Monkeys Throw Banana's At The Wall?

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Oh my.. Well I guess they can take the so "acclaimed products", seemingly how they own "Iron Man". But honestly to me, fans/prop makers might be discouraged to continue the of producing armor/props seeing how Marvel can just claim whats theirs.



But I say that it isnt right. or "Not cool"



SprayNoob
 
Sadly Yes they can. If you are caught selling an item unlicensed they can demand it and will. They are just insuring that you will no longer have a copy to start stealing from them again, and yes the sale of unlicensed items is stealing money from them(somehow). Because face it they guys on pay roll for this kind of thing and can put fancy spins on it.



They fun part is Marvel was pretty high on Nastygrams list topped really only by Disney.
 
Believe me they can and will! I got in MAJOR deep $#!T with Marvel for selling replica wolverine claws. Because so many replica companies have liscence rights for Iron Man merchandise right now they will be nailing ANYONE that even looks like they have molds. Add to that now they are a Disney property...you got the worlds deadliest legal department in history.Being a prop maker myself, my advice, dont show your molds on a public board, the people that have money to buy know the secret language and how to go about inquiring about getting replicas.

I know a buddy of mine had all his Batman molds siezed by the studio who sent reps with legal documents to make sure there were no reproduction methods left in his shop. This is why there is a whole unspoken code regarding prop reproduction and prices are never mentioned. In regular prop society you NEVER publicly ask a maker if he can sell or even trade his work, thats like outing someone in public. All inquiries should be private and discret.
 
its sad when a poor man cant make his own costume cause he cant afford the hellish prices. i understand stopping mass production or keeping someone from turning a profit on someone's idea. legal is legal.... :/



Posible loophole...? Page one paragraph 3 line 2...? any lawyers out there wanna take a crack at it?
 
Until you recieve something in the mail, or recieve something via phone or by a representative I don't think they can do anything.



Using email isn't really a legal form of notification.
 
Stevieboy7 said:
Until you recieve something in the mail, or recieve something via phone or by a representative I don't think they can do anything.



Using email isn't really a legal form of notification.



They can, and email is a legal form of notification. You are talking a team of lawyers that are kept on pay-roll with one simple job. Protect the companies interest. If they can find your email it takes only a few minutes for the rest of your information to be obtained from what ever email provider you use. The only loophole in this system is you can make YOURSELF the baddest prop/costume/armor ever made and they don't care, until you go to make money off of it.



By simply keeping sales/trades private a lot of problems are solved.
 
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Lonewolf Armorer said:
... By simply keeping sales/trades private a lot of problems are solved.



That's what I've tried to make people aware of on here in the past, because keeping sales quiet really does help keep a lot of people out of the spotlight.

It's actually really fortunate that Bungie/MS/343/etc. are willing to turn a blind eye in most situations, much like Lucasfilm and the 501st, because they could really stir up trouble if they wanted... just do some research on Games Workshop, they're fiercely protective of their IP. I've heard of C&D's being issued to people that aren't even selling or making copies :eek



So yeah, don't go talking about sales in the public sections of the forums, that's why the classifieds are there ;)
 
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Belakor makes a good point.



I believe the whole Lucasfilm/stormtrooper armor issue had to do with the company wanting to make money selling their own low grade props and they just weeded out the competition. I'm sure the issue is the same with Marvel and Iron Man merchandise. You all are right, we're lucky because as of right now Bungie doesn't care about making costumes and props.



However, if you publicly sell your goods but call your merchandise by a title or name that isn't copyrighted and add details of your own design making it truly yours aren't they unable to claim it as the item's "likeness"? I mean, there IS a legal note for likeness of a trademarked design. Just like how you can buy all kinds of discounted merchandise that was clearly made from the same mold, i.e. movie replica blades and such. Just add some crazy part that can easily be removed, or sell all of your parts as individual pieces. If the customer wants to take those individual parts and assemble them on their own, oh well :)
 
Hugh Stephen Holder III said:
... However, if you publicly sell your goods but call your merchandise by a title or name that isn't copyrighted and add details of your own design making it truly yours aren't they unable to claim it as the item's "likeness"? I mean, there IS a legal note for likeness of a trademarked design. Just like how you can buy all kinds of discounted merchandise that was clearly made from the same mold, i.e. movie replica blades and such. Just add some crazy part that can easily be removed, or sell all of your parts as individual pieces. If the customer wants to take those individual parts and assemble them on their own, oh well :)



I'm not a lawyer so I can't speak about specifics but I've always heard talk in the prop circles that if something is 10% (or is it 15%?) that you're safe as far as the IP holders claiming rights to your products are concerned. Like I said though I'm not a lawyer so I don't know just how accurate that really is.

At the end of the day though the thing to consider is that these companies are a lot like banks, if they want to destroy you they will and they'll spend money to do it. Also what a lot of them rely on is that even if you are in that grey area and aren't technically stealing their IP they know most people out there just don't have the money to fight them for it in court and it's easier for the prop maker to just give in rather than go broke.
 
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Well, there goes any chance of me being interested in building any IronMan peps... Seriously, MS made that announcement a while back, but the only people (that I'm aware of) that they took down was Nightmare Armor. (Which really sucks for their stuff was of stellar quality.) However, going after the little guys? I mean C'mon... Most prop builders operate at a loss... Gah... I'm never going to Disney world again ;) Seriously, I'm almost more afraid of "Paralegals" breaking down doors instead of someone else...



I really feel sorry for that guy...
 
Sniperbaas392 said:
Well, there goes any chance of me being interested in building any IronMan peps... Seriously, MS made that announcement a while back, but the only people (that I'm aware of) that they took down was Nightmare Armor. (Which really sucks for their stuff was of stellar quality.) However, going after the little guys? I mean C'mon... Most prop builders operate at a loss... Gah... I'm never going to Disney world again ;) Seriously, I'm almost more afraid of "Paralegals" breaking down doors instead of someone else...



I really feel sorry for that guy...

wait when did nightmare armor studios go under?
 
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soul products said:
wait when did nightmare armor studios go under?

Shortly after, I believe they were served a cease and desist, because their suits were so popular. (They were even featured on G4TV...)

Technically, they're still open, but Microsoft told them they can't make any more halo builds...

Here's their website

http://www.nightmarearmorstudios.com/

It's been under development for a while...
 
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Nightmare Armour was able to make I think 10 suits with Marvels permission. After the agreed number they had to stop making them. They had a hefty price tag that really didn't fit the quality of the suits.
 
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