No I don't play X Wing!!!

Ignore those two Planos on the front seat of my car...

This is so sad to hear...Getting flashbacks of the George Luas secret police lawyer's ,the dreaded C&D notification...Back in the 70's they were wordwide and nothing was sacred...Cest la vie my friends ; I would surmise that this came about from whining emails and constant badgering from individuals...Mike was probably blindsided from moving and Holiday rush orders...What a way to end the Yr...No Newt and now no Space Rocks...

No I don't play X Wing!!!

Ignore those two Planos on the front seat of my car...

Well. You might love the project I have going next. Assuming I can. Lol

I think they were under the radar until the Neb-B model hit the internet. That generated enough interest that they got noticed.

It didn't help that the Nebulon was actually listed on Amazon.com under the listing, "X-Wing Miniatures Game - Nebulon-B Frigate." It's not a huge leap to state that a reasonable person would think that was a licensed product unless they read the fine print in its description.

Seems unlikely I'll get a replacement for the broken space station they shipped me...

Sadly, that probably explains why the order I placed last month still hasn't arrived. (Though then again, it was marked as shipped on Amazon, so maybe...)

Anyone know what the asking price for the Neb b was?

http://www.wwpd.net/2015/09/space-rocks-nebulon-b-escort-frigate.html

According to this article, $260.00 USD but on sale for $210 at the time of writing.

As the writer of that article and a big fan of their stuff- I am colossally bummed to learn about this

A lawyer friend told me that Disney has to at least seem like they're protecting their IP in case something happens in the future and in court the 'Space Rocks getting away with it thing' becomes an issue.

In saying that I don't see why Disney don't just buy out or make some sort of business arrangement with Mike. I mean clearly its a product that supports their gaming systems and is in high demand.

A lawyer friend told me that Disney has to at least seem like they're protecting their IP in case something happens in the future and in court the 'Space Rocks getting away with it thing' becomes an issue.

In saying that I don't see why Disney don't just buy out or make some sort of business arrangement with Mike. I mean clearly its a product that supports their gaming systems and is in high demand.

I think the main difference is that I'm not seeing paid advertising for Mel's on FB like I did for the Neb B model. Mel's can keep a low profile and probably avoid scorn.

You are talking about them in the official forums of the game being produced by the companies that ordered the C&D.

A lawyer friend told me that Disney has to at least seem like they're protecting their IP in case something happens in the future and in court the 'Space Rocks getting away with it thing' becomes an issue.

In saying that I don't see why Disney don't just buy out or make some sort of business arrangement with Mike. I mean clearly its a product that supports their gaming systems and is in high demand.

Your lawyer friend is right. In some countries other than the USA, your lawyer friend is even more right.

If you knowingly allow a third party to infringe on your licenses, IPs, copyrights etc. because they "aren't doing much harm" then you'll have a much harder time prosecuting someone you believe stepped over the line. Even the least competent lawyers will point out that companies are freely infringing on your rights with your knowledge and not being prosecuted, meaning that at the very worst your expectations for compensation are extremely low. If Disney had offered to let the owner of Space Rocks produce the modles for minimal cost, and Mike said "F--- it we'll just keep making them ourselves" then Disney would go to trial, present the evidence, and Space Rocks would say "here's the offer, Disney said it would cost this much to get a license" and the courts would use that as the basis for damages.

In some places, if third parties produce more product than you do with the IP they can actually get legal rights to it, or to the parts of it that they have been doing. Heard of a Warhammer 40k fan movie called "The Lord Inquisitor"? GW almost lost rights to own any future film releases in Germany thanks to not jumping on that fast enough.

I don't get the argument that protection of copyright stifles innovation argument. I would say the opposite is true. It's far too easy just to copy another's work and things just stay the same, innovation is driven by being forced to create new ideas, rather than just copying something that's already been done.

I think the main difference is that I'm not seeing paid advertising for Mel's on FB like I did for the Neb B model. Mel's can keep a low profile and probably avoid scorn.

You are talking about them in the official forums of the game being produced by the companies that ordered the C&D.

That's absolutely true, but why hasn't Mel's received a letter yet? It's definitely the same ip they could be infringing on (as space rocks). I'm willing to bet it's because they're not advertising the way that Space Rocks does.

Visibility is how they find you.

...I don't see why Disney don't just buy out or make some sort of business arrangement with Mike. I mean clearly its a product that supports their gaming systems and is in high demand.

If Disney were to make them a business offer, then that would be a clear indication for me and for every other model building company out there that we could rip of Star Wars or any other Disney franchise and then expect to get a business deal for our efforts.

There is a reason that the IP laws are in place, in our current state of technology where any teen aged boy with a minimal amount of know-how can pull 3D model out of video games or off of the internet and drop them into a 3D printer, I imagine that Disney is having to be diligent to make sure that they are getting their 4 billion dollars worth out of the franchise.

I've had people copy my models before, I've had people ask me to send them the 3D files so that they could print their own versions. I'm a very small operation, a one man show, who makes models in my spare time. If I was responsible for a company the size of Disney I'd most likely react the same way they did.

I hate that this has happened to these guys, but they painted the target on their own backs. If you mess with the bull, don't be surprised when you get the horns.

So, with our main source of a proper space station gone, anyone know a nice alternative space station model?

So, with our main source of a proper space station gone, anyone know a nice alternative space station model?

Give me some time.

So, with our main source of a proper space station gone, anyone know a nice alternative space station model?

Give me some time.

Space station, asteroids and wrecks please. Make the wrecks from generic, copyright-free scoff vessels. They should probably be on acrylic bases that are conveniently the exact size and shape of the ones in the game.

I was this close to buying the set from Space Rocks before they went belly-up. Lucky I didn't.

XQ Series platform, even with its own rule set from DA custom cards if you are that way inclined.

http://www.shapeways.com/product/PUPHYACZG/armada-xq-platform

Shocked this was done sooner. And that DA with his shapeway ships and card are not issued on.

The fact is both parties effect the business dealing between ffg and disney. Disney gives ffg the rights. And folks like space rocks and DA cut into their bottom line and future sales

I think you mean Mel, not me

I just make cards. Free, fan-made cards.

I would like a sploded Ewok vessel. Complete will floating furry bodies in space.

Keep in mind, in all the furor, that generic space junk is completely fine to produce. The asteroids, random "junk" metals, spars, bits and pieces of destroyed ships that are not obvious rips of Star Wars ships, etc., are not the kinds of things you can get hit with a C&D for.

I am all but certain what got them nailed was the scale replicas of exact Star Wars universe ships, not the rocks.

I don't get the argument that protection of copyright stifles innovation argument. I would say the opposite is true. It's far too easy just to copy another's work and things just stay the same, innovation is driven by being forced to create new ideas, rather than just copying something that's already been done.

That mainly has to do with the idea of "Patent Trolling" and being over litigious in copyright protection. People understand the need for copyright and for that matter even this whole Space Rocks thing is understandable.

The part that can start killing creativity is when the do things like "Patent Trolling", where you file a patent for something you haven't even invented yet and when someone does invent it, you sue them and give them a choice: Either pay your "reasonable" settlement, or they end up in court for years and watch their business get put on hold in the mean time, making it much more cost effective to just pay the settlement.

Or when a company will decide to start suing anyone who even slightly infringes on their copyright, aka Games Workshop suing people for using the term "Space Marine". Sure the people who had used the term eventually won, eventually... but it does reinforce the idea that if you obtain any amount of success, you are going to at somepoint face a lawsuit over copyright regardless of if you've violated copyright or not, simply because big players have the money and it's an effective way to deter competition from rising up.

Fact is we could really use some tort reform and reforming the patent and copyright system. We don't need to do away with patents and copyright, however we do need the process to be streamlined so people can't abuse it as much as they are.