Games Workshop Forbids Warhammer Fan Films

EikeHein writes "Made by dozens of fans over a period of several years and featuring impressive special effects, the feature-length Warhammer 40.000 epic DAMNATUS ranks among the most elaborate fan productions ever made — and yet may never see the light of day. Despite initially giving a go-ahead to the project, UK-based Warhammer franchise owner Games Workshop has come around to forbid distribution of the film just as it was being readied for release. What's more, they've amended their IP Policy to forbid any such projects in the future. At the heart of the matter appears to be Continental European copyright law, which grants the German film makers certain irrevocable rights to their creation which they cannot sign away. Given that the owners of the other two SF mega-franchises, Star Trek and Star Wars, have been able to come to terms with such issues and arguably benefit greatly from the media attention paid to popular fan productions, it would seem that Games Workshop still has to learn a thing or two about how to capture fan enthusiasm for their benefit."

Comments

A "fuck you" from GW...

[imbaczek]

...to which fans will reply with a generous "fuck you too."

More news at 11.

Simple Solution

[rhartness]

"Dammit! 'Somebody' has leaked the film..."

Re:Simple Solution

[orkysoft]

Probably a rogue trader.

Re:Preposterous

[andrewd18]

I don't know anyone who plays Warhammer without Orcs.

Waaagh!! We be Orks wid uh k, you insensitive 'umie!

Well, duh

[slapout]

1. Leak film on bittorrent.
2. ?
3. Profit!

Re:Call it a parody instead

[bigdavex]

Call it a parody instead. Then it's legal.

Hmmm. What if we call it a banana?

Re:Ahem.

[Anonymous Coward]

And just think, YOU posted here. That makes you a wannabe nerd who's not cool enough to even hang out with nerds. So, what now? :P

(think I'll post this anon... the modders are more likely to mark it flamebait than my intended funny. ;-) -- but just in case, a pre-emptive *shakes fist* if it gets modded up. hehe)

Re:For those who don't know...

[Control Group]

Heh. If only I could go back in time... ...you would tell WotC to not completely ruin their hojillion-dollar game by flooding the market with expansions every couple months, steadily increasing the power/cost ratio of all their cards, regularly invalidating old (valuable!) cards, and engaging in general asshattery? Or that there's no legitimate place in tabletop RPG for version "3.5" of anything?

'Cos that would be pretty nice of you.

Re:Call it a parody instead

[nightrain_tg]

Hmmm. What if we call it a banana? Then it might have greater a-peel!

Re:Ahem.

[MS-06FZ]

Nerds. And news for us! And stuff that matters!

Re:Preposterous

[R_Dorothy]

Careful - Orcs with a 'k' almost certainly violates their IP.

Re:Preposterous

[Hognoxious]

That's about when they switched their focus from RPGs to the miniatures business.

For me they jumped the shark when they introduced that stupid imperial chariot with the 20 foot long musket that could shoot the enemy general (even through a hill) anywhere on the board if you could roll 2 or above on 2D6. Around 1990?

Then there was the stupid colleges of magic thing that seemed like a cross between Terry Pratchett and scissors-paper-stone.