Aho Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 So, let's say you have made a 3D Bionicle Mask of Conjuring and printed it using Shapeways. Would you legally be able to sell it with a proper disclaimer? If not, is there any way to? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doodleloot Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 I don't think Lego would mind you selling these masks in small quantities. Quote Hail Denmark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collector1 Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 I've seen people sell custom LEGO Weapons and haven't been foxed. So I would think that if you sold custom, 3D printed masks that you would be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitoshura Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 If it is custom, then I think you should be able to sell it. Like it isn't a bootleg or something like that so you aren't really ripping Lego off. 2 Quote profiles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aanchir Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 Yeah, the LEGO Group doesn't really hold copyright on 3D likenesses of masks that they never depicted in 3D. But if you use a LEGO trademark like BIONICLE in the name or description, that MIGHT get you into legal trouble, so if you do, be sure to include a disclaimer that it is not not produced with permission or license from the LEGO Group. Quote Latest MOC: PAIGE (Prototype Artificial Intelligence, Gynoid Expression) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aho Posted June 28, 2014 Author Share Posted June 28, 2014 Thanks for the help! One additional question: If I was to make non-organic Inika kanohi, would I not be allowed to call them their proper names in canon? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sumiki Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 (edited) LEGO extensively copyrights the stuff that pertains to their various licenses, so making non-organic Inika masks with the same names as the actual masks might count as trying to pass off a fan-made product as the real thing. Most of the fan-created sets and molds also have that disclaimer that Aanchir mentioned. As long as you include the disclaimer, you should be good to go. Edited June 29, 2014 by Sumiki Quote avatar by Lady Kopaka Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aanchir Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Something to keep in mind also is that if the LEGO Group does have a problem with something you're doing, the worst you'll probably face is a cease-and-desist letter so you can no longer sell that product through Shapeways. It's not as though The LEGO Group is going to sue you. They are too big a company and too careful about their relationship with fans to do anything that petty. So the worst-case scenario is you design custom masks, you try to sell them through Shapeways, and you're told to stop selling them. Quote Latest MOC: PAIGE (Prototype Artificial Intelligence, Gynoid Expression) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KCGR Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 From the experiences I've seen with shapeways and selling third party stuff, generally you'd want to avoid words copyrighted by LEGO. Let's take the Inika masks as an example, you could make a non-organic version of the Calix and the key words to avoid using would be Calix, BIONICLE, LEGO, Inika, etc. Most Shapeways sellers will come up with their own name for something, even though the people buying it would know it is in fact referencing something else Quote -Kongu Champion Gukko Rider "Two, Four, One, Ten, Two, Four, One, Ten. Am I Transmitting, Is Anyone Listening..?"LEGO Universe Fan - BIONICLE Fan from 2001 - Discovered BZP in 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P~M Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 From the experiences I've seen with shapeways and selling third party stuff, generally you'd want to avoid words copyrighted by LEGO. Let's take the Inika masks as an example, you could make a non-organic version of the Calix and the key words to avoid using would be Calix, BIONICLE, LEGO, Inika, etc. Most Shapeways sellers will come up with their own name for something, even though the people buying it would know it is in fact referencing something else"Custom Great Mask of Fate" Actually, come to think of it, Kanohi is the Māori word for "face," so you could include that without fear of being shut down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyichir Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 From the experiences I've seen with shapeways and selling third party stuff, generally you'd want to avoid words copyrighted by LEGO. Let's take the Inika masks as an example, you could make a non-organic version of the Calix and the key words to avoid using would be Calix, BIONICLE, LEGO, Inika, etc. Most Shapeways sellers will come up with their own name for something, even though the people buying it would know it is in fact referencing something else"Custom Great Mask of Fate" Actually, come to think of it, Kanohi is the Māori word for "face," so you could include that without fear of being shut down. I don't think you'd want to risk it. I don't know for sure whether Lego has the trademark for Kanohi but there is nothing preventing them from doing so. Lego can trademark the word "Kanohi" for building toys (which a Lego-compatible mask would qualify as) just as easily as Hasbro can trademark words like "Bumblebee" or "Crosshairs" for action figures. Just because a word has a real-world meaning does not mean that it can't be trademarked for a specific application. 1 Quote Formerly Lyichir: Rachira of Influence Aanchir's and Meiko's brother Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P~M Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 I don't think you'd want to risk it. I don't know for sure whether Lego has the trademark for Kanohi but there is nothing preventing them from doing so. Lego can trademark the word "Kanohi" for building toys (which a Lego-compatible mask would qualify as) just as easily as Hasbro can trademark words like "Bumblebee" or "Crosshairs" for action figures. Just because a word has a real-world meaning does not mean that it can't be trademarked for a specific application.Sure, but the English-speaking people at large never sued Hasbro for using the word "Bumblebee" as a trademark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyichir Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 I don't think you'd want to risk it. I don't know for sure whether Lego has the trademark for Kanohi but there is nothing preventing them from doing so. Lego can trademark the word "Kanohi" for building toys (which a Lego-compatible mask would qualify as) just as easily as Hasbro can trademark words like "Bumblebee" or "Crosshairs" for action figures. Just because a word has a real-world meaning does not mean that it can't be trademarked for a specific application.Sure, but the English-speaking people at large never sued Hasbro for using the word "Bumblebee" as a trademark. Just like the Maori people never sued Lego over the use of the word "Kanohi". All of the names which were problematic (mostly those with religious connotations) were changed. Ones that weren't (like Kanohi) are presumably just as trademarkable as they ever were. 1 Quote Formerly Lyichir: Rachira of Influence Aanchir's and Meiko's brother Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P~M Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Just like the Maori people never sued Lego over the use of the word "Kanohi". All of the names which were problematic (mostly those with religious connotations) were changed. Ones that weren't (like Kanohi) are presumably just as trademarkable as they ever were.Okay... I guess either way you're better safe than sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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