Recasting of out of production miniatures?

[nic-e]

Just a quick legality question,
I want to use AT-43 walkers for my mantic corporation army, but considering that they can range from £20-£40 i worry i won't be able to afford the amount i need.
I have a lot of resin casting gear kicking around and thought that i could make some recasts of the walkers for personal use as it would save me an immense amount of money in the long run.
But I'm wondering how legal this is?
The company in question is gone,the miniatures are out of production and i have no idea who holds the IP rights, so would i be okay to do this and post my results online without breaking the law?

(I know the issue of recasting is a sensitive one that has been poked and prodded many times,but i couldn't find anything on the recasting of miniatures from a dead company.)

[Belgian]

For own use I would say yes but when you are bored of them I wouldn't sell them on  Just my thoughts, no idea of the legal side.

[nic-e]

For own use I would say yes but when you are bored of them I wouldn't sell them on  Just my thoughts, no idea of the legal side.

Whilst im sure there is a market for at-43 recasts i wouldn't have the time to sell them on,even if i wanted too.

[pixelgeek]

The company might be dead but its assets were sold and I would be surprised if the AT-43 properties were not sold to someone.

[nic-e]

The company might be dead but its assets were sold and I would be surprised if the AT-43 properties were not sold to someone.

This is why i want to know the legality of recasting the miniatures.
I'm sure someone owns the rights to them in some way, but with them being out of production and with there being no formal plans (that i know of) for them to be remade, i feel that recasting them SHOULD be okay without getting up anyones nose.

[Andrew May]

It's definitely not ok, recasting without permission never is.
If you just did it without broadcasting it on a forum then no one's going know though.

[nic-e]

It's definitely not ok, recasting without permission never is.
If you just did it without broadcasting it on a forum then no one's going know though.

The point of this post was to figure out how legal it was and so decide if it would be okay for me to display my work at a later date without the possibility of upsetting whoever owned the rights should they come across my efforts.I'm deliberatley trying to ensure i don't end up stealing someones property.

[leonmallett]

The point of this post was to figure out how legal it was and so decide if it would be okay for me to display my work at a later date without the possibility of upsetting whoever owned the rights should they come across my efforts.I'm deliberatley trying to ensure i don't end up stealing someones property.

Law varies by country. It is not legal in the UK for example, nor in the USA I *think*.

Law also varies according to media somewaht, with some rules around digital formats etc., at least in the UK. The point being that even though there may be some leeway with digital formats, the same is not necessarily wit other media.

[Cubs]

Law varies by country.

What he said. Not every country respects international copyright laws ... that's probably best left where it is, for fear of wandering into politics.

If you're serious about checking the legality, first of all I'd follow the paper trail as far as you can, first to see who bought the copyright (if anyone did) and see if they're selling the item. How would you do this? Pass, but I'd probably start with Companies House. If you find the copyright holder is no longer selling the item, they may give you express permission to recast for personal use if you ask nice ... or nic-e.

Of course, if the copyright itself has lapsed, you can do what you like with it.

As an aside, I just wasted five minutes of my life reading the ranting insanity on PMT about this subject. Dear Lord.

[nic-e]

As an aside, I just wasted five minutes of my life reading the ranting insanity on PMT about this subject. Dear Lord.

All good advice,i'll begin looking around.I shall see if i can get in touch with the artist (as i believe he is currently still working on dust) and see what he can tell me.
I suppose i could also contact the former rackham sculptors.

And yes ,this is why i wanted to avoid this being a general topic on recasting, because we have all had it a hundred times and it always just ends with a locked thread and some very angry posters.

[Gary Peach]

If you painted a 'copy' of the Mona Lisa and put it on your wall and say look I copied the Mona Lisa...  no issue, if you put it on your wall and said, look I have the Mona Lisa, still no issue...  If you copied the Mona Lisa and said its for sale, I painted it...  no issue, If you said I have the Mona Lisa...  Lights Bells Whistles. Thats for graphic ,literary, and such.

As for products.  If you make it for yourself.  No Issue.  If you make it and someone wants to buy it...  Big Issue in all countries including the USA since 2001 and 2010.  The intellectual rights, production rights will be with a number of people.  The intellectual rights may be with the designers sill, the production rights with who owned them and had permission from the designers.  These can be transferred...

Cut a long story short...  Make em, dont tell us - or - show us, and me for 1 will forget you even mentioned it.

[nic-e]

If you painted a 'copy' of the Mona Lisa and put it on your wall and say look I copied the Mona Lisa...  no issue, if you put it on your wall and said, look I have the Mona Lisa, still no issue...  If you copied the Mona Lisa and said its for sale, I painted it...  no issue, If you said I have the Mona Lisa...  Lights Bells Whistles. Thats for graphic ,literary, and such.

As for products.  If you make it for yourself.  No Issue.  If you make it and someone wants to buy it...  Big Issue in all countries including the USA since 2001 and 2010.  The intellectual rights, production rights will be with a number of people.  The intellectual rights may be with the designers sill, the production rights with who owned them and had permission from the designers.  These can be transferred...

Cut a long story short...  Make em, dont tell us - or - show us, and me for 1 will forget you even mentioned it.

so err on the side of caution or use bribery? got it.



As for the actual rights, i have quickly found that cyanide studios currently own the rights to AT-43 and confrontation.They apparently have no interest in AT-43 and only wanted confrontation when buying the rights.
The molds are all destroyed and the artist has no say in things (which makes me sad.)

I have contacted them to see what they say.if they tell me that they no longer have any interest in these rights or that they have run out, then I will get the resin ball rolling.If they redirect me to the current owner i shall put my begging ht back on and see how they feel.

[area23]

Homecasting a miniature for your own use is like hometaping a CD to put into your walkman was.
Technically it isn't legal but I wouldn't care really.

it's an enormous hassle but it would bring a lot of gratification if suppose.

And it's not like you're downloading films or music, or printing out copyrighted images from the internets at work. And don't you dare to photocopy anything from a book or a magazine!
That would be like, totally illegal.  

[nic-e]

Homecasting a miniature for your own use is like hometaping a CD to put into your walkman was.
Technically it isn't legal but I wouldn't care really.

it's an enormous hassle but it would bring a lot of gratification if suppose.

And it's not like you're downloading films or music, or printing out copyrighted images from the internets at work. And don't you dare to photocopy anything from a book or a magazine!
That would be like, totally illegal.  

Everything you just listed is something i have to do at college on a daily basis, in fact once a week i have to do casting of some sort, often of someone elses work


Here's hoping cyanide tell me that they don't care about AT-43 and open the flood gates for us all ....

[grant]

If you gaze into a pool of slime you should expect to see disgusting little things wiggling in it. Goes with the territory. Whats more astounding is you actually found a topic about the Minis industry there! Has he added a talk about miniatures sub board?
 

Ugh. Slimy pool is right!

On the subject of recasting: I wouldn't do it. Couldn't do it.