Question for the legal guru's (resolved)

[Leigh]

As some of you may be aware I'm in the process of making an Alien bust:

http://www.therpf.com/f9/bob-alien-giger-inspired-alien-121902/

I've put some thought into it & I'd like to sell a few of these (when I eventually finnish it ), My question is: can I sell these openly without someone like Twentieth century fox slapping a multi million dollar law suit on me??
I've searched online for info in this area & not come up with anything usefull yet. I see from my research that there are many people offering Alien goodies openly online etc.
Is it just a case that no one is likely to chase these people up or do they all have permission & if I'd need permission how would I go about getting it?

Thanks

 

[TylerHam]

Re: Question for the legal guru's

I think the aliens license for stuff like that is probably help by sideshow, so you couldnt get it anyway -

Im no lawyer, but I think as long as you arent blatantly advertising everywhere (Even then, it would more likely be sideshow complaining to the licensor) and arent making dozens of them, you should be fine - Even LFL who is notoriously protective of their copyrights seems to turn their head at therpf...

 

[Alan Castillo]

Re: Question for the legal guru's

My advice is - don't get paranoid.

Sell them in the JY and you're OK for sure.

The worst that can happen, especially if you sell then on eBay, is that for some weird reason, someone reports your auction for a reason eBay 'thinks' is valid, and they shut down the listing.

No loss.

 

[Leigh]

Re: Question for the legal guru's

I think the aliens license for stuff like that is probably help by sideshow, so you couldnt get it anyway -

Im no lawyer, but I think as long as you arent blatantly advertising everywhere (Even then, it would more likely be sideshow complaining to the licensor) and arent making dozens of them, you should be fine - Even LFL who is notoriously protective of their copyrights seems to turn their head at therpf...

So from that I can assume a license isn't available to anyone who wants to apply for one then?
The only reason I ask is because I've received really good feedback from the community here & some interest. what worries me is if word gets around (not meaning to blow my own trumpet here) & quite a few people want one it could result in me making more than just a few & theres no way I want a law suit against me, I cant control the possability of this project getting mentioned on other forums etc.

Sounds like I'm really biggin my Alien up here but thats not the intention I'm just being cautious

 

[Leigh]

Re: Question for the legal guru's

My advice is - don't get paranoid.

Sell them in the JY and you're OK for sure.

The worst that can happen, especially if you sell then on eBay, is that for some weird reason, someone reports your auction for a reason eBay 'thinks' is valid, and they shut down the listing.

No loss.

So TCF aren't likely to sue me for selling these openly on the likes of ebay if there spotted & in that case its more likely that I'll just loose my ebay add?

I'm also concerned about it being re-cast etc

 

[Alan Castillo]

Re: Question for the legal guru's

Let me be blunt.

Any legal guru is going to tell you 'No, you can't'.

If you want to sell these, throw the technical law book out of the window, relax, have fun, and let it roll.

Don't do anything yourself to blow smoke, and 99.9% of the time, nothing will happen, not even your eBay listing being pulled down.

However, it sounds as though you are 'scared'.

If you are, then just don't do it.

It would be a shame though.

As for being afraid of being recast .... welcome to the club and there's absolutely nothing you can do about that except not selling them.

EDIT - You can include 'tell marks' only you would recognise in case you are recast. That way, you can call out on that person to be avoided and / or banned here, not to do business with, etc.

But that won't change the fact that you were recast in the first place.

 

[Leigh]

Re: Question for the legal guru's

Let me be blunt.

Any legal guru is going to tell you 'No, you can't'.

If you want to sell these, throw the technical law book out of the window, relax, have fun, and let it roll.

Don't do anything yourself to blow smoke, and 99.9% of the time, nothing will happen, not even your eBay listing being pulled down.

However, it sounds as though you are 'scared'.

If you are, then just don't do it.

It would be a shame though.

As for being afraid of being re-cast .... welcome to the club and there's absolutely nothing you can do about that except not selling them.

I'll be honest I am a little worried about being sued by TCF but your advise makes perfect sense & thank you

I definatly would like to sell a few of these, as & when I think its ready I'll pop a post in the JY & see how it goes.

Hopefully this post wont have brought me too much of the wrong sort of attention.

 

[Alan Castillo]

Re: Question for the legal guru's

Frankie says ... RELAX !!

You're too uptight on this matter.

You'll suck out half the fun of just making these.

:lol

It's a beautiful sculpture, so enjoy it and sell it without worrying about legal hog-wash :lol

 

[Leigh]

Re: Question for the legal guru's

Frankie says ... RELAX !!

You're too uptight on this matter.

You'll suck out half the fun of just making these.

:lol

It's a beautiful sculpture, so enjoy it and sell it without worrying about legal hog-wash :lol

Many thanks Alan

 

[BGHUNTER]

Re: Question for the legal guru's

Yeah chill,
there are many wwho make replicas and on a larger scale than your self and the for the most part dont get much stick ,
and for people like your self, who are selling a fan made piece ,in the Junk yard , the need to worries is nill

go for it!

 

[Alan Castillo]

Re: Question for the legal guru's

After the JY, stick it on eBay too. As I said before, the worst case scenario, it's pulled down.

But they give you your listing fee back.

Total loss - 0

 

[DrewSmith007]

Re: Question for the legal guru's

As for being afraid of being recast .... welcome to the club and there's absolutely nothing you can do about that except not selling them.

EDIT - You can include 'tell marks' only you would recognise in case you are recast. That way, you can call out on that person to be avoided and / or banned here, not to do business with, etc.

But that won't change the fact that you were recast in the first place.

This would require the recast being high enough quality for the tell marks to show up... :wacko

 

[Alan Castillo]

Re: Question for the legal guru's

This would require the recast being high enough quality for the tell marks to show up... :wacko

Yeah, you're right, they're usually cr*p.

In this case, it's a one-of-a-kind, and he could immediately tell its his though.

 

[Capn_Jack_Savvy]

Re: Question for the legal guru's

If you don't draw attention to the entire "RUN" of sculptures and not making tens of thousands of dollars you should be fine. Just lay low and sell them one at a time. Worst case scenario is you get a C&D letter. That seems to be the trend here. Worst case scenario is that you have to show proof of how much you profited and that you have destroyed all evidence of the sculpture or at least in writing stating you will no longer sell the item.

You'd probably be better off doing this on a Interest in the JY and/or a commission basis.

Most important is don't get buried under alot of work and not be able to meet the demand. This is a big sculpture.

Does anyone remember the Crystal Skull debacle?

 

[Leigh]

Re: Question for the legal guru's

I had a thought :rolleyes maybe those little id chips you get fitted to your pet, cast one of those into each one :confused
Probably too expencive & just imagine poping down to the vet with an Alien bust & asking them to check it :lol
I dont know though there could be something in it :confused

 

[Capn_Jack_Savvy]

Re: Question for the legal guru's

Vary your sculpt in the slightest way that only you know is the difference. Such as an extra tooth in the mouth or extra ridges along the centerline or....................endless ideas!

 

[Alan Castillo]

Re: Question for the legal guru's

I had a thought :rolleyes maybe those little id chips you get fitted to your pet, cast one of those into each one :confused
Probably too expencive & just imagine poping down to the vet with an Alien bust & asking them to check it :lol
I dont know though there could be something in it :confused

eeeerrr ... sorry to have to point this out ...... but how would the chip be cast in a recast ?

:lol

Man, stop worrying already :lol

 

[Leigh]

Re: Question for the legal guru's

eeeerrr ... sorry to have to point this out ...... but how would the chip be cast in a recast ?

:lol

Man, stop worrying already :lol

Exactly! I cast them into mine then its fairly easy to id them as originals.

But yeh your right I worrie too much

 

[Alan Castillo]

Re: Question for the legal guru's

A recaster usually claims he made it himself (lost the WIP pics :rolleyes), or got it from 'I forgot where', dog died, hurricane destroyed the original .... and a gazillion other excuses.

Chip or no chip, there's no way to prevent recasting unfortunately.

(and how would you know if there's a chip in it if the statue is in the US and you're in the UK :lol).

But yeah, stop worrying. Sculpt, cast and sell like the wind already :thumbsup

 

[TylerHam]

Re: Question for the legal guru's

Hey Leigh -

Ya, most license owners will only sell 1 lic. for a specific item at a time -

ie: Kenner has the 3 3/4 inch lic. for star wars figures, Sideshow has the 1:1 scale head replica lic., etc.. Once a company lets the lic expire, i think it goes back up for grabs -

I mean, imagine if LFL gave 12" figure rights to anyone who wanted them, instead of Sideshow / Medicom (Also, that is an instance where one has USA rights, and one has asia )

Also, Im sure the Aliens lic. is very expensive - You have an up front fee, and have to generally give a % of each sale back to them - So unless you are making a LOT of them, you wont be able to recoup probably..

Just be low key about it and sell them in the JY here and you shouldnt have any problems! SwampDonkey has been doing it and AFAIK he hasnt gotten and C & D notices.


*I just noticed you are in the UK, so you MAY get UK rights, but still, itll be expensive... And as you are not an established collectibles company, they probably wont give it to you anyways...