I thought some of you might be interested in the latest upate a modelingmadness.com by Tom Cleaver on the situation with licensing issues in the modeling industry. Here’s the article:
http://www.modelingmadness.com/tomseditorial.htm
Very eye opening!
::sigh:: well we felt it coming… now the other shoe has dropped…
Sad, so very sad. It won’t be long before the base price for any model will start around $50 just to pay for insurance and licensing fees.
And what’s really sad is that it’s only the tip of the iceburg. Given time we won’t even be able to mention the name or post pictures of copyrighted items on public forums such as this without paying a licensing fee. We won’t be able to buy a can of soup for under $20 because some moron cut himself opening a can so the manufacturers had to start purchasing exhorbitant product liability insurance.
A sign of the times, and one that is just plain wrong.
all part of the “victim” mentality I am afraid… people need to start taking responsibility for their actions like when I grew up… mom always said be careful when opening a tin can so you don’t cut yourself… still applies today.
And I think if I scalded myself with hot coffee from McD’s because I had it between my legs when driving, I would probably curse my stupid move and immediately go out and buy a cup holder… never sue McD’s
I’m not sure that it does still apply today. When you start seeing lists of emergency phone numbers including the number for an attorney something is just plain wrong.
Yeah, but that’s the difference between a “Responsible Person” and a “Moron”. A ReP looks for something to stop the burning. A Moron looks for the attorney’s phone number.
Funny thing about most of the instances of idiocy I’ve read about is that nobody tries to sue the person who is actually responsible. If little Johnny swallows some of the parts from a model airplane, nobody bothers to ask the question, “Why was little Johnny able to get into the kit in the first place? Was it because Big Johnny left it out where he could?” This nonsense will impact everything, and has been for years, but as Robert’s post pointed out it is just now rearing its ugly head here.
I can only say two words and some won’t like them “Tort Reform”
I’m worried that the kit makers will start making kits of generic-looking subject matter so the big industries can’t say “that’s our tank, start paying up!”. So perhaps it is the end of accurate kits of a specific subject. Maybe the future of models lay in very old subjects that no one can claim legal rights to.[V]
Dave
I wonder if big companies forcing model kit makers to get licenses can constitute extortion?[soapbox]
Dave
My credo for these times:
“Common sense has become uncommon.”
I wonder if the problem is with the lawyers or is it with little Johnny’s parents who hire the lawyer to sue because their dumb kid decided to swallow a part WHICH the parents shouldn’t have been letting him play with in the first place.
Eric
It’s not just modelers that it’s happend too.
The flightsim industry has been delt the same blow, with northrop/grumman and a few others not allowing the use of their aircraft.
Hi all,
I’ve enjoyed reading Tom Cleaver’s articles, and respect his opinions. However, some additional information would be great. This would be the perfect subject for some investigative reporting from FSM.
I know they ran an article on the subject last year. Is it time for a follow-up?
Regards,
Anyway to make a profit for there share holders and the companies[}:)] , I wonder if any of the share holders build models , if they do then the profits that they make they will loss when they buy there models … [XX]
mike
another sacrifice at the altar of the great God profit…
When will this sort of greediness end…
cheers
Mike
here comes an interesting (I hope) thought.
Let´s say and agree that the design of the let say F-16 belongs to Lockheed Martin .
But the F-16 No 92xxxxxx belongs to the US Airforce which is not in my knowledge subsidiary of LM but is under the control of the US gov. and in effect the nation.
So if you built a nameless (no decals) F-16 it can be claimed that it belongs to LM but when you put the decals on the ownership is transferred to the nation in effect YOU.
So you can claim that you are not buliding a kit of THE F-16 but the US Airforce plane no 92xxxxx which HAPPENS to be an F-16.
So logically speaking LM and the rest of the companies can go and &%$# off…
Having said that logic and common sense is something alien to profit makers.
I think you will find that LM will say that it is our plane regardless of the markings.
In the end LM will licence the plane and the USAF the markings, now try to build the same kit sans marking or plane. [:D]
This is nothing new and even was part of a long dispute(15 or so years) between Hobby Japan(Bandai) and Nitto regarding the SF3D kits, as HJ ownesthe SF3D rights and Nitto the design rights.
In the end the kits were reissued under a new name.
Start to think that the lawyer jokes are too kind to them.
Perhaps it is time to contact our representives in Congress…though to be honest I do not have much faith in there ability to get things done. Its doo bad Tamiya gave in.
Perhaps a large petition would have some impact?
Dave
I’ve already sent 3 e-mails…1 to my US Representative and 2 to my state Senators.
Here’s some new information from the Internet Modeler Webzine:
http://www.internetmodeler.com/2005/january/columns/editorial.php