Recaster 'cease And Desist' Notices

[Spartan137]

NOTE TO READERS: When I say Cease and Desist, I'm not referring to a legal C&D order. I just can't think of a better name for it.



Well, I think everyone knows that a whole bunch of people have attempted to rip off props that were built by people on this site, and it seems to me we have no real way of dealing with the problem aside from contacting the person and eBay, and hoping that they will do something about it.



Well, I propose this: We create a standard Cease and Desist page here on the 405th. Not a forum page, but an actual page page from the main portal. In the event of someone attempting to sell off one of our props or armor systems, we drop them a message with a link to the CD page, and give them a brief rundown of the situation from our perspective. We also put a link to another page that warns potential buyers that the parts that are up for auction are recasted components from the 405th, and stick the link to the guy's comment boxes on his eBay page or whatever.



The Cease and Desist page should be built in such a way that the offended party (the original creator) can fill out a form regarding the offense, what item, proof they made it, etc, and the form will fill in the blanks.



So, for example, say somebody has recasted Adam's AR (which happens rather often). Adam goes to our CD form page and fills out the information. He lists his full name, address, email, 405th account name, name of the recasted item, and proof that he made the AR (which would probably be the AR recast podcast). The form will also have a pre-written paragraph or two politely asking the offender to Cease and Desist all operations noted within the form.



The page will then fill out the form in a nice, legible style and create a link to the page that can then be sent to the recaster. The page will also create a second page, a general public notice regarding the prop's recasted status, and informing them that it could potentially be a scam.



This is all very rough, but I hope it conveys the idea.

 

[BenStreeper]

Although this is a great Idea, Leagally it's bunk. As all of us here are making Fan-Made props we have no legal rights to the I.P. itself. And as such can't actually send a C.D. legally without first obtaining a tradmark, copyright, patent, or some other form of I.P. legal registration With the U.S. or Respective Government. It may do the job by simply scaring the less intelligent recasters out there, but the ones that really plague us also have the luxury of living in another country exempt of our I.P. Laws with the exception of international trade.



The best way to go about this is to cronicle your builds online in a forum with timestamps. This will prove that you made it first. Also build in identifiers to your props that are hard to get rid of. This will make it less-likely to be recasted, and easy to spot if it is. The rest is just relizing that most people out there will buy the props from the original maker (if he/she can prove such) because that is the best quality, and the most honorable thing to do. Ebay usually follows the same guidlines. If you can prove that you made the prop. that the pictures are yours, etc. they will remove the listing. This is however one of the longest process I have ever seen, also the most ridiculous.

 

[Spartan137]

Although this is a great Idea, Leagally it's bunk. As all of us here are making Fan-Made props we have no legal rights to the I.P. itself. And as such can't actually send a C.D. legally without first obtaining a tradmark, copyright, patent, or some other form of I.P. legal registration With the U.S. or Respective Government. It may do the job by simply scaring the less intelligent recasters out there, but the ones that really plague us (Lee-Moore) also have the luxury of living in another country exempt of our I.P. Laws with the exception of international trade.

Your point is valid, and I admit it's the one big flaw in the concept. Short of Microsoft on our side for official C&D's, we have no legal control over what happens out there.



An edit to my plan would be to make it a 405th official, meaning that it holds no legal standing in the court of law (which helps eliminate the problem of out-of-country legality issues), but is more dignified and respectable then a whole bunch of our members dinging the recaster's eBay rating and leaving comments saying that the prop is recasted without permission. The first real 'Cease and Desist' (Again, I only call it that for lack of a better name. Maybe a better name would be a Polite letter from the 405th) message is sent straight to the offending party, which should hopefully topple their sales of our equipment. Like you said, the less intelligent ones would more then likely bow to our request with just the intro message. The second note, which is more of a 405th Infantry Division PSA then anything else, would be placed in the seller's page's comments in the form of a link, merely to inform the general public that the prop was not made by the seller.

The best way to go about this is to cronicle your builds online in a forum with timestamps. This will prove that you made it first. Also build in identifiers to your props that are hard to get rid of. This will make it less-likely to be recasted, and easy to spot if it is. The rest is just relizing that most people out there will buy the props from the original maker (if he/she can prove such) because that is the best quality, and the most honorable thing to do. Ebay usually follows the same guidlines. If you can prove that you made the prop. that the pictures are yours, etc. they will remove the listing. This is however one of the longest process I have ever seen, also the most ridiculous.

I whole-heartily agree with your statement. Videos (Like Adam's PSAs) are even better, as they show you actually building the prop. But, like you said, eBay is slow to the uptake on removing the listing. The proposed notices from the 405th might better encourage the seller to remove the listing voluntarily.



Maybe it could be beneficial to write into the first message that the 405th will not lower the user's rating as a sign of good will, which might help encourage the seller to do as we request.



But it's all concept, and it'll take alot of discussion to work out the kinks in the plan, plus moderator support and general adoption by the community.

 

[BenStreeper]

I submit the following for consideration and alteration in personal use only. Remember this is a 1st request letter. It is to be formal, polite, and non-threating. Please do not include anything that implies that the 405th is involded (other than you sold this through the 405th) as this site does NOT sell props, and should not be involved in any sales of props. We (the 405th) are here only to help others create the best possible props on earth (and any other sentient planet).



Name:



I am writing in regards to you recent listing on _Forum/Site_ for the sale of Products Name. This item was originally built: sculpted: created by Name of Creator, and sold to you on Date of Sale and means of Sale. I respectfully request that you not reproduce props that have been created by me without my written consent. If you would like to become a distributor of my props we can work out an arrangement that is mutually beneficial to both parties, such as a reproduction fee, a resale fee, or a redistribution fee.



Out of respect for you this first letter is a formal request to remove the listing until an arrangement can be made, or the purchase back of the original item and all molds/ castings (at cost) has been made.





Respectfully,



Name____________________

 

[ImaGonnaGetYou]

Yes, and if they won't fall for a cease and desist, they'll just up and stop because you sent them a letter.



The world, and people with different moral views on situations such as this, do not run in a "oh, I'm doing wrong, here, I'll stop now" fashion. Maybe it'll work on the legally inexperienced recasters, but for other people, they don't care. That is why there is internet piracy, hacking, stealing, etc. If you want to do something effective, you need to be creative with your plan that will convince him that:



1. He is in serious or somewhat serious legal trouble.

2. He could be hacked/something similar (and not just "omg i r h4x joo" stuff, either, people see right through that).

3. Get his eBay account suspended somehow.

4. etc etc.



Complaining and trying to end someone's little cash cow is not as appealing to them as it is to you, in any way. Somehow, you'll have to make it worth their time to stop their recasting (not bribes, if you're deficient in common sense).



Good luck to you guys, I've got my OWN plan for countering this.

 

[Kaya Tetsu]

All I can say is that something needs to be done. People have no morals, its ridiculous.

 

[ImaGonnaGetYou]

All I can say is that something needs to be done. People have no morals, its ridiculous.

Welcome to the real world, then. Don't expect anyone else to follow your standard of morals. Plus, what you find morally wrong may be morally correct to them, and vice versa. Don't be a hypocrite or be narrow-minded about other people's opinions or feelings, and then people will stop RAGE RAGE RAGEing over this and have calm attitudes.

 

[Haven923]

Although this is a great Idea, Leagally it's bunk. As all of us here are making Fan-Made props we have no legal rights to the I.P. itself. And as such can't actually send a C.D. legally without first obtaining a tradmark, copyright, patent, or some other form of I.P. legal registration With the U.S. or Respective Government. It may do the job by simply scaring the less intelligent recasters out there, but the ones that really plague us also have the luxury of living in another country exempt of our I.P. Laws with the exception of international trade.



The best way to go about this is to cronicle your builds online in a forum with timestamps. This will prove that you made it first. Also build in identifiers to your props that are hard to get rid of. This will make it less-likely to be recasted, and easy to spot if it is. The rest is just relizing that most people out there will buy the props from the original maker (if he/she can prove such) because that is the best quality, and the most honorable thing to do. Ebay usually follows the same guidlines. If you can prove that you made the prop. that the pictures are yours, etc. they will remove the listing. This is however one of the longest process I have ever seen, also the most ridiculous.

Hey, Church of Scientology sends out phony CDs all the time :lol



All kidding aside, you would need a copyright on this stuff which we can't get on most of our stuff. If you made something completely original, then you could. Unfortunately, the greater portion of our material is based off of something made by somebody else (Bungie).

 

[Spartan137]

Hey, Church of Scientology sends out phony CDs all the time :lol



All kidding aside, you would need a copyright on this stuff which we can't get on most of our stuff. If you made something completely original, then you could. Unfortunately, the greater portion of our material is based off of something made by somebody else (Bungie).

Not necessarily. We can use creative commons licenses, I believe. I know ex-member Vrogy used it on his H3 Marine file set.

 

[Kaya Tetsu]

Not necessarily. We can use creative commons licenses, I believe. I know ex-member Vrogy used it on his H3 Marine file set.

But which CC to choose?

 

[LastSpartan]

Why not just make a list of known recasters like 137 suggested. At least, we would know not to buy from them. Like propsafe but for Halo.

 

[Keegan]

1. He is in serious or somewhat serious legal trouble.

2. He will be hacked/something similar (and not just "omg i r h4x joo" stuff, either, people see right through that).

3. Get his eBay account suspended.

4. ???

5. PROFIT

Fix'd