Copyright Infringement? Japanese City Introduces Pikachu-Lookalike Eco Character

[mr_pikachu]

On Monday, the city of Ube in the Yamaguchi prefecture revealed its new eco-friendly mascot, Ecoha-chan. According to Anime News Network, the city's online blog post sparked a number of responses that the character design, for which the city owns the copyright, resembled Pikachu -- a fact that city staff members themselves noted after the costume was completed last October. (The picture, which you can see below, has since been removed from Ube's site, although a small illustration is still visible in the site header.)

An Ube city spokesperson said that "[Our] original illustration [and the character of Pikachu] are different, and we consider copyright not to be a problem."

Nonetheless, the Pokémon Company is looking into the situation and determining how it should deal with this possible infringement on the Pikachu copyright. A company spokesperson said that "We will gather more information about the situation, and then we would want to consider our options for how to respond."

Do you think that Ube's version looks too similar to the world's most well-known Pokémon? Visit our forums (link below) and tell us what you think!

[mattbcl]

Way too similar. Maybe they could have gotten away with it if it weren't for the pink cheek pouches; with them, it just doesn't seem coincidental to me. The image screams "rip-off" to me in about seventeen different languages.

[Drago]

Way too similar. Maybe they could have gotten away with it if it weren't for the pink cheek pouches; with them, it just doesn't seem coincidental to me. The image screams "rip-off" to me in about seventeen different languages.

Agreed. Lose the pink cheeks and they could probably get by. I wonder if the result will be as simple as that. I doubt it though.