Games Workshop vs Chapterhouse Document Dump

[RGilbert26]

With the fact that the guy in charge of CHS was blatently boasting about copying GW and not caring i fail to see how CHS could win the case. That's proof enough as it is.

[Wolfshade]

The documenation makes some very interesting reading.
A couple of things that I found interesting was that in order to be classified as an infingrement it didn't need to be an exact copy of any single minature, just that it had to be recognisable and similiar enough.
The independant insignia witness statement is strange, it argues that the individual components of the GW symbolism are not distinct (ie cannot be copyrighted),eg up arrow and VII. Which is the exact same position that GWS themselves put forward, but go onto say that it is the unique combination of these, that make it copyrightable, and cite examples of this.
The other thing that was interesting was that works derived from existing imagry both pictures and words are covered.

[Psychosplodge]

I think the military expert is redundant, I don't think there was ever any question that real world modern and ancient equipment has influenced anything, surely the issue is how they're combined.

[Wolfshade]

Exactly.

[Scripts]

Heres something interesting "The Plaintiff is a United Kingdom corporation with numerous stores in the United States, including in and around Chicago, Illinois, which is its single largest selling market in the United States (Complaint, para 1)."

The fact that they call out Chicago as their biggest selling market is interesting. The store locator, to a certain extent, does lend some truth to this. There are 11 stores in the Northern Illinois/Southern Wisconsin area. I've been to 3 (Bunker in Downers Grove, Geneva Commons, RiverPointe) and have at least 3 others within an hour's drive of where I live (Rockford/WoodField/Naperville). This must be why they have Games Day here instead of near their US HQ or somewhere else in the US.

[StraightSilver]

I also like the fact that CHS refer to "28mm" as the standard scale, when in fact GW actually created the "28mm" scale by setting that precedent with its miniatures.

Before GW settled on 28mm all miniature manufacturers actually used 25mm as the standard scale. It is only since GW changed to "Heroic" scale which is essentially 28mm did other miniature manufacturers follow suit.

I know it's not possible to copyright a scale, but let's be honest, other figure companies made the change to allow players to use their figures in GW games.

If you look at minis from Ral Partha in the eighties / early nineties they are tiny!

[Sainhann]

I take it you want GW to go out of buisness then?

No but be taken down a peg or two, yes.

I got most of my 40k & WFB stuff back in the early to mid 1990's. So I really do not need them.

Plus there are more companies that are producing miniatures far cheaper and not made out of Finecast Resin.

Mantic Games is one and one of their lead designers is a ex-GW employee.

GW has been using their big Empire might and have for years bullied others with the threat of legal action.

Well now they actually found someone who is fighting back.

I have looked at both briefs and the Chapterhouse one is better than the GW one which was putting me to sleep.

So yes I am on the side of Chapterhouse.

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

Chapterhouse is very out of their depth, hopefully it'll work out for them. As per my understanding of using pre-existing copyright to advertise accessories, what they did was okay. It was okay, but not enough to prevent a company magnitudes larger than them taking them to court :/

[Mr Mystery]

No but be taken down a peg or two, yes.

I got most of my 40k & WFB stuff back in the early to mid 1990's. So I really do not need them.

Plus there are more companies that are producing miniatures far cheaper and not made out of Finecast Resin.

Mantic Games is one and one of their lead designers is a ex-GW employee.

GW has been using their big Empire might and have for years bullied others with the threat of legal action.

Well now they actually found someone who is fighting back.

I have looked at both briefs and the Chapterhouse one is better than the GW one which was putting me to sleep.

So yes I am on the side of Chapterhouse.

You are aware IP and Copyright are both subject to compulsory defence yes? Let infringement fly, and you risk losing your rights yes?

Now then. Which other companies have GW bullied that weren't producing knock offs, or otherwise attempting to trade off of GW's efforts?

[Cap'nSmurfs]

I'm gonna raise Blizzard again here (another company which had was employing a major former GW designer for a while there!). Their own games are based on very similar material, designs, concepts. I believe Warcraft was originally designed as a Warhammer game back in the day.

But that fell through, and they CHANGED THEIR STUFF so that it was "theirs", and both parties went away happy. And manage to coexist to today! Those guys even have Terran Marines! But they worked up their own IP from familiar and similar concepts, so there's absolutely no problem.

It's really not that hard. But Chapterhouse decided to explicitly play parasite, and GW have to - have to! By law! - act to protect their own IP rights.

(As it is, I really don't like IP or copyright law, but in this case it seems pretty cut and dried).