Is our forum endangered?

Check this:

http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=183752

Apparently, GW is sending "Cease and Desist" letters to anybody using one of their trademarked names in it's forum or blog name.

for example, Talkbloodbowl has dissapeared, even if GW SGForums were nuked down yaers ago, and several BB-LivingRulebook members were active posters there.

And others (including hasslefree miniatures) have received threatening letters from GW lawyers (because they claim the ABSOLUTE control of anything to be with Fantasy Football and other issues).

So our almighty Tom Admin; any news in this respect?

Hope not.

Best wishes.

THAT REALLY SUCKS! It's SUCH a slimey thing to do...it's SO GW!
I saw that...AND reacted...on the Wyrd Forum http://www.wyrd-games.net/forum/showthread.php?t=8994 a couple of days ago. The major premise for GW's actions is that the site by accepting donations was profitting from their "intellectual property". SO...I believe that we & the other Mordheim forums that don't accept member donations MIGHT be reasonably safe.
GW has in the past gone after a couple of companies making Fantasy Football minis unsuccessfully. The thingy with this one is that GW has a licence on the Blood Bowl Fantasy Football; however, without the inclusion of the Blood Bowl part it IS NOT an infringement. My favorite BB minis, Female Fantasy Football, more or less told GW to stick it a couple of years ago...& got away with it. Their minis are also not set in a GW style setting, which gives credence to their claim on non-infringement.
I'd LOVE to see GW try going after ESPN's On-line Fantasy Football.
GOD, BUT I HATE what GW has become!

So far we haven't heard from them.

I think this whole thing is a bit overrated.

It has been known for ages that you shall not use GW products in URLs. That is why I immediately suggested a name change when Svenn came up with his new blog.

TalkBloodBowl could have easily kept their site but apparently the owner was too lazy and uninterested in his own project so he decided to just kill the site. This was NOT GW's doing. All they did is tell him to change the name. It's fair to not be willing to buy a new domain but the one who has really hurt the fans here is the site's owner.

Look at Mordheimer for example. He is currently playing/developing Death Squads and I don't know for how long he hasn't played Mordheim. Still, every year or so the domain runs out, fans all over the net go crazy the very hour the site is down, and he rebuys the domain name as soon as possible. Because he cares for the people who use his site he wouldn't just let it die.
And he has received letter from the GW lawyers before and unlike most he fought them off (check his post in the Newbie forum).

All in all, I think this discussion was stirred up but the owners strange decision to kick his site, where he could have just changed the URL. That's what I read about it - feel free to let me know if I am missing something.
Don't get me wrong, I hate the GW laywers as much as anybody, but this whole things just seems a bit unnecessary.

IF they approach us - which they can do because of the forum's domain name (same goes for Tom's blog), then we will not have to delete the forum, but just change the name. No need for panic.

ANOTHER THING TO CONSIDER: whenever GW does something that REALLY ticks you off..."you" meaning all of "us". DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! Now I'm not using myself as a good example, but I make it a regular thing to send Old Jervis the Standard Bearer a NASTY letter whenever GW pulls one of their OUTRAGES. EVEN if they continue with their VILE policies, I've let them in on just what their image is within the community. Protest CAN make a difference...just check out what it did for LBJ's political future. It's OUR hobby AND it's DAMN WELL WORTH FIGHTING FOR!

cianty wrote:

It has been known for ages that you shall not use GW products in URLs. That is why I immediately suggested a name change when Svenn came up with his new blog.

Thank you again for that. I'm really glad I didn't go with something that used Mordheim in the URL.

I'm not sure I understand the reasoning behind GW going after the FANS of their game. These people are the ones buying their stuff and supporting them. Killing communities built around their games because they used the name of the game in a URL is just going to hurt GW.

Quote :

The major premise for GW's actions is that the site by accepting donations was profitting from their "intellectual property".

If they were an online store, were advertising services, or something else that was making them mass amounts of money then I could understand this. But accepting donations to keep the site running? /sigh

I think tom's boring MORDHEIM forum uses a GW name in it's Url, though..

cianty wrote:

IF they approach us - which they can do because of the forum's domain name (same goes for Tom's blog), then we will not have to delete the forum, but just change the name. No need for panic.

We know.

It has been said LOTS OF TIMES that GW (and any other company) CAN and NEED to protect their IP.

But it's the way they do it that causes the incomformity.

I mean TalkBloodbowl was active for more than 9 years! They wasn't gaining any money or doing something that NEGATIVELY AFFECTED GW. They were in fact SUPPORTING the game, and I'm sure a good deal of GW BB miniatures sales were from TBB members.

Besides, the SANCTIONED BBLR and BBRC members were pretty much all TBB posters, and lots of GW employees actively participated in that forum.

By the way, the forum is again running under "Talkfantasyfootball", but that is not the point.

It may be a nicer approch by GW to ask for a nominal "Forum licence", something like $1.00 a year, just to make it clear that GW owns the IP, and the forum accepts that and PAYS (a nominal amount) for the right to use the brand name.

And everybody will be happier.

Best wishes.

With Mordhein in the name we are as good as gone... GW you bastards!

Let's stay calm and wait. The worst thing that can happen is that we have to change the url.

The whole GW talk about the intellectual property is one big shit. They're killing all the games they made in this way. And they're so surprised, why they lose so much money every year... well it is normal, they don't care about the fans. I have no mercy for them!

cianty wrote:

The worst thing that can happen is that we have to change the url.

And that's good, we can live (and post our works on forum) without fear ... although it's so stupid that GW is still trying to fight the people who really care about the game...


EDIT: Haha, my husband is laughing that I have to rename myself because my login on TBMF (and everywhere) is violating GW's intellectual property

Haha yeah - welcome to the new and shiny - Ratmenblight

Skavenblight wrote:

EDIT: Haha, my husband is laughing that I have to rename myself because my login on TBMF (and everywhere) is violating GW's intellectual property

Ahah, I'm hoping Privateer Press will not do the same in the future, I use A LOT "Lanyssa Ryssyll" as a nickname

Even without "Mordheim" in the name, the Tom Boring Forum sounds cool too, so we'll see if someday it happens !

Tom's No Name City of the Gosh Darned Forum has a nice ring to it...sort of.

Tom's Boring (deep breath) "fantasy-medieval-city-hitted-by-a-cometh" forum, will be my best guess.