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Jedi Kiddie Greens from Hasslefree


goblyn13

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Curious how long it will take the Lucas lawyers to send Kev a No No No you don't letter..

I have wondered this myself with other figs they produce. Im not sure the I.P. laywers will accept calling the fig 'NOT( fill in the blank), and call it a day.

I have picked up figs in there line just incase any of the big boys get thier panties in a bunch and bring the hammer down.

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If Lucasfilm didn't bother with Heresy's Lord Va'durr, I doubt they will bother with these. Although if they really wanted to I'm sure they could. They might care more if there actually was a proper Star wars based miniatures game, not just the pre painted plastic one. And no the terrible small scale West end game from the 90s doesn't count. Basically what I'm saying is I really want some wicked cool star wars minis to paint.

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As far as pursuing miniature IP infractions... being a tiny and under the radar hobby probably has its advantages. ;-> I have to think if lawyers haven't been brought in against Andrea and some of the other historical/display manufacturers who not only sell authentic likenesses of IP characters but even accurately depict the actors who played them, then small companies doing 'not' characters like Hasslefree and Heresy are pretty safe. At least I hope so, anyway, cause I love these and many of the sculpts done along similar lines.

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As far as pursuing miniature IP infractions... being a tiny and under the radar hobby probably has its advantages. ;-> I have to think if lawyers haven't been brought in against Andrea and some of the other historical/display manufacturers who not only sell authentic likenesses of IP characters but even accurately depict the actors who played them, then small companies doing 'not' characters like Hasslefree and Heresy are pretty safe. At least I hope so, anyway, cause I love these and many of the sculpts done along similar lines.

Actually, no, they aren't. Just depends on whether they want to make an issue of it or not, or if they find out about it, but in this case Kev has already stated that he is calling them something else and that the weapons are nagata or something like that (basically some wooden weapon).

If they 'wanted' to make issue of it, I'm fairly certain that they would get pulled and quickly, as lawyer fees alone would make it prohibitive.

Ever wonder why the Imps are called Imps now and not 'Hells Angels Imps' ...

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Ever wonder why the Imps are called Imps now and not 'Hells Angels Imps' ...

Those are folks far scarier than the entertainment industry! Also you were at the disadvantage that this wasn't a case of someone who cared about the IP happening to find the sculpt and see a resemblance despite a name that isn't an an overt shout-out to the inspiration. I suspect the group that took issue with the Imps does regular web searches on its name and found it that way. Though I could well be wrong about how the name change came to pass and this is in no way a useful legal opinion or anything, I just find it odd sometimes that people freak about some of the Heresy and Hasslefree IP-inspired characters and not the very obviously Nimoy as Spock and Russel Crowe as the Gladiator and some of the others I've seen from Andrea and similar companies.

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The story behind the miniatures formerly known as Hells Angels Imps is fairly simple, though one that I've not talked about beyond a few individuals and thankfully had help in writing my response. Basically, groups like that, and some others throughout, do internet searches and the like and find reason to make issue, cause upset or outright try and make money off situations that may or may not actually tread on names, visuals or ideas.

Since then I've actually retained a lawyer for Wyrd for various reasons (contracts, legal work, etc) and what it comes down to is that they have no grounds to actually demand anything as it doesn't actually infringe. Now, that being said, if I wanted to take the high hand and say 'eff it and take on someone with a rather large gunned lawyer, I might very well win, but in the end would be bankrupt as my money can't keep up with their money. So in the end, you lose.

Same thing with the rest of the rest of the miniature industry - IF someone wanted to take offense at the use of this or that, they could mount a lawsuit or send you a scare letter, and nine out of ten, independents or folks without a big wad of cash to back up their lawyers, are going to back down, change things, and basically capitulate, no matter how much they would rather not.

Of course, with anything, if you change it 'just' enough, most won't bother unless they happen to be real buggers. And their are some! Me, I was more worried about folks riding through the front door on motorcycles.

:D

Naturally this is just my opinion working from this side of the industry and I can and likely would be proven wrong if someone wanted to.

:)

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Oh, I don't blame you a bit for the decision. There's an awful lot of the big guy with more lawyers intimiates the little guy who can't afford to stand up for it on the Internet. I used to be more involved in a hobby that overlaps some areas of fandom, and I've seen examples of lawyers going apeshit on artists and having them take down pictures just for what they listed as inspirations in commentary and other stuff like that. It'll be interesting if one day the big guy happens to pick on a little guy who happens to have cash to burn on making a stand, but I'm not holding my breath to see that happen any time soon. Being the little guy who stood up to people who might address a situation they don't like with scarier resources than lawyers would be folly, and you're Wyrd not stupid. ;->

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