About a project i'm working on

[Jwayna]

Hey folks, i'm starting a project for my other main hobby that i'll explain breifly. i'm a member over at joecustoms.com , and we basicly customize gi joes. i was hopeing someone could link me to an art page. is there one? offical or fan art will do nicely. the project... is that i'm about to start work on 19 figures and 1 playset, all necroscope related. so any and all refrence art will help....please. if anyone wants the full list just ask...but be patient cause this could take a year or 2 to complete. i will however post w.i.p. pics as i go if someone could tell me which form to post those in? thanks

[Jwayna]

Oh...if anyone could send me any of the comic book art, that would be wounderfly useful!

[Ilya Sul]

http://www.brianlumley.com/media/art.html

There you go.

[Jwayna]

Thank you. these works of art should help greatly! i feel silly now...realizing i should have searched the site more dilagently. And now i know where to post my figures when completed. thanks again

[Ilya Sul]

Don't mention it!

[Jwayna]

So one of the mods here told me I had to ask Brian's permission for a fan art project like this, and out of respect I did just that. These figures will never be for sale and I am only making one set so legaly I knew I was not obligated, but again out of respect for Brian I did so. Sadly... not only did he say no, but I was threatened with legal action. In response I was forced to cunsult a lawyer.

As long as it's a one off thing, and NOT FOR SALE, it is considered fan art! And Brian can do as much as Marvel Studios can about a 5 year old drawing Spiderman to put on his parents refridgerator!

For any who dont believe me... heres a good example. Keep in mind that Epic games is a billion dollar corparation.

http://www.collectorsquest.com/blog/...copyright-law/

Needless to say...I'll never feel welcome here agian! And NO Lumley fans will ever get to see these works of FAN ART. I have as much right to do this as anyone with fan art on this site! And I ask you...How many of you had to ask Brians permission?

[ShadoeWolfe]

You are more than welcome here - and just take a moment to look at it from Brian's side - or anyone else who has created something from nothing and owns their creation.

The line between fan art and fan fiction and fan-anything can easily get blurred and carry over into infringement on legitimate works. While I believe you and Brian may as well, that it would not be for sale, that could someday change without your wanting it to. Especially since you work for a company that does exactly what you are wanting to do for your personal use.

George Lucas (and this may be a bad example) created Star Wars and retained all the licensing for all the products. It is how he makes his living. It is how he became a wealthy man. You always see stories about someone making (or trying to make) something that is very similar to one of his creations and they get asked to stop or get sued. Not because he hates the people or wants to make them hate him - it is his livelihood you are messing with. It is his creation - and he protects it similar to how a parent protects a child.

Hopefully you can see the other side to it and not get discouraged. You did the right thing by asking and just didn't get the answer you wanted. That can be upsetting, no doubt.

And just FYI, I created a back story when I first started this site for my screen-name and posted it on my personal website. Brian read it and basically told me to take it down immediately as I was using his 'places' and 'creations' throughout my story. I was upset at first but after thinking about it - I understood his point. Just as ShadoeWolfe was my creation, Starside and the Wamphyri were his. I removed it and, unfortunately, lost the original text (and it was a good story!) I don't regret it one bit though. So yes, others of us have asked Brian's permission for fan-based projects and have been turned down. Even his own webmaster.

[Jwayna]

Well I thank you for the kind words... but I waited and thought quit a bit about what to do. I think that if Brian had worded things a bit more like you did here... I wouldn't have been upset at all. But the reason I'll remain upset is because where I'm from, we have a rule called innocent till proven guilty.
I completly agree with the fact that Necroscope is Brians bread and butter, but that being the case shouldn't he know what he has a right to do to protect it, and from what?

-(The line between fan art and fan fiction and fan-anything can easily get blurred and carry over into infringement on legitimate works. While I believe you and Brian may as well, that it would not be for sale, that could someday change without your wanting it to. Especially since you work for a company that does exactly what you are wanting to do for your personal use.)-

Some of this is true... Some customizers do push the boundries of infringment. But on the same note, an artist can take a copyrighted item and make an original work based on it and sell ONE. It is only copyright infringment when you make more then one and sell it. Have you never seen a street artist selling... lets say, hand painted pictures of spiderman in many different poses? Well those differences are what protect an artist from being sued for copyright infringment.

Now I want to stress that this wont happen! You seem to have the impression that I work for joecustoms.com, well thats false. I'm as much a MEMBER of that site as I am(or was) here! Everyone on the site comsiders it a HOBBY. No one is there for selling customs. Even the owner of the site has a day job. Its a place to be critiqued by fellow customizers. Most all sales threw the site are of old toys for parts, not custom figures. Some of them do that on e-bay I'm sure.

Now Brian has my name...would I have given him that if I was planning to "bootleg" his works? I think not!

You say I'm still welcome here? Well I will certainly consider it once I calm down. But...I surely wont spend the next 10 years finding a little time EVERY DAY to re-read Brians books!

And at this point the only reason to finish these figures is money spent! Consider... figures at $10 a piece, materials for modding them such as sculpting putty and paint, and now the retainer for a lawyer. With noone but myself to fully appreciate them, because as I said when I first joined the site, I have never met anyone in person who has even heard of Brian lumley. And before the other day I would bring it up to anyone I thought would listen.

[Ilya Sul]

Originally Posted by Jwayna

not only did he say no, but I was threatened with legal action. In response I was forced to cunsult a lawyer.

Wow, that's harsh.

I like your idea and would love to see the finished project.