Subject:
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Re: Legal to sell "reverse engineered" copies of LEGO stickers?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Sat, 1 Nov 2008 22:47:57 GMT
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Viewed:
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13885 times
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In lugnet.general, Jordan Schwarz wrote:
> In lugnet.general, Jeffrey Findley wrote:
> > Is it legal to sell "reverse engineered" copies of LEGO stickers? Such as here:
> >
> > <http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=Onideus>
> >
> > This guy is claiming that because they're "reverse engineered" from the
> > originals that they're not "copies" and are therefore exempt from copyright
> > protection.
>
> I have used vector graphics to replicate logos on occasion, and the nature of
> the process may give some insight into the legality of this.
>
> Say we're duplicating a logo: first, an image or scan of the logo is imported
> into the vector graphics program. Then, in essence, lines and shapes are laid
> down on top of the original art and tweaked to match. Colors and shading can be
> matched almost exactly.
>
> If the person using the vector graphics program is sufficiently talented, the
> original and its copy could very well be indistinguishable.
>
> Now, as an example, say that I have decided to produce my own custom sets to
> sell. And, I have "reverse engineered" the LEGO logo using this process and put
> it on the set boxes. Is this copyright infringement? Most certainly, in my
> mind. A copy of a copyrighted work is still a copy, even if it is not a
> "perfect" copy or is arrived at by different means.
>
> So, the question seems to be one not of whether these stickers plagiarize the
> originals - because they do - but whether anyone at LEGO legal will mind. I
> don't know the answer to that one, although I have a guess: they've got bigger
> fish to fry and are more concerned about infringement by corporations that are
> detracting significantly from the profit base; of less concern is the fan with a
> passion for the retro LEGO sets who likes to bring back the old decals.
>
> -Jordan Schwarz
LEGO is picky about e.g. Vestas, but they don't care (and most other bussinesses
too) about other stickers (see www.ministickers.nl for our collection of
vinyl/pvc stickers).
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