GW vs WarhammerAlliance

[EArkham]

White Dwarf has been getting better and better lately, especially the 'eavy Metal sections (and not counting the LotR stuff which is worthless to me). Minotaurs aside, I've been liking a lot of the new models, too. So naturally we can't keep that positive glow going, can we?

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showthread.php?t=326733

Sigh. This is a company I used to freaking adore. Whenever they do something like this, it makes me ashamed to own any of their product.

Kep

 

[freakinacage]

wankers....

 

[Wyrmypops]

It's annoying when it's a community or bundle of downloads one enjoys, but GW have to do it. They have to protect their IP and be seen to do so else they lose the rights to it. That site, GW knew about for years and had a comfortable relationship with it, but it changed hands to a firm that makes money, that changes things. With "Warhammer" in the name (one no-no) and ad revenue (more iffyness) and the firm that runs it now maing money off the back of GW's trademarks, they got no option really.

 

[Aliengod3]

They should just pull up Erik Mogensen's account information to prove that GW knew about their site years ago to discredit their claim of having never heard of the site. I am sure that Shelby Cardozo also has plenty of evidence to support her conversations with Erik ensuring that her site met GW standards. GW is a sad little child of a company...

 

[Talion]

I always have to laugh when GW pulls a stunt like this.

I find it incredible that a company with most of it's so called I.P. being directly stolen from other peoples work and then just given a new name, has the front to start accusing others of riding on the backs of their I.P.

Seeing as:

Space Marines - Stormtroppers from Starwars
Tyranids - Couldn't look any more like the xenomorphs from Aliens if they tried
Necrons - Can anyone say terminator
Imperial Guard - Starship troopers (created in 1959)

So I say GW shut-up the f**k up and get real

 

[Ocelot]

They should counter sue when GW's lawsuit falls through

 

[Master of fact]

I had that same argument with a GW employee Talion, i just smiled and said the same thing you posted. He shut up and has never spoke to me since. Its sad when this kind of thing happens. Is the said site really making money, im sure the adverts go into the running of the site. They did this to a blood bowl site aswell but am unsure of the outcome.

 

[slah]

People seem to forget that GW is in fact a business, who needs to make money to stay afloat, and in order to do so must protect their IP.

There is a difference from taking inspiration from other peoples work (as suggested GW has done), and then using another companys trademarked name and logo to sell their own product (adspace on the forums)?

I´m amazed every time people get pissy because these sites (and the people behind them) don´t cover their asses and either (A) don´t use other companys IP, or (B) get the companys permission before they use their IP. What the hell do these people expect?!

 

[Master of fact]

But they did have GW consent and support by alowing interviews. People get pissy because you can get better quality models from other places than GW and at a VERY good price. GW do not support their fans the way the did in the past. Hell i remember when i went to GW store could show them a model from a different range and they were fine with me intergrating it into my army, i did it again recently and was asked to put it away or leave the store. (it was dwarf lord and only one model) Rant over!!!

 

[slah]

Interviews?

The problem is that the site went from non-profit to profit when it was sold to Curse. This means that another company was actively using GW IP to earn a profit. GW can´t sit back and allow that if they wan´t to protect their IP.

The fact that you don´t like GW minis, GWs pricing or their store-policies is completely irrelevant.

 

[Master of fact]

I do like GW mini's and my opinion is not irrelevant, people hate on GW because of the things you mention, store policies, pricing ect. I read the bit about the interviews wrong however. Like i said how much money could curse really make from their site. Im sure most profit (if they made any) went into maintaining the site.

 

[slah]

I´m not saying your opinion is irrelevant. What I´m saying is that whether or not you like their minis or if you think they are too expensive have nothing to do with how GW have to deal with legal IP-related problems.

The problem with Curse and making money is not whether or not they are making a LOT of money, but the fact they are using GW-trademarks to make money (no matter how many). By doing that Curse becomes a "competing" business using GW IP/trademarks to earn a profit. If GW wants to protect their IP they have to show that they are the ONLY company using their IP and trademarks to earn a profit.

If they don´t do that they potentially loose their right to their IP, and then there will be no GW.

That´s why GW is filing against warhammer alliance.

(as far as my knowledge of international trademark legislation goes at least )

 

[Dedwrekka]

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/legal/Complaint.pdf
It's a legit complaint. They're using GW's warhammer trademarks without permission or information of who holds the trademarks, all the while using adds on the site for a profit.
Other sites use adds, but don't benefit from a "per click" profit and at least put a disclaimer out there that they don't own and aren't affiliated with GW or Warhammer.

Section B lists some very valid complaints. There's a few iffy ones in there though.

They should just pull up Erik Mogensen's account information to prove that GW knew about their site years ago to discredit their claim of having never heard of the site. I am sure that Shelby Cardozo also has plenty of evidence to support her conversations with Erik ensuring that her site met GW standards. GW is a sad little child of a company...

It's not about when the site came around, it's about when the site started to profit from it.

I always have to laugh when GW pulls a stunt like this.

I find it incredible that a company with most of it's so called I.P. being directly stolen from other peoples work and then just given a new name, has the front to start accusing others of riding on the backs of their I.P.

Seeing as:

Space Marines - Stormtroppers from Starwars
Tyranids - Couldn't look any more like the xenomorphs from Aliens if they tried
Necrons - Can anyone say terminator
Imperial Guard - Starship troopers (created in 1959)

So I say GW shut-up the f**k up and get real

None of which are unaltered from the original material, and none of which are called the same name as the original material. They're significantly changed from anything that they might have been based upon. Though some of your ideas as to the original material are wildly off.
For instance Imperial Guard don't wear anything like the mechanized suits, or carry the firepower of, the Mobile Infantry. And Stormtroopers don't look anything like Space Marines, unless you just count guys wearing armor as "Space Marine-ish" or "Stormtrooper-ish".

However, even then it's not a legal problem, nor is it anything that those people and franchises you mentioned didn't do themselves.
It would be a legal issue:
If they were calling the Space Marines "The Mobile Infantry" and they looked just like anything described by or drawn by Heinlein, then yes, there would be a problem.
If Tyranids were called "The Alien" or "The Xenomorph" and basically only came in three flavors like the Alien species, then there would be some contention. As it is, the Tyranids have a wildly different origin and look than the rather limited types of Xenomorph from Alien.
If the Necrons had anything like the backstory. name, or real look of the T-1000 then there's a problem. Fortunately they have a varied background, entirely different set of looks, and didn't even look like the T-1000 when they first came out. You might as well try to say that anything vaguely skeletal is from the Terminator movies, or nanomachines, or the idea of the dead rising.

 

[Dedwrekka]

By the way, all they had to do was go to the GW website and click the "Legal" link to find their simple rules for this kind of thing.
Of the "Things not to do with GW IP" list

- Use Games Workshop's intellectual property in relation to any commercial activity * this includes, for example, paying a printer to print some flyers for you, obtaining sponsorship, or selling non-Games Workshop materials using our trademarks.

- Use our trademarks in respect of your domain name.

- Use any of our IP without appropriately crediting the IP and using the appropriate disclaimers in accordance with this policy (see below).

Web Sites

Please don't use one of our trademarks to directly identify your web sit (e.g., "The Space Hulk Home Page"). This right is reserved for GW companies and formal licensees only.

This doesn't mean that you can't use our trademarks to talk about our stuff, it just means you need to make it clear that description is the reason why you are using them (e.g., "Cleanse and Burn - my web page dedicated to Games Workshop's Space Hulk game") is fine because you're using our trademarks to simply describe what your web page is about and because it identifies us as the publishers of the game.

Also, please do not use any material from the official Games Workshop websites. Instead, we suggest that you make your own.

Web Names

Please don't use one of our registered trademarks as part of your web domain name. This right is reserved for GW companies and formal licensees only

And all they had to do was take down the adds and put up this at the bottom of the page or a separate page

Please chose the relevant disclaimer out of the following and place it on your site.

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