Bwah hahaha.
A topic near and dear to my heart.
Yes, I have one. STFU.
First, a disclaimer: I am not a lawyer and this does not constitute legal advice.
Second: This is gonna be long. VERY long. I am a librarian by trade and this topic requires a fair amount of information transfer.
Here's how this works, despite what the GW legal department will tell you. It is in their interest to present as hard a line as possible since, in the cases where they do try to prosecute copyright infringement, all their replies are public record and can be subpoenaed by the defense.
You MAY NOT use images taken by GW, of GW product. So stealing images off their website is a no-no.
You MAY use images you have taken of GW products, provided the product is not itself an image. See the difference? It's better yet if you actually own the products in question.
Now, regarding certain GW images, like the double-headed eagle...they copied that, so, you know, whatever. Check this out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Eagle
Links for more information on copyright law:
http://www.bartertown.com/disc/viewtopic.php?t=138
http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_a ... index.html
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use
Pay careful attention to this, from the Cornell site:
§ 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include—
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.
Regarding ChaosOrc. His site is legal for several reasons.
1. He uses no GW-made images of GW products.
2. He's signed no sales agreement with GW, so they have no contractual power over him. I don't know how he gets his GW stuff, but hey. He does and it works.
There is a difference between what the US Code considers legal, ie not violating existing American Law, and what GW wants you to believe (their IP policy, which IS NOT US Law). They want you to not even come close to thinking about stuff that might challenge their claim to "intellectual property," even though copyright law has what's called a "30% rule" where you need to change something to be at least 30% different than the original for it to be not-a-copyright-violation.
Look at the Tyranids...Aliens and Terminator...Necrons. Aliens and Terminators are both Fox properties, and Fox is draconian when it comes to protecting their properties. GW did their homework and made the models close enough to be recognized but far enough away to be distinctive, and therefore immune to a Fox copyright challenge.
So to answer your question...
1. the more disclaimers you can put up the better. I would build in a 'legal information' page with said disclaimers as well as an explanation of the project. Make the link prominent.
2. Regarding the forum T-shirt...this is a funny way for GW to bring up the Personal Use clause of copyright law. I guess someone hammered them on it...which I find funny. Basically, it works like this:
Let's say that I have some Tau Stealth Suits, which I do. Let's say that I think it would be a cool idea to cast them in clear, transparent resin to mimic the Stealth effect - which I do (statement deliberately left ambiguous).
Am I violating copyright? ONLY IF I SELL THEM. Okay, to be really technical I'd have to sell them and have the molds in my possession and GW would have to prove that I'd sold them and that I had the molds in my possession.
So, if you've read the GT rules this year they try to make some specious claim that using clear-cast or other resin copies of GW stuff that you made is illegal. Technically, it's not. They don't like it, and they can disallow it, but it's not illegal and if you take said home-made stuff there they cannot seize it from you...cuz that's theft.
So if you made a T-shirt, and your friend made a T-shirt, and his friend made a T-shirt, and they all happened to look the same and have the same logo on there...yeah, by the letter of the law and what GW said on their website you'd be fine. So would your friend, and his friend. Who made the exact same T-shirt.
at the GW corporate machine!
icon in front.
