the Professor Layton IP anywhere in the world.

Keep in mind that Level-5 is an independent, private Japanese video game developing company, and is not a subsidiary of Nintendo at any extent. Level-5 had released dozens of games for different consoles, not just Nintendo ones, and many of these games still remain Japan-only releases. Although, I recently heard that the first game in the sports RPG series, Inazuma Eleven, will finally see release outside of Japan in 2011 (by Nintendo), but only in Europe so far.

So, what do you people think?

I think that says it all, it's not a Nintendo series.

[R7308xx]

It's still a Nintendo series, I don't care what any disclaimer says.

[TurtwigA]

But its creator isn't Nintendo or any first or second party, so I think it's safe to say it's not Nintendo.

[tacopill]

I say it's Nintendo, because Nintendo publishes it in North America, since it is where i Live.

However, i don't consider it exclusively as a Nintendo franchise. Rather, i consider it a "Level 5 Franchise" and a "Nintendo Franchise".

[Tina]

B.... but where would a Professor Layton wiki go, then? ;o;

(And before you say "start up a Level-5 IWA"... it would end up being really small and having like, three different wikis. :V)

[Naesala]

B.... but where would a Professor Layton wiki go, then? ;o;

(And before you say "start up a Level-5 IWA"... it would end up being really small and having like, three different wikis. :V)

I was wondering about that too.

[BrandedOne]

Professor Layton belongs to Level-5, as far as I'm concerned.

B.... but where would a Professor Layton wiki go, then? ;o;

(And before you say "start up a Level-5 IWA"... it would end up being really small and having like, three different wikis. :V)

I was wondering about that too.

Remember that at one point in time, NIWA had three different wikis, and it was still NIWA.  That said, your point is quite clear, Level-5-IWA wouldn't go very far.  We've talked about the idea of a meta-IWA before.  What if the meta-IWA included individual wikis that didn't fit into a certain IWA category (if and when a meta-IWA is created)?

[Solar Dragon]

I feel that if Nintendo has published the game in multiple countries, it should be classed as an unofficial Nintendo game. Therefore, to me, a Professor Layton wiki could join NIWA.

[tacopill]

Professor Layton belongs to Level-5, as far as I'm concerned.

B.... but where would a Professor Layton wiki go, then? ;o;

(And before you say "start up a Level-5 IWA"... it would end up being really small and having like, three different wikis. :V)

I was wondering about that too.

Remember that at one point in time, NIWA had three different wikis, and it was still NIWA.  That said, your point is quite clear, Level-5-IWA wouldn't go very far.  We've talked about the idea of a meta-IWA before.  What if the meta-IWA included individual wikis that didn't fit into a certain IWA category (if and when a meta-IWA is created)?

That's certainly a possibility.

Also, while this is totally something for a different thread, i think a wiki should be allowed in more than one IWA.

Anyway, getting back on topic.

I'd welcome a Professor Layton wiki into NIWA.

[Gambler]

I have to disagree with Tacopill, publishing a game in a foreign region doesn't give Nintendo ownership over the franchise. You have to remember that Nintendo is a Japanese company and even if their largest market is America (and I mean ALL america, not only the US) their first and foremost priority will always be the island consumers. You have to remember that for every 1 game that Nintendo creates for other markets there are like 20 more that never leave Japan and those are difficult to find info about in other language than Japanese.

Nintendo publishes many titles of other companies in different regions because they take a fee out of it and avoid the cost of actually developing the game. Remember that some examples of this are games that actually started in other media, like the Mickey Mouse Game & Watch and Game Boy Color games, that doesn't mean that Nintendo has any kind of ownership over Mickey Mouse or that a Disney Independent Wiki has something to do with NIWA. Other examples are the Hamtaro and Jump Superstar games which represent animes that Nintendo just lend resources to help them get to the market. There are even examples of companies that started publishing with help of Nintendo and then left, Rare with Killer Instinct is an example.

So, is Prof. Layton a Nintendo game? No, it's not. Should a Wiki of it (or any other serie in the same circumstance) be admitted into NIWA? Well, it's not our project, it's up to the admins to decide because at the end they are the ones lending their resources to make this all possible. If I may give an opinion I say let it join but as a second order, not with the same importance as the first and second party games.

[Solar Dragon]

tacopill didn't actually say that he thought it was a Nintendo game. He said that he would welcome it into NIWA.

Even if it is not an official Nintendo game, I am pretty sure many people would think that it is a Nintendo game.

[Nintendoguy1]

I think any game released on a Nintendo system should be able to be part of NIWA but obviously I'm setting my
expectations a little...meh....

Anyways, I think Level-5 gets the foremost part of "owning" Layton but Nintendo still has part, like 10%-90%

[Level 3]

Well, due to the fact LlNintendo publishes it everywhere but Japan Professor Layton won't visit any other console. I'd view it as a third party there though(like Ace Attorney). However I definitely think it can join NIWA.

[Maxite]

I don't think that Professor Layton is "Nintendo IP" anymore than any other 3rd party games are. However, I don't think we should exclude a series just because it isn't Nintendo IP.

[tacopill]

I don't think that Professor Layton is "Nintendo IP" anymore than any other 3rd party games are. However, I don't think we should exclude a series just because it isn't Nintendo IP.

I'm in agreement, probably b/c i'm not entirely sure i understand this "IP" concept.

[Dragonfree97]

I've always thought of Layton as Nintendo's. Even though it technically isn't, I would not object to a Layton wiki in NIWA...