Post by Marquis on Aug 16, 2017 7:27:02 GMT -9
Good morning all,
As a brand new "flatliner" I am experiencing the heady mix of glee, avarice, and Golum like possessiveness that comes to all mini-painters who suddenly realize they could field all those obtuse and esoteric armies they always dreamed of, but didn't have the time, energy, or availability of figures for in the past. I have spent hours trawling through threads and links, collecting awesome Sci-Fi goodies for my pdf bag of holding (dropbox), and daydreaming of IPs that have always intrigued, and now appear to be somewhere - possibly behind the next link? - or at the very least, possibly behind spending some time learning to mashup my own figs in GIMP (how hard can the learning curve be, eh?). House Atreides strike force with Fremen elites - here I come!
However, besides the obvious issues with all the..., er..., work involved in creating new sets (see above mentioned learning curve) I'm not sure I understand the community's attitude to IP infringement. I have seen some great explanations about the issue of copywriter vs trademark law, as well as some very clear discussions about permissions from original artists vs. piracy (even though that term does not appear to have a clear definition in the threads, from what I could tell). What I am not so clear on is how y'all (or I guess we all, at this point) feel about folks creating figs from popular IPs and sharing them (not for profit) with each other.
For example, I have obtained from this board some Ridley Scott Aliens that a) I love (thank you, BTW for these), and b) you all love too - to the extent that you wanted to include them in one of the monthly hoards. As I understand things, while the IP is clear, the fact that the artwork is original makes this ok to distribute, right?
Alternatively, I have also picked up some really awesome Not-Tau which are a) beautifully rendered, and b) to my untrained eye a clear cut case of IP infringement from the Evil Empire. Y'all seemed to love these figs too (as well you should - they are awesome).
So, my questions is - what is the line here? Not the legal one necessarily, but the ethical one that you, my newly adopted community of fellow gamer nerds, feel is appropriate? If I invest 10 hours (20?, 40?, I have no idea yet) in creating a set of figs based upon my desire to play an Invader Zim-esque RPG-light game, I am going to want to share them with others, but is that appropriate? I kind of want to try my hand at running fairly relaxed, comic RPG scenarios at my local gaming convention - after all, gaming is a social experience, and making beautiful sets and scenery is way more fun when other people get to look and play with them. But, is that kind of thing frowned upon? From the threads here, I can't really tell.
In essence, if (through some miracle of perseverance on my part) I actually produced a set of usable figs that a) draw upon a well known IP, b) are figs that would otherwise not be available, and c) use artwork that is clearly identifiable with that IP (the Planet Express crew, for example) is that something the community would want to share, or would I be marking myself out as a pariah (or whatever the local equivalent is)? Not that I would ever do that, of course. Er, ..., asking for a friend...
I'm just trying to understand the lay of the land, as it were. All insights into the complexities of the CBW gemeinshaft gratefully received.
Marquis.
As a brand new "flatliner" I am experiencing the heady mix of glee, avarice, and Golum like possessiveness that comes to all mini-painters who suddenly realize they could field all those obtuse and esoteric armies they always dreamed of, but didn't have the time, energy, or availability of figures for in the past. I have spent hours trawling through threads and links, collecting awesome Sci-Fi goodies for my pdf bag of holding (dropbox), and daydreaming of IPs that have always intrigued, and now appear to be somewhere - possibly behind the next link? - or at the very least, possibly behind spending some time learning to mashup my own figs in GIMP (how hard can the learning curve be, eh?). House Atreides strike force with Fremen elites - here I come!
However, besides the obvious issues with all the..., er..., work involved in creating new sets (see above mentioned learning curve) I'm not sure I understand the community's attitude to IP infringement. I have seen some great explanations about the issue of copywriter vs trademark law, as well as some very clear discussions about permissions from original artists vs. piracy (even though that term does not appear to have a clear definition in the threads, from what I could tell). What I am not so clear on is how y'all (or I guess we all, at this point) feel about folks creating figs from popular IPs and sharing them (not for profit) with each other.
For example, I have obtained from this board some Ridley Scott Aliens that a) I love (thank you, BTW for these), and b) you all love too - to the extent that you wanted to include them in one of the monthly hoards. As I understand things, while the IP is clear, the fact that the artwork is original makes this ok to distribute, right?
Alternatively, I have also picked up some really awesome Not-Tau which are a) beautifully rendered, and b) to my untrained eye a clear cut case of IP infringement from the Evil Empire. Y'all seemed to love these figs too (as well you should - they are awesome).
So, my questions is - what is the line here? Not the legal one necessarily, but the ethical one that you, my newly adopted community of fellow gamer nerds, feel is appropriate? If I invest 10 hours (20?, 40?, I have no idea yet) in creating a set of figs based upon my desire to play an Invader Zim-esque RPG-light game, I am going to want to share them with others, but is that appropriate? I kind of want to try my hand at running fairly relaxed, comic RPG scenarios at my local gaming convention - after all, gaming is a social experience, and making beautiful sets and scenery is way more fun when other people get to look and play with them. But, is that kind of thing frowned upon? From the threads here, I can't really tell.
In essence, if (through some miracle of perseverance on my part) I actually produced a set of usable figs that a) draw upon a well known IP, b) are figs that would otherwise not be available, and c) use artwork that is clearly identifiable with that IP (the Planet Express crew, for example) is that something the community would want to share, or would I be marking myself out as a pariah (or whatever the local equivalent is)? Not that I would ever do that, of course. Er, ..., asking for a friend...
I'm just trying to understand the lay of the land, as it were. All insights into the complexities of the CBW gemeinshaft gratefully received.
Marquis.