AA case begins
- Thread starter Jumpin Jax
- Start date
Lord Abaddon
Sr Member
Interesting! "...industrial design instead of works of art." Wow. This is going to be one very interesting case.
Question...anyone know that legal firm? Are they good, bad, cheap, high end?
Question...anyone know that legal firm? Are they good, bad, cheap, high end?
defstartrooper
Sr Member
Couple of key phrases i think, granted these might not be official quotes or anything and journalistic embelishment.
No court in the UK is going to listen to this "implied" contract claptrap there's either a contract or there isn't.
The second part of their case seems to rely on them being able to show that the product is from RM's artwork.
And lastly
Well one thing about AA his stuff is definately consistantly expensive £35 a pop in 1976 wasn't cheap :lol
Now as far as i'm aware a designer owns the rights to their designs unless under contract which as far as we've been told till now no contract existed for AA's work on the helmets other than bill of sales etc.
No court in the UK is going to listen to this "implied" contract claptrap there's either a contract or there isn't.
The second part of their case seems to rely on them being able to show that the product is from RM's artwork.
And lastly
Well one thing about AA his stuff is definately consistantly expensive £35 a pop in 1976 wasn't cheap :lol
Bobtherocker
Well-Known Member
What? did he come round and kill your cat?
This is going to potentially ruin the guy, £10 Million should they decide for LFL will wipe him out and then some. i wouldnt wish that on anyone.
Onigiri
Sr Member
AAs woes are his own so please dont act like he's a victim. He's shown a pattern of dishonesty and false info and he had a chance to abck down from the LFL legal juggernaut but he decided to take them on.
No sympathy...if he gets ruined its due to his own hubris.
No sympathy...if he gets ruined its due to his own hubris.
Stilgar
Well-Known Member
I second that! After all AA is/was a pro in the business and knows how to manufacture stuff.
Licensees like DP or Rubies even had access to the archives or at least were supported by LFL-folks and we all know what they were able to come up with...
If LFL would make AA products official, his pricepolicy would propably go in a more acceptable direction, which would result in a nice cashflow for both of them. And isn't that exactly what all this muscleplay is about (in the end) ... ?
Onigiri
Sr Member
Dont see the economic logic. AA is VERY high priced now WITHOUT paying the high LFL licensing fees. Imagine what his stuff would cost if he was forking over LFLs cut...he's charging huge money now on a product of dubious pedigree and very little manufacturing cost...needless to say that if he was a licensee his prices would REALLY be out of the ball park....
Bobtherocker
Well-Known Member
I didnt say he was innocent, i'm not backing him or fighting in his corner. As a customer i felt completey ripped off at the time and phoned him up and told him so. I also understand he has put himself in this position but i think to wish him to be 'smoked like a kipper' is a bit harsh. A firm C and D and all molds handed over should suffice, not a total wipe out of a mans life.
There are many people in this community that actually applaud his 'gumption' even if they dont agree with his method or like his products and i'm guessing there are a fair few people actually pleased with the stuff they got from him.
I'm sure the sly old dog has something up his sleeve though.
we shall have to wait and see if his kipper does indeed get smoked
There are many people in this community that actually applaud his 'gumption' even if they dont agree with his method or like his products and i'm guessing there are a fair few people actually pleased with the stuff they got from him.
I'm sure the sly old dog has something up his sleeve though.
we shall have to wait and see if his kipper does indeed get smoked
Qui-Gonzalez
Master Member
He was issued a C&D as far as I know. He ignored it. The guy is a recaster and a liar. The trooper experts here will point to many differences between his helmets from "original" molds and actual original helmets. No one is denying he was the vac former, but that may have been as far as his contribution actually went. He is trying to claim they are his sculpts, among other things.
Nah, toss him onto the fire.
Lord Abaddon
Sr Member
If AA gets tossed in the fire then so should every trooper armor maker. It's hypocritical that there are dozens of armor and helmet makers, blatantly and openly selling their wares on eBay, and yet he who actually was involved in the making of the stuff (no matter to what degree even if he just "laid hands on" the stuff, he was there) is getting the brunt of the attack.
LFL just hates the fact this guy has some pedigree and his stuff is way more accurate than the licensed products that are put out. If anything it's more Rubies and MR pushing to have LFL "smoke his kipper" than probably even LFL itself because up against their stuff there is no comparison.
They are talking about it on Slashdot now too: http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/04/08/005248&from=rss
Frankly I hope he wins, if anything to knock the LFL empire down on it's butt for once. They have screwed around with the fans, the collectors and others and if there is any company who has been playing fast and loose with "a pattern of dishonesty and false info" it's LFL and its licensees (Rubies or Don Post off originals? Some MR pieces exactly from the originals? Oh really?) To me AA did nothing more with his advertising, and was actually more "honest," than the majority of licensed makers out there and their bloated claims.
EDIT: And if it's true that LFL didn't have a true and written contract and, like many production companies trying to do things to cut costs and "on the side", then they have no one else to blame but themselves.
LFL just hates the fact this guy has some pedigree and his stuff is way more accurate than the licensed products that are put out. If anything it's more Rubies and MR pushing to have LFL "smoke his kipper" than probably even LFL itself because up against their stuff there is no comparison.
They are talking about it on Slashdot now too: http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/04/08/005248&from=rss
Frankly I hope he wins, if anything to knock the LFL empire down on it's butt for once. They have screwed around with the fans, the collectors and others and if there is any company who has been playing fast and loose with "a pattern of dishonesty and false info" it's LFL and its licensees (Rubies or Don Post off originals? Some MR pieces exactly from the originals? Oh really?) To me AA did nothing more with his advertising, and was actually more "honest," than the majority of licensed makers out there and their bloated claims.
EDIT: And if it's true that LFL didn't have a true and written contract and, like many production companies trying to do things to cut costs and "on the side", then they have no one else to blame but themselves.
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oblagon
Sr Member
I work as an industrial designer and I can tell you that a designer doesn't own anything that he works on ever.
Every job where I've worked full time I've had to sign a confidentiality agreement. When I worked freelance once I got paid for the work it was no longer mine and now the companies property.
frosty
Sr Member
I wish him good luck, i spoke breifly to him at a con a while ago, seemed a nice guy,regardless of whatever marketing claims he's made, he is the guy who put the helmets as we know them together, how much or how little input he had in the sculpt and or moulds we just don't know, but to me, he has a lot more credit due to him, than some on here and elsewere have given him.
Lord Abaddon
Sr Member
But where do you work, USA or UK? That is the big issue in the whole legal battle as apparently the way things are handled in the UK is different from the USA.
I'll tell you one thing, I think we're all learning just how incredibly complex and tricky legal cases can be and why they take so darn long to even get through something like this let alone SCO vs IBM vs Novell or Microsoft vs Apple type cases!!
Qui-Gonzalez
Master Member
Okay then, should we also kowtow to the Gaffers who worked on ANH? How about the Best Boy?
oblagon
Sr Member
I work in the US, and yeah UK law could be different. But I'd be suprised if they allowed someone in the UK to take a companies/or movie productions proprietary designs then turn around to sell the exact same item and make a profit off of it.
