Copyright icons are the intellectual property symbols for kaiju owned and licensed by Toho, which appear on most official merchandise related to the Godzilla franchise.
Overview[]
Toho's copyright icons feature black-and-white artwork of the monster in question, surrounded in a circle with the monster's official trademarked English name written across the bottom. The artwork used in the icons is generally taken from official artwork of the monster, although there are some unique cases where other images are used. An example would be Sanda and Gaira's icons, which feature pictures of X-Plus figures of the monsters.
Copyright icons are often featured on official merchandise, along with additional copyright disclaimers for the monsters. Almost every major monster from the Godzilla franchise possesses an icon. Some monsters possess multiple icons for different individual forms or incarnations, while some icons apply to more than one character. Not all merchandise features these icons, and instead some only include copyright disclaimers. Sometimes, certain monsters' icons are not included while others' are.
Gallery[]
Defunct/Cancelled Icons[]
Toho has registered several copyright icons in the past that have ultimately been cancelled or rendered defunct. They include:
- Godzilla - Prior to the creation of Marvel Comics' Godzilla copyright icon, Toho commissioned a different icon, featuring the outline of the Showa Godzilla with "TOHO CO, LTD" written outside of the circle.
- Godzilla (1998) - For the 1998 American Godzilla film, Toho and TriStar Pictures registered a new icon for their version of Godzilla. This icon appeared only on merchandise for the film, notably Trendmasters' toys for the film, before it was cancelled by Toho. This icon was replaced by Godzilla's default icon for subsequent home video releases and merchandise for the 1998 film, although since 1999 all releases of the film have not included any icon at all, just a copyright disclaimer.
- Baby Godzilla (1998) - Similar to the Godzilla (1998) icon, Toho and TriStar created their own icon for the Baby Godzillas from the 1998 film. While the Godzilla (1998) icon was a variation of Godzilla's normal icon, the Baby Godzilla icon was actually an entirely new trademark, as Toho's icon for Baby Godzilla from Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II was under the name "BabyGodzilla," as one word. Like what had happened to the Godzilla (1998) icon, this icon only appeared on merchandise such as toys before Toho cancelled it and applied the existing BabyGodzilla icon to the film and subsequent merchandise. Eventually, Toho removed the BabyGodzilla icon from the film entirely, and all current home video releases only include a copyright disclaimer for Godzilla himself and no icons.
- MechaGodzilla MFS-3 - At some point, Toho decided to create a copyright icon for Kiryu, the Millennium Mechagodzilla, under the name "MechaGodzilla MFS-3." This icon only appeared in Godzilla: Save the Earth before being cancelled. Currently, Toho includes every version of MechaGodzilla under a single icon, although Super MechaGodzilla has his own icon.
- Meganula - Toho created an individual icon for the Meganula, a form of the Meganulon, which appeared in TriStar's 2002 DVD release of Godzilla vs. Megaguirus. However, this icon and the trademark associated with it seem to be cancelled, as all media featuring the Meganula since have only included the Meganulon icon.
