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RiTides wrote:But since I want to support my local store, and the hobby in general, and use my army for official events, I'm going to buy my stuff new.

Best argument against casting, since the legal issue won't really matter for a small-time caster who isn't selling product.

Again sir, the legal issue exists for small time personal casting, it's just not a realistic threat for those who are smart about it.

Please don't say that personal use recasting is legal because it very much isn't.

http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html

Yea, that isn't really concerning models or casting. Also, I said the legal issue won't matter - since GW isn't going after a guy casting models to bolster his Space Marine army. Instead, they should be after folks casting in bulk and selling them on eBay.

What they SHOULD do versus what they CAN do doesn't matter. They will do as they please. And yes, ALL COPYRIGHT LAW CONCERNS MODELS AND CASTING.

Ignorance of law is no excuse for guilt of breaking it. Any original item created by an entity is the sole intellectual property of said entity, and they have 100% control over how their property is used, produced, and sold. If I sculpt an original piece, sell it to you(not you personally, hypothetical "you" who bought my sculpts), and find out you recast it without permission, I'd sue just on principle to prove the point.


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And loss of profit is not the only damages that can be sued for. Simple copyright infringement is enough.

Check out "Fair Use". As I said, for small-scale, non-commercial use, I highly, highly doubt it would be a problem. Games Workshop would need to:
1) Find out you did it
2) Take you to court
3) Prove you did it

Hardly worth it, for someone not casting to sell it. I doubt GW would spend tens of thousands of dollars to go after a guy in his garage making replicas of OOP models for use at his LGS.

That being said, it is technically illegal, but also somewhat defensible if GW does decide to pursue it. In most cases, they will not.

em_en_oh_pee wrote:Check out "Fair Use". As I said, for small-scale, non-commercial use, I highly, highly doubt it would be a problem. Games Workshop would need to:
1) Find out you did it
2) Take you to court
3) Prove you did it

Hardly worth it, for someone not casting to sell it. I doubt GW would spend tens of thousands of dollars to go after a guy in his garage making replicas of OOP models for use at his LGS.

That being said, it is technically illegal, but also somewhat defensible if GW does decide to pursue it. In most cases, they will not.

I can't conceive of any scenario where "Fair Use" is going to stretch to encompass a complete reproduction of a sculpture for you to use in a tabletop game. Fair Use exists to allow for commentary, critique, parody, and (occasionally) to ensure that the consumer has the right to access material they have legitimate access to (which is where VCRs, and later MP3s, come in).

If you are making copies of GW miniatures in the United States, what you are doing is almost certainly illegal. Whether that bothers you or not is up to you.

Fair use DOES NOT APPLY here.
And scale of infringement means nothing. Illegal is illegal. Whether it is a single bit recast for personal use or entire army recasts for profit. You CAN be sued either way. Probability doesn't mean anything.

aerethan wrote:Fair use DOES NOT APPLY here.
And scale of infringement means nothing. Illegal is illegal. Whether it is a single bit recast for personal use or entire army recasts for profit. You CAN be sued either way. Probability doesn't mean anything.

Probability and scale is everything when talking about whether or not someone can or can't do it. Legal repercussions are nil for someone doing it for personal use, while a guy selling them out of a store front or on eBay will most likely be sent a C&D. That is my point.

Legal repercussions ARE NOT nil for someone doing it for personal use. GW can sue you for damages, copyright infringement etc. Can or can't do it is not the same as legal or illegal. I guarantee if someone rolled into a GW with pirated models that gak would go down.

I can go download a movie. Small scale, personal use. It's still illegal regardless of how easy it is or how negligible it is to the production company. They can sue me if they want to for illegally obtaining their product and they can sue the person who gave away COPIES of their product even for free.

It doesn't mean anything if you don't profit from it. Pirating is illegal in every way.

That is not my point. I am not talking illegal or legal, just level of risk dependent on scale.

aerethan wrote:, I'm just against people telling new casters that it's legal. They deserve to know the risk they are taking.

Indeed, recasting of GW stuff might well end up with you getting in some trouble.


Be smart people.

em_en_oh_pee wrote:That is not my point. I am not talking illegal or legal, just level of risk dependent on scale.

it's been said that the truest judge of a mans character is what he would do knowing he would never be caught.


just because you have never, and likely never will, be caught doesn't mean it's not illegal. aerethan's point about Gak flying if pirated models showed up in a GW store is 100% right. Likely punishment is expulsion from the store and not being able to play there. IDK if GW keeps a black list for their stores, but you can bet they do for their tournaments.


if you are stupid enough to cast models and get caught redhanded then you deserve he gak storm to follow.


heed the warning people!!!