Subject:
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Re: LEGO Company Welcomes Adult LEGO Enthusiasts
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Wed, 6 Dec 2000 22:06:00 GMT
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Viewed:
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9297 times
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In lugnet.general, John Rudy writes:
> I think what James is saying here is that if you copy his design outright
> and sell it. THIS breaks copyright laws, and is comperable to selling
> bootlegged CDs.
Umm.. no. James' position is more like the whole Napster/Music thing. Should
I be able to play an artist's music whenever I want without paying them for
it? Can I burn my own CD's of their music for my own personal use? Can I
sing their songs in the car? If I'm in a band, can I play their songs on
Open Mike Night? Can I turn around and sell my band's cover of their songs?
As far as I'm concerned, yeah, James has a point, but it'd be useless to him
and me for him to take me to court over something that trivial. There's
almost NO way of proving that I ripped off his idea, and how much it's been
modified from his design is another issue too. I can just modify the model
before the court date. Or I can just wreck the model and claim it never
existed. Also, I DIDN'T make a profit, therefore James' loss is minimal if
existant. If you can prove that I WOULD have bought the set from him if I
couldn't copy it, but COPIED it instead so I could save a few bucks, then
that's an example of damages on James' part. But again, VERY hard if not
impossible to prove, and again, small beans worth of damages, really. The
time spent in court simply wouldn't be worth it, unless he thought that by
doing it he could set an example that he'd think that other people would
follow, which I doubt, unless he gets me sent to prison or something.
Anyway, James runs the risk of being copied. If you make your items
publically available, you take that risk. Doesn't matter if you're a
songwriter, artist, moviemaker, poet, whatever. And to expect people to
always pay you for your designs is rather presumptious and very naive.
Were I James, I'd say that I'd be mad if someone made the designs publically
available (I.E. giving away instructions for free). But really if someone
wants to copy him, I'd say fine. My services (in his place) are to offer a
pre-made product to save someone the work and effort of copying it
themselves. That's where I'd consider my profit. Not in the designs. Anyway,
that's my take. (Bear in mind that's Lego-specific too)
.02,
DaveE
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: LEGO Company Welcomes Adult LEGO Enthusiasts
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| (...) This last one seems to me to be the most relevant in this case. If I sit down with my guitar and pluck out the beginning of "Enter Sandman", it would be completely ludicrous for Metallica to sue me for it - and if the law believes it is (...) (23 years ago, 7-Dec-00, to lugnet.general)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: LEGO Company Welcomes Adult LEGO Enthusiasts
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| (...) I think what James is saying here is that if you copy his design outright and sell it. THIS breaks copyright laws, and is comperable to selling bootlegged CDs. (...) You would be fine, again, using this for your own enjoyment, but not to sell. (...) (23 years ago, 6-Dec-00, to lugnet.general)
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