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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 05:10:14
Subject: Can the Warhammer team sue me
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[DCM]
Tilter at Windmills
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Martin, there are a lot of articles online about copyright law. We do have some IP lawyers who post here, but they're generally not interested in rehashing the basics of IP law for everyone.
Further, only a few posters here on Dakka are going to be in a position to give you any information at all on Bulgarian copyright law. Most of us can't read the language, for one, so I can't do even internet research.
As a general rule of thumb, you can't use stuff that is recognizably someone else's idea and concept, if you're making money. Laws may also restrict your ability to use IP even without it being for money, but most companies aren't too concerned with that.
You can, OTOH, invent new cultures, races, etc. which are inspired by copyrighted ones, as long as you change them enough to be recognizably different. The exact laws vary from place to place, and judgments in court are subjective, so you're best off erring on the side of caution/making stuff more unique.
Good luck with your writing, though, and Nazdrave.
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Adepticon 2015: Team Tourney Best Imperial Team- Team Ironguts, Adepticon 2014: Team Tourney 6th/120, Best Imperial Team- Cold Steel Mercs 2, 40k Championship Qualifier ~25/226
More 2010-2014 GT/Major RTT Record (W/L/D) -- CSM: 78-20-9 // SW: 8-1-2 (Golden Ticket with SW), BA: 29-9-4 6th Ed GT & RTT Record (W/L/D) -- CSM: 36-12-2 // BA: 11-4-1 // SW: 1-1-1
DT:70S++++G(FAQ)M++B++I+Pw40k99#+D+++A+++/sWD105R+++T(T)DM+++++
A better way to score Sportsmanship in tournaments
The 40K Rulebook & Codex FAQs. You should have these bookmarked if you play this game.
The Dakka Dakka Forum Rules You agreed to abide by these when you signed up.
Maelstrom's Edge! |
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 05:15:18
Subject: Re:Can the Warhammer team sue me
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Fresh-Faced New User
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You can, OTOH, invent new cultures, races, etc. which are inspired by copyrighted ones, as long as you change them enough to be recognizably different.
So what I should make the Tau - The Entan, the Necrons - The Nexcrons... would that be sufficient?
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This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2012/11/26 05:23:52
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 05:22:54
Subject: Re:Can the Warhammer team sue me
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Gimlet-Eyed Inquisitorial Acolyte
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Let's assume that you are 100% correct, and you are legally allowed to use GW's IP in your own published work. A large company can afford to file the suit anyway, even knowing that they will lose, because a smaller company will fold under the weight of legal fees long before the issue is settled.
GW is one of the most protective companies out there when it comes to their IP. Sometimes they do take it too far (attacking fan websites, for example), but you have to understand where they are coming from. The first rule of owning IP is that you have to protect it. If they decide to look the other way on a small case of infringement, it sets a dangerous precedent for future cases. They won't take that chance.
What exactly are you wanting to create? A novel? Game book? If you are wanting to publish your work and profit from it, you are only going to create problems for yourself by using someone else's IP.
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War is delightful to those who have no experience of it. ~Desiderius Erasmus |
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 05:30:25
Subject: Can the Warhammer team sue me
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Paramount Plague Censer Bearer
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They did leave petroglyph games alone, and blizzard when they stole much of the IP for their own games.... (neither company had much money at the time.)
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This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/11/26 05:30:46
Meet Arkova.
or discover the game you always wanted to:
RoTC. |
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 05:31:16
Subject: Re:Can the Warhammer team sue me
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[DCM]
Tilter at Windmills
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MARTINELECA wrote:You can, OTOH, invent new cultures, races, etc. which are inspired by copyrighted ones, as long as you change them enough to be recognizably different.
So what I should make the Tau - The Entan, the Necrons - The Nexcrons... would that be sufficient?
No one can tell you in advance what's sufficient. If you hire a lawyer they'll give you a professional opinion, but that's still not a guarantee. Automatically Appended Next Post: ENOZONE wrote:They did leave petroglyph games alone, and blizzard when they stole much of the IP for their own games.... (neither company had much money at the time.)
Blizzard clearly changed things enough.
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This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/11/26 05:31:57
Adepticon 2015: Team Tourney Best Imperial Team- Team Ironguts, Adepticon 2014: Team Tourney 6th/120, Best Imperial Team- Cold Steel Mercs 2, 40k Championship Qualifier ~25/226
More 2010-2014 GT/Major RTT Record (W/L/D) -- CSM: 78-20-9 // SW: 8-1-2 (Golden Ticket with SW), BA: 29-9-4 6th Ed GT & RTT Record (W/L/D) -- CSM: 36-12-2 // BA: 11-4-1 // SW: 1-1-1
DT:70S++++G(FAQ)M++B++I+Pw40k99#+D+++A+++/sWD105R+++T(T)DM+++++
A better way to score Sportsmanship in tournaments
The 40K Rulebook & Codex FAQs. You should have these bookmarked if you play this game.
The Dakka Dakka Forum Rules You agreed to abide by these when you signed up.
Maelstrom's Edge! |
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 05:33:20
Subject: Can the Warhammer team sue me
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Regular Dakkanaut
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I'd advise you to read GW's legal and IP policy first. http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?aId=3900002
Specifically sections 3, 4 and 6.
Essentially the answer is no. You can't use the Tau Empire as created by GW for example in your own material. You can create a similar race with a focus on technology, a caste system etc, but you cannot use any of GW's terms or create something too close to the Tau.
GW could, would and should sue you if you did so.
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 05:36:34
Subject: Re:Can the Warhammer team sue me
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Gimlet-Eyed Inquisitorial Acolyte
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Also, just FYI, Black Library is open to submissions if you are interested in working for them in an official capacity. Although I believe you have to get a short story published through them before they will accept a submission for a full novel.
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War is delightful to those who have no experience of it. ~Desiderius Erasmus |
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 05:39:17
Subject: Can the Warhammer team sue me
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The Hive Mind
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The fact that you're asking these questions and trying to wrangle it means you're at least on the line if not flagrantly ignoring IP laws.
Hire a lawyer for his opinion. Take his opinion and be more conservative than that.
You can't just change names - you have to change backgrounds, cultural fluff, etc.
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My beautiful wife wrote:Trucks = Carnifex snack, Tanks = meals. |
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 05:54:32
Subject: Re:Can the Warhammer team sue me
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Fresh-Faced New User
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Well the fact that my setting is 30 000 years before the original, indicates that I'm not copy-pasting anything.
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 05:57:44
Subject: Re:Can the Warhammer team sue me
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Longtime Dakkanaut
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ashrog wrote:
GW is one of the most protective companies out there when it comes to their IP.
Except when it comes to fan-made films.
And mods for games.
But other than that, sure.
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Unnessesarily extravegant word of the week award goes to jcress410 for this:
jcress wrote:Seem super off topic to complain about epistemology on a thread about tactics. |
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 05:58:24
Subject: Can the Warhammer team sue me
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[DCM]
Tilter at Windmills
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Have you had any of your writing published before?
Any interest in trying to write for Black Library?
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Adepticon 2015: Team Tourney Best Imperial Team- Team Ironguts, Adepticon 2014: Team Tourney 6th/120, Best Imperial Team- Cold Steel Mercs 2, 40k Championship Qualifier ~25/226
More 2010-2014 GT/Major RTT Record (W/L/D) -- CSM: 78-20-9 // SW: 8-1-2 (Golden Ticket with SW), BA: 29-9-4 6th Ed GT & RTT Record (W/L/D) -- CSM: 36-12-2 // BA: 11-4-1 // SW: 1-1-1
DT:70S++++G(FAQ)M++B++I+Pw40k99#+D+++A+++/sWD105R+++T(T)DM+++++
A better way to score Sportsmanship in tournaments
The 40K Rulebook & Codex FAQs. You should have these bookmarked if you play this game.
The Dakka Dakka Forum Rules You agreed to abide by these when you signed up.
Maelstrom's Edge! |
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 06:06:53
Subject: Re:Can the Warhammer team sue me
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Fresh-Faced New User
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An offer?
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 06:07:38
Subject: Can the Warhammer team sue me
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[DCM]
Tilter at Windmills
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Of course not. People have mentioned (multiple times) that Black Library takes submissions, but I hadn't seen any response from you to that idea. I'm trying to get a sense of whether you're at all serious, or whether this is all pie-in-the-sky.
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This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/11/26 06:08:49
Adepticon 2015: Team Tourney Best Imperial Team- Team Ironguts, Adepticon 2014: Team Tourney 6th/120, Best Imperial Team- Cold Steel Mercs 2, 40k Championship Qualifier ~25/226
More 2010-2014 GT/Major RTT Record (W/L/D) -- CSM: 78-20-9 // SW: 8-1-2 (Golden Ticket with SW), BA: 29-9-4 6th Ed GT & RTT Record (W/L/D) -- CSM: 36-12-2 // BA: 11-4-1 // SW: 1-1-1
DT:70S++++G(FAQ)M++B++I+Pw40k99#+D+++A+++/sWD105R+++T(T)DM+++++
A better way to score Sportsmanship in tournaments
The 40K Rulebook & Codex FAQs. You should have these bookmarked if you play this game.
The Dakka Dakka Forum Rules You agreed to abide by these when you signed up.
Maelstrom's Edge! |
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 06:11:13
Subject: Re:Can the Warhammer team sue me
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Fresh-Faced New User
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Well I am serious and really do have some great ideas.
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This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2012/11/26 06:22:42
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 06:25:28
Subject: Re:Can the Warhammer team sue me
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The Conquerer
Waiting for my shill money from Spiral Arm Studios
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If you want to make money, work for the BL or invent your own grimdark universe.
As for changing the existing fluff, people get touchy over fluff alterations so tread carefully. No female space marines, no chaos GKs, no nice Daemons, no bringing Primarchs back, no killing of existing characters(that don't have an in-universe I'm Still Alive button), don't blow up major planets, don't bring the Emperor back, etc...
You can do whatever if you arn't making money, most places anyway.
Copyright law is messy, International Copyright law is even more messy. You could end up with a summons to appear in court from another country.
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Self-proclaimed evil Cat-person. Dues Ex Felines
Cato Sicarius, after force feeding Captain Ventris a copy of the Codex Astartes for having the audacity to play Deathwatch, chokes to death on his own D-baggery after finding Calgar assembling his new Eldar army.
MURICA!!! IN SPESS!!! |
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 06:27:31
Subject: Can the Warhammer team sue me
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Confessor Of Sins
WA, USA
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What are these ideas, exactly? We can't really answer you without some clue.
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Ouze wrote:
Afterward, Curran killed a guy in the parking lot with a trident.
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 06:33:14
Subject: Re:Can the Warhammer team sue me
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Owns Whole Set of Skullz Techpriests
Versteckt in den Schatten deines Geistes.
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Hahahah!  Good one Testify.
Oh wait you're being serious. Automatically Appended Next Post:
That's awesome dude. But you can't take someone's work, and then go and get it published for profit as your own work, no matter how good your story might be. It doesn't work like that.
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This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/11/26 06:34:13
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 06:35:19
Subject: Re:Can the Warhammer team sue me
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Fresh-Faced New User
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OK so in the year 3400 humanity is still divided but now between corporations instead of nations.
Humanity meets the orcs and everything starts going to hell.
On earth a new Chancelor is selected from the Terra Council. He is highly influential among the citizens and soon takes power everywhere on the planet.
He then calls for all of humanity to unite against the orc threat.
Ofcourse noeone wants to lose his business for the sake of the people and so the Chancelor sends armies from Earth to take every human inhabited planet back.
The Chancelor dies in battle before his task is completed. The Chancelor that's next actually gets the job done and is crowned Emperor of the Human Empire.
Thats a start.
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This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2012/11/26 06:38:08
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 06:41:29
Subject: Re:Can the Warhammer team sue me
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Fixture of Dakka
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Maybe you can get something going in the fiction section of the forums. http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/forums/show/9.page
Maybe just to get things started.
Then maybe eventually you'll get something all your own fleshed out that you can eventually publish as your own.
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This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/11/26 06:43:29
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 06:43:46
Subject: Re:Can the Warhammer team sue me
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Fresh-Faced New User
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It's just that so much rests on the Necrons and the Eldar and a race equivalent to the Tau, their the basis for the whole damn thing and I can't even use it!
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 06:47:00
Subject: Re:Can the Warhammer team sue me
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Longtime Dakkanaut
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There are several fan-made 40k-based films around and in production. I know it doesn't fit your narrative but it's true.
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Unnessesarily extravegant word of the week award goes to jcress410 for this:
jcress wrote:Seem super off topic to complain about epistemology on a thread about tactics. |
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 06:55:16
Subject: Can the Warhammer team sue me
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Fresh-Faced New User
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Can I like use the planet Cadia for instance.
If its close to a giant galactic wormhole I probably can't.
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 06:57:20
Subject: Can the Warhammer team sue me
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Longtime Dakkanaut
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Just use it but call it "Gosmatron" or whatever. Just change the name, basically.
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Unnessesarily extravegant word of the week award goes to jcress410 for this:
jcress wrote:Seem super off topic to complain about epistemology on a thread about tactics. |
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 06:59:57
Subject: Can the Warhammer team sue me
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Fresh-Faced New User
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So if i say Nexcron / Necron/ it will be acceptable?
I don't think so.
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 07:07:32
Subject: Can the Warhammer team sue me
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Longtime Dakkanaut
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Depends what you want. Learn the etymology and you should be fine.
For example, the root of necron is neo-chron, this is the greek for new -time. Being Bulgarian (and therefore a user of the Cyrillic alphabet) you should know this.
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Unnessesarily extravegant word of the week award goes to jcress410 for this:
jcress wrote:Seem super off topic to complain about epistemology on a thread about tactics. |
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 07:09:01
Subject: Can the Warhammer team sue me
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Fresh-Faced New User
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Well Bulgarian has nothing to do with greek.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
I just need an expert on 40K who I can befrend and possibly use as an advisor on such matters. Anyone here know one?
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This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2012/11/26 07:13:39
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 07:14:30
Subject: Can the Warhammer team sue me
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Mekboy Hammerin' Somethin'
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Aaron Dembski-Bowden.
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1500 |
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 07:17:12
Subject: Re:Can the Warhammer team sue me
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Fresh-Faced New User
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Am... what?
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 07:20:19
Subject: Can the Warhammer team sue me
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Paramount Plague Censer Bearer
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Me.
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Meet Arkova.
or discover the game you always wanted to:
RoTC. |
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2012/11/26 07:20:21
Subject: Can the Warhammer team sue me
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Renegade Inquisitor de Marche
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Greek and Bulgarian share common language roots apparently.
Not even awake 15 minutes and I've learnt something new today.
At any rate if you changed the names of most things (Such as race names e.g. Necrons to Grantada) and if you changed a few other bits (So they can't literally be the exact same thing but renamed, you'd want to change various things about them) then you'd be fine.
Otherwise GW can and will sue you if they found out. Even if they had no case but suspected you took too heavily from them they could simply lean on you until you didn't have the money to keep going.
Not to mention a fanbase isn't really going to appreciate being sold GW's IP under a different skin. GW already charges a lot without people trying to resell it to them
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Dakka Bingo! By Ouze
"You are the best at flying things"-Kanluwen
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Seal up your lips and give no words but mum.
Equip, Reload. Do violence.
Watch for Gerry. |
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