Miniature Taboo?

[cdukino]

Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery...The similar pose thing seems pretty blatent, but that is definately one of my 'fears' with IP. How many minis have the holding up the severed head idea, or the 'i'm pointing at you' pose?

I agree here.. mostly... some poses are just plain standard and cliche... there is no way it's not gonna be done by 1000 people. People aren't gonna say... hey that's stolen from that specific miniature, for there are many. The fianna on the other hand is a very known and telltale Rackham fig and pose. The pose especially with the blade this big and held like that is reminding very clearly about the Fianna fig even if it is made by Reaper. Even if it's not illegal for I doubt you can copyright poses... it is a not so smart choice to make it this simular to a such well known figure. Especially if you know lots of people instantly will reconise it as a Rackham fig lookalike... the fact people see that so willingly and instantly already should have bells ringing in the... hmmm this might be taking it a bit to far area...

[Spacemunkie]

You can't copyright a pose. Those two are different enough - and the Rackham is just superior anyway.

As for recasting, if muppets insist on paying silly money for rare stuff, recasters are going to make money.

I'm more concerned with cast quality, but I'd have no qualms about buying oop recasts if I wanted the minis, they were good copies and the price was right.

Put it this way, how many of the nay-sayers out there download MP3's, copy CD's or use pirated software? Exactly the same thing.

[LaeliaJS]

Legally: This would fall under copyright/public domain laws, just like any other form of artwork. Public domain allows anyone to use a work, regardless of whether it's for profit or not. Those laws are so convoluted and involve so many conflicting clauses and counter clauses that you really would need a lawyer to understand them. This is why copyright lawyers make a fortune.

Ethically: In my opinion, as long as a) The original company or companies that produced the mini are either out of business or give permission, the original sculpter is either dead or gives permission, AND c) ALL credit to the original author and company is given, then it should be all right to recast a mini.

How I see it, this is sort of similar to a company selling a reprint of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Said company makes a profit off selling it, they're a business after all, but they're still giving credit to the author, it's entirely legal, and there's nothing wrong with doing this. Someone else can buy said reprint of the play, and charge people to see it.

Of course, with selling recast minis there'd be the issue of royalties to the original author, which gets into some of the much messier laws of copyright. Oh, and poses can't be copyrighted, either, no matter how funky silly they are. Neither can names, ideas, individual words, or anything that's already in the public domain.

MP3s and ripped software are a whole other can of worms, one which I'm not touching with a 10 foot pole.

[vincegamer]

This is why copyright lawyers make a fortune.

Really? Most copyright lawyers barely get by. It's not a lucrative field unless you get a client like RMI.

The rest of what you said is essentially true except it's still illegal to copy a work by someone who is dead provided they didn't die too long ago.

Shakespeare is dead, and has been for a long time so Hamlet is no longer under copyright.

Arthur Miller is dead, but he's only been dead about 9 months, so Death of a Salesman is still under copyright and will be until 2075 (unless Congress decides in the mean time to make the term longer).

[Celtic Lilly]

What Mr. Munkie says has a ring of truth when put that way.