darkSpyro

Quote: Pyrofer

I find the lack of understanding of the law here quite upsetting.

We have been through all this before and nothing has changed.

You can't copyright or patent the SHAPE of a figure.

They can protect the 3D models, the artwork and logos. They can patent code and files.

They CAN NOT protect in any way the shape of the figure. LEGO fought this in court and lost. Trust me, if LEGO lost Activision have NO HOPE.
Yes, LEGO LOST. Other companies can produce plastic bricks with the same dimensions as LEGO with no fear of legal threats. They are only in trouble if they put a copyright logo etc on the bricks saying "LEGO".
If it's ok to make plastic bricks exactly the same size and shape as an existing plastic brick then making a physical thing shaped like a non-physical 3D model is no problem.

Before anybody comes back with "Well I THINK" or "In my OPINION" please try to find a fact or some actual legal reason to back it up. I find it hard to believe that people have such a problem with this yet pay $6 (or £6!!!) for a plastic trap that costs approx 40c to make when Activision even have said they won't make villain figures so it's not like he is taking anything away from their sales!

He hasn't said it's going to be a production line or selling in any quantity at all so why is everybody jumping on him?

I think people need to relax and stop drinking the media industry kool-aid so much.

Just to quickly add, I am not commenting on the legality of adding the chips. I can tell you though it's completely legal to take the chip out of a trap you bought and modify it to work in a normal figure.

...Well in that case, let the guy commission his figures, people! Also, I don't exactly know how putting the trap chips in the figures would work in game. Would the villain timers be made to work like health bars or something?

Quote: AdamGregory03

Quote: Pyrofer

I find the lack of understanding of the law here quite upsetting.

We have been through all this before and nothing has changed.

You can't copyright or patent the SHAPE of a figure.

They can protect the 3D models, the artwork and logos. They can patent code and files.

They CAN NOT protect in any way the shape of the figure. LEGO fought this in court and lost. Trust me, if LEGO lost Activision have NO HOPE.
Yes, LEGO LOST. Other companies can produce plastic bricks with the same dimensions as LEGO with no fear of legal threats. They are only in trouble if they put a copyright logo etc on the bricks saying "LEGO".
If it's ok to make plastic bricks exactly the same size and shape as an existing plastic brick then making a physical thing shaped like a non-physical 3D model is no problem.

Before anybody comes back with "Well I THINK" or "In my OPINION" please try to find a fact or some actual legal reason to back it up. I find it hard to believe that people have such a problem with this yet pay $6 (or £6!!!) for a plastic trap that costs approx 40c to make when Activision even have said they won't make villain figures so it's not like he is taking anything away from their sales!

He hasn't said it's going to be a production line or selling in any quantity at all so why is everybody jumping on him?

I think people need to relax and stop drinking the media industry kool-aid so much.

Just to quickly add, I am not commenting on the legality of adding the chips. I can tell you though it's completely legal to take the chip out of a trap you bought and modify it to work in a normal figure.

...Well in that case, let the guy commission his figures, people! Also, I don't exactly know how putting the trap chips in the figures would work in game. Would the villain timers be made to work like health bars or something?

Not relevant to the chip and figure stuff, but as for the timer health bar thing, it could use the same coding/principle as The Gulper's Villain Quest, because in that quest instead of the timer going down, it goes down when he gets hit by an enemy. So it is already in the game somewhere.

I have a 3D printer on the way soon. I might try printing a figure to see how it looks. After acetone treating the outside to remove ridges it would be ok, but need painting. I suck at painting!