Subject:
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Re: Selling MOC Instructions? Your Thoughts?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Wed, 19 Dec 2001 00:08:17 GMT
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Viewed:
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437 times
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> In lugnet.general, Sun Yun writes:
> Has anybody ever sold just instructions for an MOC they'll built.
I don't know the answer to this particular question, but I do think it's an
excellent idea. I mentioned something similar just the other day:
http://news.lugnet.com/market/theory/?n=2225
> If so are there any legal ramifications of doing so, especially in the
> context of using LDraw/MLcad to generate the images?
The only concern that I think you have (and I could be wrong) is whether or
not you have licensed tools. Do you have permission (even if it's a
Freeware license) to use these tools to generate images?
If the answer is yes, then any image you can create within that tool should
belong to you, provided you do it on your own time. Don't be silly and do
this sort of thing at work, otherwise the company (by law) owns the
copyright on your work.
Then, be sure to try and protect your copyright. Remember that copyright
exists at creation. Once you write the words "icky bicky bicky" on a sheet
of paper, you own the copyright to those words. The tricky part in
copyright law is always *proving* that you own them.
There are various ways to do this. The most thorough is to register your
work with the U.S. Copyright Office. How this works for electronic media, I
have no idea.
Othe simplier and cheaper way to do this includes producing a copy of your
work and mailing it to yourself by registered mail. You do NOT open this
package once it arrives, but rather keep it safe on the off chance you need
to go to court to prove ownership of your work. The dated/signed envelope
provides *some* proof that your work existed on a certain date.
> Due to an overwhelming demand for two of my MOC outside the Lugnet community
> I've been pondering doing this.
Why not? Again, I think it's a terrific idea.
> Why charge for the instructions you ask? Well I'd like to think of it as a
> way to support my hobby much in the same way people use Brickbay shops to
> support there's. It is definitely not a sustainable source of income by any
> means. This is also not a simple set of instructions either. There are
> about 500~600 parts and you'll probably find 10 bricks in there.
>
> Here's the model:
> http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=9143
I don't much care for the model itself, but I still think the idea of making
instructions is cool. ;)
> If I do decide to do this, I intend to try to add as much value as possible.
> I'll be creating interactive instructions using either Macromedia Director
> or Flash and burning them onto pocket CD's. Fully designed case, MOC
> stickers, and reference pictures too.
Make your product unique. Add value, as you say. Create a "wow, I would
really like to try that" type of instruction set and I think you might have
something.
> In any case I wanted to ask everybody here on their thoughts. I'm kinda
> torn between just giving them out and charging for them. It's always nice
> to have a means to support an expensive hobby, at the same time it's also
> cool to get things for free.
You can look at charging for your work in another way. It creates a
perceived value for the instructions. Giving them away may not gain them
the respect they deserve. By charging at least *something* for them, you
may cause people to take more notice.
Regards,
Allan B.
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Selling MOC Instructions? Your Thoughts?
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| Has anybody ever sold just instructions for an MOC they'll built. If so are there any legal ramifications of doing so, especially in the context of using LDraw/MLcad to generate the images? Due to an overwhelming demand for two of my MOC outside the (...) (23 years ago, 18-Dec-01, to lugnet.general)
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