It seems the final act on the Games Workshop-Chapterhouse court case has not yet settled.
The case seems to have been less than completely satisfactory for GW, confirming that outsiders can make bits to add to GW models and advertise them as same. The car industry tried blocking alternative manufacturers of items like exhaust pipe replacements some time ago in Europe and failed so I am not especially surprised. However, this one has more long term implications than the Space Marine PR debacle as it is a legal judgement.
The latest news is that GW's head of legal, Gil Stevenson, has apparently left the company in August to pursue other opportunities. You may make of that what you will or, indeed, make nothing of it at all. People do leave companies for all sorts of personal and private reasons and with the British economy picking up this is probably a good time as potential employers will be expanding.
Whether this signals a change of policy at GW that will halt the heavy artillery barrage of cease and desists remains to be seen.
The BoK link is interesting. The lady in question has moved on and BoK appears to continue to be interested in her comings and goings. Takes all sorts, one might suppose.
ReplyDeleteBlood of Kittens has a number of editorials critical of GW's strategy these days.
DeleteThey sure do like to protect their products!
ReplyDeleteThere is no problem with protecting one's IP. The big difference comes from being a dickweed or not. Going after that kids book and somehow claiming ownership of the term Space Marine was in my opinion PR damagingly moronic.
ReplyDeleteMy impression is that they have no marketing strategy so they tend to listen to lawyers too much. Lawyers always recommend legal action the way surgeons recommend surgery. But lawyers are uniterested in sales.
DeleteIt's interesting that you bring up aftermarket auto parts. In the US, at least, there are specific legal protections and an active manufacturers group for third-party car parts. Auto manufacturers have finally come to understand that 3rd party interest has done nothing but good for their bottom line- it'd be nice if GW would at least give the idea a shot.
ReplyDeleteIf the Car companies can't get around the law on 3rd party parts then a dinky dink little wargame company has no chance. :)
ReplyDelete