GW and Blight Wheel - The Legal Loxatl Controversy

[Mr Mystery]

Yet the similarity is there. Nobody is saying they categorically have copied it.

However. As with CH, and Spots......can you guess what is coming next? GW have to call them on it. That's how IP law works. Any infringement, perceived or actual, coincidental or deliberate (CH), has to be challenged, win or lose.

[Caitsidhe]

Yet the similarity is there. Nobody is saying they categorically have copied it.

However. As with CH, and Spots......can you guess what is coming next? GW have to call them on it. That's how IP law works. Any infringement, perceived or actual, coincidental or deliberate (CH), has to be challenged, win or lose.

No, they really don't. No law requires you to throw your money away on endless legal battles that you know you will lose. You can selectively ignore or pay attention to whatever you want. I can post links here (as can you) to 5-10 more well-known sites that clearly are making their figures for use with Games Workshop products which have funny names which are clearly indicative of what they are to be used for, and whose figures are a lot closer than this one. Why aren't those people getting cease and desist letters? If they are REQUIRED to do it I would assume that we would be seeing ALL of these places getting them.

They are picking unimportant, poor little sites wherein they think they can steamroll the people. That's it. That is all there is to it. They are selectively picking whom they want to fight.

[Mr Mystery]

CH are hardly a small site. This model in particular, if I've read things correctly, is for release at Salute, a major UK (and I assume European in general) expo.

IP law means stuff that you feel actively infringes your copyright (CH, and brazenly so) or you feel is a derivative work (this one) has to be challenged.

Granted my knowledge of non-GW models is limited, but I'm not aware of a similar model to this one on the market. GW's bigwigs, who lets face it know far more about this sort of thing than anyone on here, feel there is a case to be answered. Thus case being identified has to be fought.

[Caitsidhe]

It is no skin off my nose. I'm all for them continuing to garner bad press, throwing stockholder money away on legal fees, and generally trying to claim anything making themselves look ridiculous. I don't think these guys will have any harder time getting Pro Bono than the others did. I also don't expect any different outcome. This is an entirely new step too, wherein they are claiming all armed quadreped monitor lizards. I can't wait to hear about this in court.

"Your Honor... you can clearly see that their lizard and our lizard has this flat ear thing to the side of the head, further back than the eyes."

"Don't all lizards have that?"

"Yes but look their lizard is on four legs and so is ours."

"Don't all lizards do that?"

"Yes but this one has a gun and a bandolier of bullets and so does ours."

"So you are saying all armed lizards that look like an existing real life lizard are your IP property?"

"Yes."

"You want me to grant you exclusive creative rights to all future armed lizards on four legs? You don't think that is broad and somewhat stifling? I mean I can easily tell the difference between these two pictures."


And so it goes...

[Denzark]

Caitsidhe you are a looney. At first look, the bandolieris exactly the same - cross slung with what looks like spare paintball tubes. the boney bit on the chin, the ear placing, the same number of fingers. It is clearly NOT exactly the same but is similar enough for many reasonable people to consider GW have a massive case here.

Please please please don't start harping on about after market parts etc, anybody.

[Caitsidhe]

Caitsidhe you are a looney. At first look, the bandolieris exactly the same - cross slung with what looks like spare paintball tubes. the boney bit on the chin, the ear placing, the same number of fingers. It is clearly NOT exactly the same but is similar enough for many reasonable people to consider GW have a massive case here.

Please please please don't start harping on about after market parts etc, anybody.

Actually there are LOTS of different things about the two, but let's play Devil's Advocate. They do look like similiar ideas; so what? You cannot copyright an idea. Their bit of art is a picture. This thing is a model. They don't look exactly alike. You can make things that look similar just not exactly alike. It is perfectly legal and no amount of wishing otherwise is going to change that for Games Workshop. I can make my own version of giant robots that disguise themselves as mundane machines or animals and as long as I dont' exactly copy a Transformer model, I get to do that. Like I said before, it is no skin off my nose. I'm not a stockholder and I don't care how much money they spend on legal fees. Shovel that cash out the window or light cigars with rolled up wads of cash!

[Kirsten]

Caitsidhe you pop up in every thread doing everything you can to slag off GW without having the faintest idea what you are talking about, it is really quite tiresome. I suggest you go and actually learn about copyright law first, and actually look into what is going on before continuing to talk nonsense.

[Caitsidhe]

Caitsidhe you pop up in every thread doing everything you can to slag off GW without having the faintest idea what you are talking about, it is really quite tiresome. I suggest you go and actually learn about copyright law first, and actually look into what is going on before continuing to talk nonsense.

I am actually quite well versed with copyright and patent law. My predictions as to what would happen (and not happen) in regards to Spots the Space Marine were dead on. So far my predictions about Chapterhouse appear to be moving along fairly accurately too. Just color me nonsense, for now, and we can revist this one later you and I when we see the result of this GW adventure. The long and the short of it is that legal action costs money, a lot of it. A public company has to weigh whether or not engaging in legal ventures hurts or helps the company's bottom line. Thus far Games Workshop has nothing to show but bad press from such things in the last year. Fortunately the Chapterhouse thing will be finishing up fairly soon, so I will either eat crow on that one our be two out of three... and I'm willing to bet three out of three whent his one comes to an end too.

[lattd]

If they look similar thats enough, and yes you can infringe the copyright in a picture by making a 3D model, and it would be hard to argue these are not works of artistic creation as they would not sell models if they did not look good.

[Mr Mystery]

Again, you don't know EU law. Why do you think J K Rowling made mega bucks from the Harry Potter films? According to you, she has no right to it, or indeed any non-book interpretation of her books because they aren't books. And you'd be wrong.

Here in the EU, I automatically own all possible versions of my work. Anything I create belongs to me, unless under contract to another at the time I create it. Whether model, sketch, movie, doodle, as soon as I bag it and tag it as mine, its all mine. Where do you think the term 'all rights reserved' comes from?