GW issue C&D to BoardGameGeek

[Tensor]

One of many posts:
http://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/48933

Boardgame Geek is a very important source in the boardgaming world. It hosts lots of things on all sorts of games including rules summaries and fan created additional content. This past week they have been hit with a C&D asking them to remove ALL gw related content. They have done so - I can only presume to avoid legal costs.

This seems like throwing the baby out with the bathwater to me. Rules summaries and things fair enough but fan created content? Things like additional scenarios, and dare I say it Minidexes are being swept up in the current actions.

[Melissia]

It's very similar to Toei and other companies removing all the AMVs from youtube and other sites...

[Bigred]

Moved to wargames-corporate, not 40k specific.

Carry on by all means.

[Kefka]

GW has done stuff like this before. I guess I can understand wanting rules for games to be taken down, they want to sell their game product. but why go to sites like this? I mean, there is a website that has ALL the Mordheim stuff on it, but GW has never taken action against it, yet they attack BGG (a great site btw) It seems GW just attacks who they feel like, and throw their weight around when they think we are getting too comfortable.

[Bigred]

Also note GW licensed the rights to most of those old boardgames to FFG, who is keen to republish new editions of many of them.

[Baron Spikey]

What you can and can't do with GW's IP (http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?community=&catId=&categoryId=&pIndex=3&aId=3900002&start=4)

Paraphrasing what Galahad said on Heresy-Online, GW are making an example of Board Game Geek- they scanned GW copyrighted materials and so lost out on all thier privileges on having ANY GW related articles on their site...I'm sure GW will get round to that Mordheim site in good time and hit them with an equally weighty (if not weightier) C&D.

[Kefka]

Hmm... It seems just gray enough that they could hit with a C&D for most anything. "You can use our stuff, but if we think it's inappropriate then we will hit you with a C&D."
In most cases, I understand, like T-shirts and making money. Wasn't there a post about a guy getting a Warrior of Chaos tattoo on his back, and someone said GW would out a C&D on it. Well this just confirms that they would.
I could spend a long time going through this... it seems so... tricky. Like I said, GW is trying to seem nice and allow us to be free, but will come after us whenever they feel like it.

[Nabterayl]

@Kefka:

To be fair, most of the stuff on that policy is actually saying stuff they probably won't do under existing law. The stuff they're claiming is just telling you rights they already have. GW doesn't have to say that it owns your 40K fan fiction. It already does (well, more specifically, it owns the 40K part of it).

It's true that it sucks to be in a situation where you don't get sued only because the person who could sue you has decided not to ... for now <ominous rumble>. But the only way GW could not be in that situation is if they said, "We will never enforce the following rights as intellectual property owners." And who would ever say that? The moment you say something like that, something you didn't think of is going to bite you on the ***.

I agree that GW's being ham-handed in recent days. But the general relationship of an IP owner to its fans of "You're okay until we squelch you" is pretty much unavoidable.

[Kefka]

I'll tell you what gets me a bit peeved though and why I said what I said.
For the past 2 months I have been trying to get a charity set-up. Think of a marathon, but people sponsor you for a larger army in an apocalypse game. Now, this idea isn't original, someone else I know did a similar version of this. Difference, GW didn't care about his, they gave me a warning, however. Nothing is different between the two fundraisers other then who is running it, and GW did know about both of them. So now I am trying to find legal loop-holes around this to keep it going (seeing as I have already raised a few hundred dollars, it would be unfair to those who have already donated.)

[Nabterayl]

Interesting. What, precisely, did they object to? Your advertising materials?

[Kefka]

The fact that I was running a fundraiser and it involved their name. Which I don't get, cause anyone can go and run a tournament, but a fundraiser,something good in GW's name? NOOOOOOOOOO!
sorry, still bitter about it.

[Nabterayl]

So as an example, you called it the "Warhammer Fundraiser" or something that had one of their trademarks directly in the title? As opposed to, I don't know, "Grim Dark for the Holidays" or something like that?

[Porty1119]

Just another example of a large corporation overreacting to something that DOESN'T REALLY MATTER!!
I mean, seriously. GW makes millions of dollars every year. By comparison, the amount of money 'lost' by IP (an oxymoron) infringement is infinitesimal.

[BDub]

Just another example of a large corporation overreacting to something that DOESN'T REALLY MATTER!!
I mean, seriously. GW makes millions of dollars every year. By comparison, the amount of money 'lost' by IP (an oxymoron) infringement is infinitesimal.

But it does matter - any lapse on GW's part in enforcing a Trademark becomes a precedent that can be used against them in a future trademark infringement case, as well as risk them loosing the trademark protection all together.

[Mauglum.]

Hi all.
I am not an expert on IP.
But GW has lots of options available to resolve IP issues.
However , GW seems to just issue C&D orders in a very heavy handed way.

GW could grant limited licences for promotion - development ,On the understanding no money is made , in a for 'personal use only' type agreement.

Most game companies are happy to have thier products features on BGG.

But perhaps those companies like to work with thier customers in a bid to improve thier products...

TTFN