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Brand New Pinball Cabinets?
- Thread starter Judge Dreads
- Start date
I was looking for some FT decals ( for my next rebuild ) , about the copyright thing , when i was working in a different industry , there were loads of copyright issues . it is very hard to sue someone over copy right , you can have something that looks exactly the same , but if it has ( i think ) 6 small differences , could be bolt sizes, hole sizes differant reinforcing sizes of wood ETC. it is very hard for someone to sue you over copyright . I am talking about big multi national companies here ,trying to stop very small companies , hope this helps
Lee
OP
OP
Hi Lee, cheers for the heads up, PP's request for me to terminate supply of the TZ inner cab art took the wind out of my sails and resulted in decals taking a back seat coupled with the fear of the same issue arising when producing anything that has a copyright in place, obviously the cabs would be copyrighted hence the concern.
S
Sonny_Jim
The cabs aren't, the artwork is though.
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I would have thought that WMS would want their machines to look/feel unique which they do, do you have access to WMS copyright/patent info?
As I said I think as little as 6 changes voids copyright , but I will check , I think this could even include where nails are secured or how the panels are secured , I will check and let you know
Do the back out of ply the base out of ply, lock mitre, glue and screw the joints might be enough
OMG - theres even a patient for a back box lock!!! Well i cant find one for a standard cab... Tho Andy H might be able to point you in the right direction!!
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5110120.pdf
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5110120.pdf
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OP
For flat pack I thought of pre-drilled and countersunk holes with correct screws provided, these would then pull in just below the surface and could be filled with flexible car body filler = minimal filling before decal application, this would make cab assembly almost idiot proof and would not require any glue or clamps, obviously one would have to be assembled to see that everything went together A1 using this system and glue could be used to firm things up, all non decalled areas would be pre painted etc
Most mass produced intellectual property is patented, there is little reason not to and it deters competition.
Most mass produced intellectual property is patented, there is little reason not to and it deters competition.
i have checked up with my pal who is the uk sales director for a big German company this is his reply to me "Different legislation for different industries and products. Generally you need to work on a number of differences but even then you can fall foul of copying. Nightmare topic and defo worth getting proper advice if he's serious.
cheers Lee
A
abaxas
Good luck on your new coffin business 
How many of us have said we will get buried in it rather than sell it?
But you make a good point, the costs we are talking are way below the price I have heard for a coffin. You could get a lot of additional trade if you make up a lid and sell fully decalled pinball coffins. Bit cramped for the deceased but do they really need more space?
But you make a good point, the costs we are talking are way below the price I have heard for a coffin. You could get a lot of additional trade if you make up a lid and sell fully decalled pinball coffins. Bit cramped for the deceased but do they really need more space?
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OP
Yup, this is the reason I did not want to get into a headlock with Rick, was not worth the potential mither
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OP
Seen this for sale on Ebay in the past, no doubt it still breaches copyright 
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With regard to the expired patents, I heard of people getting grief pretty recently for reproducing parts, (these would have been for pre pin2000 games and physical) be inrestinng to know what they were reproducing and what action was enforced or threatened.
Think there was a guy on ebay who got grief for reproducing pin images on Tshirts, posters and coasters. Was on the yahoo site but tbh trying to follow anything on there isn't easy now it has all been muddled up.
I got some coasters off that guy. They're really cool. I think he uses the website Jeliprints, or similar!
He did get stick for selling them though. More off the group than anyone else though I think!!
He did get stick for selling them though. More off the group than anyone else though I think!!
Think he was down at Daventry and yes the coasters look nice as nearly bought some.
Was maybe more the Tshirts and prints but know he said that he was getting grief/being threatened by somebody.
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Some seem to get away with murder while others feel the wrath, anything that is derived from an original piece of artwork is a potential breach unless converted to 3D (converting copyrighted 2D art into 3D models circumvents copyright TTBOMK), even though I drew all the artwork on my TZ decals, it breached because some of it was derived from what was already there (grids, spirals, clouds etc), basically it is tricky to create any artwork for a pin that resembles anything that is already there, this is obviously a big handicap when trying to tie in with an existing theme, colours or existing fonts, blatant use of copyrighted artwork for coasters, mugs, posters, apron cards etc is a big no no but fine until you get the knock.
Thing to remember is the artwork is protected from two locations, the license holder (Bally Wms in my case or PP) and the owner/creator, I think CBS in the case of TZ (I could be wrong) and Lucasfilm for the IJ etc.
Thing to remember is the artwork is protected from two locations, the license holder (Bally Wms in my case or PP) and the owner/creator, I think CBS in the case of TZ (I could be wrong) and Lucasfilm for the IJ etc.
I'm surprised pp kick up about anything todo with monster bash or creech because the monsters are owned by universal / comcast so they would of only kinda rented them which I'm sure is probably long expired
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OP
I believe that PP have WMS lawyers at their disposal (WMS gaming is still trading) don't think it's a good idea to lock horns if avoidable, PP could argue that reproducing images of the monsters breach because they are derived from characters on the machine itself, as Lee Ellison pointed out previously, it's a "nightmare topic".