Chief for Charity?

[Deathwasp]

My buddy and I are making our armor mostly for fun, but we also hope to go to a Walk For MS in the armor, and I was just wondering if this was legal? Somebody mentioned that charities in armor was rocky legal turf...

 

[SPARTAN430]

You'd have to ask someone thats in the 501st about that. They do this stuff for charity in Storm Trooper armor, but then again, they do have George Lucas with them at most of the events >.>

 

[pacbury]

now all we need is bill gates...

 

[Vader]

Until the 405th really gets organized and has a charter and all that legal stuff, you should be fine to wear your armor at various CHARITY events. Marching in a parade is usually okay, but being in a parade on a business-sponsored float may not be, because that could be looked at as advertising. Bungie may not mind being associated with the MS Walk, but they probably don't want you in the MS Walk as part of the "Crazy Al's Pawn Shop and Loan" crew. We all want to wear our costumes every chance we get, but we should use some discretion when picking events. Erring on the side of caution is better than getting a C&D letter from Bungie. If there's any sort of business-sponsorship invovled, it's best to stay away.

Bungie made Halo to make money. Master Chief and all parts of Halo belong to Bungie (and Microsoft), so they have the ultimate decision on how their property is used. If they feel that a person or organization is abusing or 'damaging' their property, they can follow up with legal action. That means if at anytime they feel the 405th isn't using their property in a proper manner, they can sic the dogs on us and shut us down as an organization. But in all honesty, they can't keep you from making your own armor, and they can't (really) keep you from doing charity work in your armor. But, like I mentioned, they can keep the 405th from doing stuff.

 

[Deathwasp]

Until the 405th really gets organized and has a charter and all that legal stuff, you should be fine to wear your armor at various CHARITY events. Marching in a parade is usually okay, but being in a parade on a business-sponsored float may not be, because that could be looked at as advertising. Bungie may not mind being associated with the MS Walk, but they probably don't want you in the MS Walk as part of the "Crazy Al's Pawn Shop and Loan" crew. We all want to wear our costumes every chance we get, but we should use some discretion when picking events. Erring on the side of caution is better than getting a C&D letter from Bungie. If there's any sort of business-sponsorship invovled, it's best to stay away.

Bungie made Halo to make money. Master Chief and all parts of Halo belong to Bungie (and Microsoft), so they have the ultimate decision on how their property is used. If they feel that a person or organization is abusing or 'damaging' their property, they can follow up with legal action. That means if at anytime they feel the 405th isn't using their property in a proper manner, they can sic the dogs on us and shut us down as an organization. But in all honesty, they can't keep you from making your own armor, and they can't (really) keep you from doing charity work in your armor. But, like I mentioned, they can keep the 405th from doing stuff.

Alrighty. Thanks for the help. So if my friend and I were to head to the mall and try to gather up individual sponsors for the thing, would that be okay?
Not like going to EB Games or GAP and trying to get THEM to sponsor us, just random people.

 

[NZTK]

YOu own the armour, you can do what you like in it, you don't need anyone's permission. Im sure kids would get a real kick out of seeing the master chief.

they do have George Lucas with them at most of the events >.>

No we don't.

 

[Deathwasp]

YOu own the armour,

True, but Microsoft owns the intellectual property of the armor.
Of course, I'm thinking they'd be pretty freakin' stupid to get into a legal battle with a 15 year old who wore his armor on a walk for charity. >_>

 

[Vader]

YOu own the armour, you can do what you like in it, you don't need anyone's permission. Im sure kids would get a real kick out of seeing the master chief.

As an individual, you can do what you like for the most part. There are some things you can't do, mainly make money off of it, but for the most part as an INDIVIDUAL you can do just about anything you want. The chances of MS or Bungie sending a team of lawyers to your house is really low - plus it would be a PR problem: "Bungie sues 14 year old."

As an organization, you run into a bigger problem. Bungie may not go after one person, but if it's a good sized organization, they may look into legal action, depending on what's going on. As in the case of the 501st, LFL could have started legal action and shut them down, but they chose to use it as a promotion tool, give that the 501st adheres to strict guidelines.

For the costume, you own the physical aspect, but the character is all Bungie's/MS's. I created my Vader costume, invested time and money, but really, LFL owns Darth Vader and if they feel that I'm using Darth Vader in a manner that is damaging to Star Wars, then they could tell me to stop. I don't think they could take my costume, but they could tell me to stop doing stuff. Same with the 501st - if they started doing events that LFL felt was harmful to the image of Star Wars, then LFL would have no problem shutting down the 501st. The 405th could be treated the same if Bungie/MS feels that we're hurting Halo.

As long as everyone keeps their heads about themselves and doesn't do anything that draws negative attention, then everything should be fine.

And as for GL showing up to 501st events - I think you mean to say he RARELY shows up to anything. That's why it's such a big deal when he does.