Subject:
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Re: LEGO Company Welcomes Adult LEGO Enthusiasts
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.lego.direct
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Date:
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Wed, 6 Dec 2000 21:37:39 GMT
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Viewed:
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9540 times
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> From: "richard marchetti" <blueofnoon@aol.com>
>
> In lugnet.lego.direct, Mark Sandlin writes:
> > It's all very interesting and exciting, but I'm not very interested in
> > losing rights to my designs. We shall see.
>
> Rights? I don't disagree with your fundamental assertions here, Mark -- but
> what exactly do you think happens when you post several detailed images of
> your stuff to the internet? Sure, maybe some people write to you and want
> either the original or a boxed with instructions copy -- but most of us look
> the thing over for useful ideas -- or maybe even just knock it off outright!
That is to be expected, and that wasn't the point I was trying to make. I'm
not offended by people copying my designs for their own private enjoyment.
Suppose LEGO claims rights to any sets you create using their service.
Suppose they go on to post your creation online where other people can buy a
set of it as well. Suppose LEGO doesn't reward you in any way for creating
that item... then they are making money from your cool design, and you get
nothin'. (I suppose LEGO could turn this around on me, since I made those
T-Shirts with the Classic Space astronaut, the difference being that I
didn't profit from the shirts.)
Now, these are all just suppositions, as I am merely having a discussion of
"what's gonna happen and how do I fit into this?" It's probably too early in
the game to have answers to these questions, but I'm asking them for the
sake of discussion.
>
> This is what I never understood about the GOB thing, not at all...
It's not hard to understand if you consider how lazy people are. I watched a
woman in the Wal Mart parking lot leave her shopping cart in a parking stall
that was approximately 15 feet from the cart return.
>
> Why would I pay someone a premium for what I can build on my own?
Maybe someone sees a GoB set that they really really like, but they don't
have the parts in their own collection to achieve the result they want?
> In fact, why do I want to build that which someone else has already built?
Maybe you don't. Some people just like building sets. That might be boring
to you and me, but it floats their boat, I guess.
> I suppose if one lacks one's own creativity, this may be the route to choose --
> but otherwise, I don't get it.
If someone can profit from doing something they love, then why not? You are
an accomplished enough builder that buying the product probably doesn't
appeal to you, but I can certainly understand the attraction of creating
something you like and then selling it.
> And I actually think that everyone is creative to
> some degree, it's just that some of us exercise those creative "muscles"
> more so than do others.
I think that is another point. I get several emails every week from people
wanting instructions to my larger creations, or even offers to buy some of
them. However, a reasonably-skilled AFOL with a decent collection will
probably be capable of replicating one of my creations themselves, just by
looking at the picture.
<snip>
> But anyway, back to the main point: I think it can be fairly asserted that
> most of us want the elements directly from TLC so we can build and design
> for ourselves -- isn't that the point of the parts buckets?
Sure, I can agree with that.
> I see an
> interest in packaged sets going way down for most if not all adult buyers,
> and maybe even some children. But the whole thing does raise an interesting
> topic:
>
> To what degree can one own the rights to a thing built entirely from the
> patented and copyrighted elements of a particular toy company? When does a
> particular assemblage of elements take on a meaning owned more by its
> designer, and in opposition to the rights of the company that created the
> elements of that same assemblage?
That's a good question. My questions center around the rights to sell the
intellectual property present in the model itself. Model being greater than
the sum of its parts, so to speak.
~Mark "Muffin Head" Sandlin
--
Mark's Lego Creations
http://www.nwlink.com/~sandlin/lego
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: LEGO Company Welcomes Adult LEGO Enthusiasts
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| (...) Rights? I don't disagree with your fundamental assertions here, Mark -- but what exactly do you think happens when you post several detailed images of your stuff to the internet? Sure, maybe some people write to you and want either the (...) (23 years ago, 6-Dec-00, to lugnet.lego.direct)
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