More GW madness?...

[insaniak]

Originally posted by werkitten
First of, they claim a copyright on every little bitty of fluff, even stuff like Orks, dwarves and elves. I\'ve even seen claims that the word \"Eldar\" was copyrighted to them, which it is definitely not, for Tolkien used it long before GW even existed.

\'Eldar\' isn\'t copyright, it\'s a Trademark. The Trademark doesn\'t claim exclusive ownership of the word, or suggest that they created the word, or even stop others from using the word. All it does is stop others from using it in a similar context.
In this case, yes, Tolkein used the word \'Eldar\' before GW did... but I don\'t seem to recall the Elves in LOTR as being a declined alien race from the other side of the galaxy...

 

[Sturmhalo]

Originally posted by Avelorn
I seem to be one of the few here that likes the concept of ogre kingdoms, despite some sculpts that are very uninspiring. It adds something more that the old stupid ogres (sorry shrek!) I like the reference to east-asia.

And your point being?

 

[Sturmhalo]

Originally posted by werkitten

But I have to say, GW needs to remember and realize a few things.
First of, they claim a copyright on every little bitty of fluff, even stuff like Orks, dwarves and elves. I\'ve even seen claims that the word \"Eldar\" was copyrighted to them, which it is definitely not, for Tolkien used it long before GW even existed. They need to remember they did not invent every tad bit of fluff all by themselves, but combined stuff others had created into a new world. These days you can\'t create something entirely new, just recombine old things. Even if you come up with everything by yourself, it\'s probably been used already.

Now we\'re moving into a different arena aren\'t we? The original topic dealt with models that looked uncannily like GW stuff, and were very likely designed with GW customers in mind... copyrighted words were not part of the original discussion!

 

[finn17]

Hi werkitten! Welcome to the forums...

A very lucid point and one of the best entry posts I have ever seen.

Ignore Sturmhalo, he is a argumentative old tosspot who should have had the decency to say hello himself, instead of doing a masterful impression of Vincegamer:bouncy:

 

[Avelorn]

Originally posted by Sturmhalo

Originally posted by Avelorn
I seem to be one of the few here that likes the concept of ogre kingdoms, despite some sculpts that are very uninspiring. It adds something more that the old stupid ogres (sorry shrek!) I like the reference to east-asia.

And your point being?

Point? do I suddenly need a point for posting. oh boy.. what is this forum coming to? Actually I was sort of responding to Atacams statement.. in an indirect way.. more as an introduction to what I wrote below.. far fetched? lol

 

[werkitten]

I think I know know what was the sole point that disturbed GW. Beforehand I had paid attention only to the minis on the picture, but now I noticed a small details: The logo above that name of the mini.
Sure, it is not exactly the logo used by GW, but it is very similar, and the copyright claims to the double-eagle can be found everywhere on GW stuff.

But now we have to wonder: Why kill the company, when telling them to change that logo would be enough?

 

[kittykat23uk]

Welcome to the forums Werkitten!

 

[Legacy Account]

Funny, I\'m sure I\'ve seen that eagle logo somewhere before....

Oh yes, German military. Yet another example of GW spastics laying claim to something they ripped off anyway.

They should have kept the swastika - bunch of fascist toss pots!!

 

[Sturmhalo]

Originally posted by Spacemunkie
Funny, I\'m sure I\'ve seen that eagle logo somewhere before....

Oh yes, German military. Yet another example of GW spastics laying claim to something they ripped off anyway.

They should have kept the swastika - bunch of fascist toss pots!!

lol

Maybe the nazis could sue GW... or the Imperial German army sue the nazis...



But back on track... those dreamforge things were just so obviusly designed with 40K imagery in mind... no matter how many arguments people come up with to justify why such a detail or whatever doesn\'t infringe on their (GW\'s) copyright.

 

[Dr Sanch]

They look cool but do look like rip offs of models already made by GW for the Epic range.
You can still make big Mech models without them looking anything like GW style, like the Gundams or Mechwarrior stuff

(Defending GW:|~ I feel so dirty)

Then again they rip everbody and everything else off so it\'s a bit rich if they can complain about it being done to them. They didn\'t create most of their stuff it\'s just a shameless copy of previous ideas. I noticed in one of the Golden Demon entry guidelines something about wanting no reference to other non GW fantasy worlds in the entries or any real world references. I think that rules everything out from being entered???lol

 

[Legacy Account]

So do GW Tau Battlesuits count as Mechs???!

I\'m pretty sure they\'d have a hell of a time making any of this shit stick, but smaller companies just can\'t take the risk with GW\'s financial clout...

The simple fact is, those designs contain no GW designed parts and ARE different enough from anything GW have produced.

I believe it was Picasso who said \"All art is theft.\"

 

[lahatiel]

So how is it, then, that Black Tree Design is still in business? Go to their site, look in the Miniatures catalog, and browse through the Fantasy Armies section. GW\'s entire WFB line is replicated there -- I talking about down to such specifics as Ver\'Men Sewer Runners and Ver\'Mogres (Skaven Gutter Runners and Rat Ogres):

Nightling Berserkers (Night Goblin Loonies):

Shadow Elf Wytch Warriors and Harpies (Dark Elf Witch Elves and Harpies):

and Dwarf Slayers (Dwarf Troll Slayers):

Now, I\'m not one to defend GW, who have -- as pointed out by many others -- lifted ideas from too many places to count. But still, c\'mon... it wouldn\'t seem you could get any more blatant than this. BTD has literally replicated an entire GW product line --and not just in general theme or a bit of similar imagery, but rather on a specific unit-by-unit level.

And I haven\'t even gotten into BTD\'s Legions Of The Realm product line yet -- with special characters like The Grey Traveller; Balboh the Halfling; Faragarn, the Rightful King; Gamle the Dwarf; Leagas the Elven Hero; Smeegarl the Sneak; Gladraal the Elven Lady; and Beremar, Captain of the West. All the other characters are there, too, but that\'s enough to list for now.

 

[finn17]

They are just a bunch of small-minded bullies...

Their \'legal eagles\' pounce on small companies and even individuals on ebay to justify their existence. If they had any guts they might take on bigger ompanies who have strayed into their teritory, the most noticeable of which is Vallejo and their \'Game Colour\' range. I mean come on, Vallejo are giving the finger to GW big time and good luck to them.

I have the paint chart in front of me and there are such wonderful examples as: \'Filthy Brown\', Bald Moon Yellow\', \'Scorpy Green\' even \'Goblin Green FFS.

Go on then GW..sue the b*stardslol

 

[Drake Farstrider]

@ lahatiel I don\'t have an answer for you bro. I guess it could be that because those Black Tree Design mini\'s are fantasy mini\'s, they (GW) know that they have little ground to stand on. Whereas with the Leviatan (Titan) thingy, it falls more within what they (GW) feels is their IP and hence they sue.

 

[marineboy]

Ignore Sturmhalo, he is a argumentative old tosspot who should have had the decency to say hello himself, instead of doing a masterful impression of Vincegamer

I\'d like to point out this as example of the blatant overmoderation we experience here on the forums...I feel the acute need to move my freedon-loving b*tt over to Frothers and breath some clean anarchist air...lollollollol

Strum, the iconography Dreamforge used is not exclusive to GW. And anyways, who in their right mind is going to try and field an Imperator class titan (there, I said it!) in a 40K game?

Well, excepting for me, if I could\'ve afforded it....lollollol