HasLab Deathsaurus

[G.B.Blackrock]

And the most Hasbro has actually done with the RiD 2001 cartoon itself since its original broadcast is use audio-less clips from various episodes for Sky-Byte's Hall of Fame 2012 nominee music video (save for the final clip in the video which did use the dub audio of Sky-Byte singing from the episode "Koji Gets His Wish"), and use this screencap from "The Fish Test" of a two-handed Sky-Byte for his Hall of Fame 2023 winner entry in a Hasbro Pulse livestream:

THAT was probably itself just minimalistic enough to win a "Fair Use" exception if a rightsholder decided to sue.

 

[Sabrblade]

THAT was probably itself just minimalistic enough to win a "Fair Use" exception if a rightsholder decided to sue.

And that's if said rightsholder was even aware of either their ownership of the show or Hasbro's usages of those clips and that pic in those two non-profit instances 11 years apart from each other.

 

[Undead Scottsman]

I would imagine Hasbro absolutely has the US copyright on Sky-Byte's likeness, which is different from the copyright of RiD.

Ther's actually a couple of animated superman movies that are in the public domain despite Superman still being owned by DC/Warner Bros.

 

[NovaSaber]

Trademarks and copyrights are different. Trademarks have to be actively used and/or renewed, or someone else can use the mark (usually a name or logo). Copyrights last a long time without need for attention.

Long story short, Hasbro can use RiD concepts, since any relevant trademarks either expired, or are Hasbro's to start with. But they don't own the actual RiD series itself. THAT is protected by Copyright that Disney is believed to still own, whether Disney does anything with it or not. This means we're not going to be able to see an official release of the series on DVD, BluRay, streaming, whatever anytime soon.

The rights to the Saban-produced Digimon dub currently belong to Toei, though, and it seems like this just happened automatically once no one else had a license to the series itself.

If this is how Saban's contracts with Japanese companies normally worked, RiD's audio could belong to the owners of Car Robots. (Which I guess is Furyu.)

Though it is equally likely that it was just Toei specifically who insisted on a provision like that.

 

[LordGigaIce]

I would imagine Hasbro absolutely has the US copyright on Sky-Byte's likeness, which is different from the copyright of RiD.

Ther's actually a couple of animated superman movies that are in the public domain despite Superman still being owned by DC/Warner Bros.

Yeah, like how Steamboat Willie is public domain but Disney can still sue you into oblivion if you use Mickey Mouse without their permission.