And I was just thinking about doing one of those Robotech sets on a Skystriker.

http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-joe-n ... -sets.html

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Looks like they pulled down the Macross/Robotech related Skystriker sets. I was just looking at the Fokker Skull Squad set last week and contemplating getting another SDCC Jetfire to make a proper Skull Squad jet. As both items have disappeared (the loose Jetfires sold out the day the lawsuit made news) I guess I'll stick with my homage custom.

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I can't blame them for doing this. They are a small operation and can't afford to be sued for a money grab event like Harmony Gold is pulling right now. If they were, we wouldn't just lose those stickers sets, we would lose the entire site. After the dust settles and this situation is back under the radar, they will probably post them up again.

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It is unlikely he would get sued, could happen but would most likely start with a cease and desist order. It honestly amazes me that Hasbro hasn't already put a stop to it. The only thing that I can assume is Hasbro has a great deal of respect for the customizing community. They do have a custom contest at the con every year after all.

I do not know all of the legal loopholes on copyright. It is possible that the direct copies of sticker sheets made for restoration of vintage vehicles would be an exception to the copyright but any of the sheets that are not a direct copy of an existing sticker sheet may be at risk.

I am not sure how the replacement aspect falls into it. I would think that printing copyrighted materials is a risky business every day you do it.

To be honest I sweat copyright issues in selling custom vehicles. As long as there is an actual piece of a Hasbro authentic vehicle in it I am pretty sure that they can not do anything legally but they can make me prove in court that it is legitimate. This is a little less of a concern with your own website (although there is a bill rotating around congress that would make it a big deal) but selling on Ebay it becomes an guilty until proven innocent. If Hasbro wanted to cause customizers problems all they would have to do is report the seller to Ebay for violating their copyright and Ebay would pull the listing with absolutely no recourse (relisting would get you suspended from Ebay) other then taking Hasbro to court for abuse of copyright. So far Hasbro seems amazingly cool about the whole collectors and customizers skating the line.

Considering Cobrastickers is based in Canada and Hasbro and Harmony Gold are U.S. companies the likelihood of Cobrastickers being sued is very very slim. Pretty sure this is also how they've skated by until now without a C&D or some other action by Hasbro.

Honestly, in my opinion I think they are being a bit paranoid by removing the sets. But I can understand their position of not wanting to tempt fate.

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I really hope Cobrastickers being in Canada means they are safe. They are invaluable to my vehicle customizing.

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Being in Canada would not stop a C&D or a lawsuit.

Actually Dusty in this case they are more likely then any other to get sued.

If my understanding is right a company is already suing Hasbro for violating their intellectual property, I would guess that in this already existing law suit they could expand and catch Cobra stickers as a codefendant or something of the sort. The fact that the shark is already there and the blood is in the water means it is a very dangerous place to swim.

Lets hope they stayed under the radar and lets hope at least Hasbro has the sense to leave them be as Cobrastickers make me buy more Hasbro vehicles because they give me options with which to customize those vehicles. I may not have bought 8 Skystrikers without Cobrastickers.

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I really think the restoration of a collectible aspect is their saving grace. I do not know for sure because I have never studied it that close but that is the impression I get.

The thing with intellectual property is that you have to protect it in order to retain the rights to it. If you lapse in trying defend against people using it, then you essentially give them the right to use it. At one point, Hasbro aggressively went after anyone who sold anything related to GI Joe that used the stars and bars as part of a logo or used trademarked names for selling items. They've become less aggressive, but Hasbro still tries to protect their IP too. Alyosha joked once he had a folder filled with C&D letters.

From the outside, not knowing any more specifics other than what they said on Hisstank, I agree with Mysterious Stranger that this is more out of paranoia then something tangible. Cobrastickers' entire offering is based on someone else's images and intellectual property that they could be rightfully asked to take down at any time and certainly threatened with lawsuit if they didn't. So why does this particular set matter more than any of the others?

Without getting political, there are some countries that aren't as willing to protect corporate copyrights/trademarks/patents as others. Canada isn't one of them, especially since Hasbro Canada does business in the country.

Dremel, restoration purposes have no baring on whether someone can use a copyrighted/trademarked image/character. Fair use is the only exception.

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I totally understand normal copyright law, but I am curious about restoration issues. For instance you can buy sticker decals to restore original Atari arcade consoles. This would normally be copyrighted but they can do it (or maybe it just is not enforced). But similarly if I am a restorer I can sell my services to restore a Coke machine including restoring the Coke emblems. On the other hand I could not legally paint the coke symbol on a home made coke machine and sell it unless I used part of an actual coke machine in the actual construction.

It would not surprise me to find out that stickers made for restoration purposes were exempt. In the same notion it would not surprise me to find out 100% that they are not legal.

Thats interesting. Like on American restoration. They use copyrighted logos all the time and get paid for the application. I never really thought about that. Whats the difference if you paint a logo and charge or make a decal of a logo and charge? Interesting....

Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk 2

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Another interesting thing.....the surprisingly close resemblance the SDCC stickers have to the Cobrasticker Jetfire set that has been out long before the SDCC version was public.

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Not really. Considering both were using the original Transformer toy as a model and then adapting that to the modern Skystriker template. I mean, how else are they supposed to arrange the stickers? This is a non-issue.

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