Re: Indiana jones Pinball Add on

On Jan 22, 2:50 pm, "Joseph 'Tony' Dziedzic" <t...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
If you want a definitive answer consult an attorney familiar with
copyright law, not a bunch of arm-chair lawyers on Usenet groups -
including me. However, I'll chime in why I think Wayne and eBay
believe they can shut down your auction. This is not an accusation so
please don't take offense.

Wayne has licensed the original cabinet artwork from Williams and
Lucasfilm - and that artwork is a copyrighted work, owned by
Williams. I'm sure Williams paid something to Lucasfilm for the
rights to use their trademarked term "Indiana Jones". Copyright
owners - or their authorized agents - can go after anyone they feel
has infringed upon their copyrighted work.

To the casual observer your cabinet liners look as if they were
derived from the original artwork - meaning they incorporate design
elements of the original. Yes, you have two pyramids, not three, but
you can't deny that your product looks quite a bit like the original -
and I'm sure that's intentional. The artwork on your product *may* be
considered a "derivative work" of the original, and that's considered
infringement. The actual determination would of course have to be
made in a court of law.

If Wayne can prove to eBay that he is an owner or licensee of some
copyrighted work - and he is, and can prove it - eBay will take the
easy way out and cancel your auction.

I'm not expressing a personal viewpoint as to whether or not Wayne or
Lucasfilm *should* go after the "small fish" in the pond, only
offering an explanation as to why your auction can be cancelled when
Wayne claims copyright infringement.

Joseph "Tony" Dziedzic

On Jan 22, 9:48 am, mallcitysi...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

Can any one tell me about the guy From Australia.
I made some add on for Indiana Jones and he is shutting down my
auctions.
I Think he thinks he owns the picture rights of nature, egyptian
pryamids, trees, sand and the sun.
this was never a stock part which he owns the rights to. The colors
are different there are two pryamids not three and dosent he only owns
the right to reproduce exsisting stuff?
Any help would be great.
Amd why can he shut down auctions without proof he owns this .
Ebay Item number: 180208685898
Take a look and tell me what you think.

why Is he so worried about my auction
Thanks for any help
Jim
PS I cant spell for ***.

I understand your view point, Joe T BUT art work is just that. If Jim
were remaking cabinet decals or even if his side panel decals had a
caricature of Harrison Ford or Sean Connery then he would certainly be
infringing on copyrighted art. Licenses are primarily for using the
likeness of the characters when selling a product, whatever it is.
This is similar in pattern and in color to the cabinet artwork, which
is of course the whole point of making the decals in the first place.
If your notion was true and correct then everyone who makes or has
made in the past created a back board decal for TZ, STTNG, TAF, etc
has violated copyright which is obviously not the case. There is
nothing unusual or unique about palm trees or pyramids other then the
fact they fit the theme and were seen in the IJ movie. You can see
them in lots of movies. And yes Wayne would have to pay Lucas so he
could reproduce the cabinet artwork. When the original license ran
out, Jean Cunningham would have had to pay Lucas again to be able to
reproduce the art work but Jean though what Lucas wanted was too much
money and declined. That is why IJ cabinet decals were unavailable
for a long period of time until someone paid the license fee to be
legal to make them. Licensing and its big dollar cost is another
reason why companies like RnR shut down making decals. I would say
Wayne would have a really hard time to make a case convincing enough
to pursue. He's probable mad he didn't think of making something like
this himself but he has so many other projects. More then enough for
one individual. I do understand Wayne's point of trying to nip
anything in the bud that resembles original because things get out of
hand very quickly. Besides he's got a lot of money invested and he
need to try to keep it secure. If anything Wayne should sell more
decals sets with this out there.
Just my 2 cents on the subject,

Tony
.