Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Raging Heroes, having never before received a C&D from Games Workshop, were beginning to feel left out and low and behold, those nice flying monkeys GW laughingly refers to as a legal team were only too happy to oblige them.

The Lammasu head for the manticore was apparently sufficient to prompt a threatening letter. Now, no more Lammasu head.

Raging Heroes wrote:
No More Lamassu

posted May 19, 2011

It is with our deepest regret that we have to announce that the Lamassu head is no more part of our Manticore kit We recently received an email from a Games Workshop attorney claiming that our Lamassu head was too similar to their Chaos Dwarves' Lamasu and asking us to stop selling this head. At this point in time we don’t have the time to further investigate this mater and so we've decided to currently withdraw the Lamassu head from sale, either online or in shop. We are sorry if you were planning to get one. So please note that at this point in time THERE IS NO MORE LAMASSU HEAD available with our Manticore kit.

Like the cherry on the week's cake for the happy gang at Nottingham.

Good Grief.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh, here's the link btw.

http://www.ragingheroes.com/blogs/news/3241852-no-more-lamassu

Smooth move GW.
They are sinking faster than the hindenburg.

Oh bravo GW. Another knee into the crotch of the community.

Excessive raised prices, limiting shipping, more 3rd party law dickery? I'm looking more and more at other tabletop games.

So....does this mean that "not so obvious people" like scibor or avatars of war are gonna get hit? I can understand the chapterhouse case but raging heroes is a different ballgame

How the feth am I supposed to know that Chaos Dwarves have a Lamasu? It's not like GW sells Chaos Dwarves.

Maybe next GW will send a letter to Mantic because Mantic's elves are too similar to GW's elves.

Hey, lets C&D Privateer Press because their Dwarves are too similar as well. Because they have guns. Only GW dwarves can have guns.

Noisy_Marine wrote: It's not like GW sells Chaos Dwarves.

That is a good point.....

Warhammer forge only half counts!

And why is it GW always sends C&D's to companies that can't afford to defend themselves? You don't see them going after Wizards of the Coast because their orcs are too similar to the birthmark on Jervis's (Pas devant les enfants! Mod.)

Better order my Khan-Urkan before GW says he looks too much like their evil-looking dude.

Isn't a Lamassu something taken from real life mythology? How can you copy-rite that?

How can they even enforce this? They don't even have any Chaos Dwarf products.

Lame. Another gem for the week and par for the course.

Griever wrote:Isn't a Lamassu something taken from real life mythology? How can you copy-rite that?

How can they even enforce this? They don't even have any Chaos Dwarf products.

FW is owned by GW.

This is complete and total . Seriously GW?

This is almost getting to the point where it would appear GW is attempting to ragequit the wargames industry by setting themselves on fire of sorts. It's almost like they "get off" on kicking people (loyal customers, employees, stockists, etc) to the curb.

Sooner or later, they'll fall on their own sword. It happens all the time. Their arrogance is the shield that keeps them from fearing the consequences of their malice.

GW can go ahead and think they're too big to fail, but when they intentionally diminish their customer base via pricing them out of the hobby more and more, year after year, jack around their distributors for fun and profit, and defecate all over their loyalists, not even their stockholders will give a damn about what their intentions were when the money is gone.

EDIT: One thing is for certain, they have been and continue to give us all the middle finger for our loyalty.

Does anyone have any pictures of the head? I'm just curious.

Really though, was this some kind of battle plan thought out at GW HQ? Attack the entire fan base on all fronts all at once?

I wonder if Kirby is some kind of corporate spy for another company, and is focusing on sinking GW, because things are really getting out of hand, at this point.

Isn't a Lamassu something taken from real life mythology? How can you copy-rite that?

You can't copyright (note spelling) the word Lamassu and they aren't trying to do that. They can, however, copyright their design of a model that they happen to call Lamassu. And if you copy the model's design it doesn't matter what you call it, it's not legal for someone else to copy their model design, which is what they are claiming has happened.

Griever wrote:Isn't a Lamassu something taken from real life mythology? How can you copy-rite that?

How can they even enforce this? They don't even have any Chaos Dwarf products.

I don't think they can enforce it. I also don't think Raging Heroes has the time or money to defend themselves. GW is just pushing around a smaller miniature maker.

Sasori wrote:Does anyone have any pictures of the head? I'm just curious.

I think this is it.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fi4wZXEv_J8/TP5eTfYNp6I/AAAAAAAAASo/dodxlHHAY_U/s1600/lamassu-head-sculpt2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.warmongergameday.com/2010_12_01_archive.html&usg=__nphBDIhBAZQpVwSymVTgRnAy2D8=&h=390&w=567&sz=65&hl=en&start=2&zoom=1&tbnid=aaByraiyq8sZdM:&tbnh=92&tbnw=134&ei=_BrXTdn4FcuBtgfHytjoDg&prev=/search%3Fq%3DLamassu%2Bminiature%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D892%26gbv%3D2%26tbm%3Disch&itbs=1

can't get the picture working, but it's a link that works.

BrassScorpion wrote:

Isn't a Lamassu something taken from real life mythology? How can you copy-rite that?

You can't copyright (note spelling) the word Lamassu and they aren't trying to do that. They can, however, copyright their design of a model that they happen to call Lamassu. And if you copy the model's design it doesn't matter what you call it, it's not legal for someone else to copy their model design, which is what they are claiming has happened.

I don't think he's on about the name, more the fact it exists in mythology. If there is a mythological description of a Lamassu's features, then what base do GW have to claim they own it at all? It's like trying to argue that you can't make a dragon because they look too much like GW's dragons due to having scales, reptillian features and wings (though I wouldn't put it past GW to attempt it, which is really, really sad).

"What are you making?"
"A medusa."
"What does it look like?"
"A woman with snakes for hair."
"OMFG WE MAKE A MEDUSA MODEL THAT IS A WOMAN WITH SNAKES FOR HAIR! CEASEANDDESISTCEASEANDDESISTCEASEANDDESISTCEASEANDDESIST!!!"

Noisy_Marine wrote:

Griever wrote:Isn't a Lamassu something taken from real life mythology? How can you copy-rite that?

How can they even enforce this? They don't even have any Chaos Dwarf products.

I don't think they can enforce it. I also don't think Raging Heroes has the time or money to defend themselves.

And they're a French company, subject to a different set of laws than the companies currently involved in a legal battle with GW.

GW is just pushing around a smaller miniature maker.

Yes, because this is elementary school and GW's just a big bully. That comparison has never, ever, ever been made.

Do you really think if there was a company out there creating things similar to Privateer Press' warjacks, that Privateer Press wouldn't be all over them?

At the end of the day it comes down to this:
They're a company. They cannot call someone up and say "Hey guys, this is GW. Can you change your head to something else? It looks close to ours and that's not cool." You just don't see that usually done if you want an actual result to happen, instead of getting laughed at.
C&Ds are nothing but a warning of further action if steps aren't taken to remedy it.
Raging Heroes seem to be a classy bunch and have no interest in doing anything to upset the guys who produce the lines that they attempt to supplement.

Is it "not cool" that GW did this? Of course it's not. People liked the model and wanted it. That doesn't mean that GW's doing it out of spite or to "push smaller miniature makers around".

Right now, with these legal proceedings up in the air they can't do anything that makes it look like they're singling out CHS. Unfortunately, others are going to get caught in the crossfire.

kenshin620 wrote:

Sasori wrote:Does anyone have any pictures of the head? I'm just curious.

Thanks, that's a great sculpt! It's a shame that the bully won't let them sell it anymore.

I don't think he's on about the name, more the fact it exists in mythology.

I disagree, but either way, the point is, they CAN copyright their specific model design. No you cannot copyright the idea of the mythological beast's general makeup or its name, but you CAN copyright your specific version of it and THAT was the claim being made by GW.

In other words, for example, you can't copyright the word "cyclops" nor stop other companies from making one-eyed monsters, but you CAN stop them from making one that looks exactly like or too similar to YOURS.

So what product does GW sell that actually resembles the lamasu from Raging Heroes?

There isn't one, because GW doesn't sell Chaos Dwarves.

Biccat's off topic post in the CHS case thread:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/690/355433.page#2819116

It looks similar... But it kinda looks old and like people have said no chaos dwarves to be sold... wtf

nvm, can't be arsed arguing.

Noisy_Marine wrote:And why is it GW always sends C&D's to companies that can't afford to defend themselves? You don't see them going after Wizards of the Coast because their orcs are too similar to the birthmark on Jervis's tiny dick.

Why? Because it's easy and cheap. Wizards are huge and have lots of money. These guys don't. Also, Jervis has nothing to do with the legal stuff.

I'd actually never heard of this company before, and the fact that they can't sell a single head (but can still sell the model) doesn't faze me whatsoever. It isn't really a big deal.

What has really annoyed me about this action by GW is the timing.

Raging Heroes (unlike paranoid people in Wallow Lane) have had concept drawings and pre production shots all over the webs for ages.

Why, if it is such a big issue for GW, did they wait until RH started pumping the things out?

GW could have said something much sooner allowing RH to make changes if they wished.

Fie and the pox on the GW house.

Noisy_Marine wrote:So what product does GW sell that actually resembles the lamasu from Raging Heroes?

There isn't one, because GW doesn't sell Chaos Dwarves.

Whether or not they sell it currently is irrelevant. It was in production at one point.

And for that matter, I'd suggest you look at Forge World's advanced order right now. There's Chaos Dwarfs there. There's also the Hellcannon, which is crewed by Chaos Dwarfs.

So I'm guessing you meant "GW doesn't have a Chaos Dwarf army", not that they "don't sell Chaos Dwarfs".

Noisy_Marine wrote:And why is it GW always sends C&D's to companies that can't afford to defend themselves? You don't see them going after Wizards of the Coast because their orcs are too similar to the birthmark on Jervis's tiny dick.

I think it would be safe to say that Jervis would have had absolutely nothing to do with this.

Brother SRM wrote:I'd actually never heard of this company before, and the fact that they can't sell a single head (but can still sell the model) doesn't faze me whatsoever. It isn't really a big deal.

Wow. Truly I hope that all situations you come across do not fall under your "It doesn't affect me, so who gives a crap?" attitude.