No Copyrighted Material!

[Kaldath]

Many of you fine folks already know this rule, but I felt it important to Stress it again for those who do not, or those brand new to the forums. It is strictly forbidden for you too post pictures created with the use of any version of Heromachine to these forums of any and all copyright characters. If you create a Heromachine picture of a character from a comic book, game, movie, or other existing work (i.e., Wolverine, Luke Skywalker, Harry Potter, etc.) it has the potential of causing legal issues for Jeff, whom has already had threats of lawsuits in the past over Heromachine. Â

Â

Weather you believe Jeff would win such a lawsuit is not at issue here. Win, loss or draw having to defend himself in court would be expensive and time consuming and is a process Jeff would just assume avoid altogether so please pay strict attention to this rule and help make sure Heromachine is here for all of us to enjoy for a very long time.

Â

( This message will be posted in The Heromachine Art Gallery, The Pub, and The Pub Sub forum Newbie Safe Haven )Â

[Kaldath]

Just to expand on the above. This rules also applies to pictures made with programs similar to Heromachine such as Hero-O-Matic, as well as hand drawn artwork of your own creation.

 

Here are some words by Jeff on the matter taken from a Blog post on the Main Heromachine.com page:

 

Published on February 20, 2012 by Jeff Hebert in Meta

As frustrating as my brush with Marvel’s legal department was years ago, the litigation wars are escalating much further, much faster.

Because this is (or at least, was) a business, I am in a much more tenuous legal position than you are as individuals. And yet, here’s a case where a guy did some cool Wolverine sketches and had to hire a lawyer to keep Marvel from retroactively taking them for their own.

Make versions of copyrighted characters at your own risk, folks. But if you do, you can’t post them here.

[Kaldath]

I have unlocked this thread for a short period of time. Any comments about the current issue on SW copyright can be made here. Once Jeff gets Clarification and passes it onto me I will post that here also.

[FRM]

Dionne Jinn said:
“I don’t see what is the issue with “original” characters which make a clear textual reference to Star Wars, with races and such. It has a role playing system, which encourages people to create OCs and stuff. They also encourage things like Wookieepedia and even the Fanon Wiki.”

[FRM]

another thing: what about the Alien head-things i posted in the custom item archive?

[Harlekin]

First.
I think for someting. We don’t use references, but if the character belongs for we is accepted. If we shown the theme and the other stuff belongs for the creator is accepted thing, or the copyright laws are more harder than i thinking.

Second
Technically in my ME pictures i use my character Katlyn Shepard, but i use Garrus who is the character of bioware. Technically i build up all the stuff with insignias. Technically not a maded item i draw it for insignias.

We don’t made this picture for money or anything. We made for this for fun. We haven’t got any advance for this. I think if we shown who the owner is not problem, but i don’t want any legal problem. If my pictures are not allowed i delete for.

[Dionne Jinn]

FRM made my point for me…

[FRM]

another point. in that meta thingy where Jeff posted a link to the article about the Wolverine drawings, in the article it said that the drawings, and the giving out of them was legal until the guy actually CHARGED MONEY for them. does this not mean it is perfectly legal to make and post these pics, and say what they are based on, so long as we dont charge money?

[Dionne Jinn]

Another point. If we can’t make SW (rpg) characters with HM and post them here then, by the same rule, all D&D characters should go as well. And that wouldn’t be nice at all!

[FRM]

especially as there’s an entire thread for it!

[Kaldath]

Here is the deal. Jeff makes money off of Heromachine and this website. You the creators of the artwork would in all likelihood never see any legal issues with the artwork, as it falls under fair use for you goes to make it. However the Argument can be made and ( and has in the past as Jeff almost got sued once already ) that Jeff profits off the copyrighted material you post here and thus is open to legal actions himself. The fact that a RPG series exists in additions to the movies and books etc does leave the whole SW thing ambiguous I will admit and as I mentioned in FRM’s thread Jeff is seeking some advice on the matter from the Electronic Freedom Foundation, as I have already spoken with him on the subject.

Until Jeff has a better understanding of what can get HIM into trouble we are asking that you simply leave out reference to SW from your character descriptions. We are not asking you to remove the pictures themselves at least not at this time, though I doubt it will go that far in my honest opinion. We are just trying to cover Jeff’s Legal backside from getting burned. Once we here back from the Electronic Freedom Foundation we will made our final decision the matter.

Any more questions ?

[Harlekin]

I think that’s correct. I also change where i use sw reference.

[The Atomic Punk]

What we as HeroMachiners consider “fair use” can become a possible copyright issue for Jeff as the creator of HeroMachine and its profit potential.

By no means am I a lawyer, but a publisher or movie studio could just as easily sue Crayola because a proud dad posts his 6-year old kid’s doodle of Spiderman on Facebook. I see daycare centers all over town who have paintings of superheroes, Sesame Street, and Spongebob on their buildings and in their windows. Whether they are paying royalties, I honestly don’t know.

To get around all that, I avoid direct references as best I can. If I design a specific character for a specific game, it’s hard to not to acknowledge. Heck, I used to use Microsoft PowerPoint to create Car Wars tiles. Imagine that lawsuit… Bill Gates versus Steve Jackson!

Anyway, here is my own original thought to the copyright issue. Avoid direct references as best you can. Leave it to the audience to interpret. No, don’t go around saying that your character is a “Thundersoldier” instead of a “Stormtrooper.” Even non-geeks pick up on references such as light sabers and red shirt ensigns. If you feel compelled to give credit or make a reference, simply refer to your design as an “inspired character.”

Besides… I’ve got the whole “Thundersoldier” thing wrapped up in an old Battletech campaign.

[Hammerknight]

Thanks Atomic. I think the “Stormtrooper” is not fully a copyright issue(Unless they look like SW characters) because Germany had stormtroopers during WW2, but it is still a fine edge sword to walk down.

[Dionne Jinn]

Any news on the topic from the high and mighty?

[Author]

Posts