Watch out there’s a pirate about
If you have been involved in this hobby for as long as I have, you will have witnessed all sorts of dubious trading practices. Sadly, with improvements in technology, I am now seeing some practices that I had hoped were consigned to history, but which are becoming mainstream.
At this time, I’m not going to name and shame the offenders, but I want everyone to know that if they use any of our parts, components or designs in any other kits, this Company will use all available legal remedies to put a stop to it and to secure appropriate compensation in the form of damages. This notice therefore serves as a final reminder that it is illegal to copy or re-produce our parts without our prior written agreement.
It is against the best interests of all those dedicated and honest people that make up the modelling community to sell parts or components that erode someone else’s commercial interest. This company’s policy is continually to invest in new product design, which is an expensive business. We will not stand aside and witness others profiting from our investment. Practices such as this contributed to the downfall of some of our best 4mm kit makers and it would be shameful if this was to happen again. We are taking a stand against the pirates! They have been warned.
I also question the ethics of the Gauge O Guild for allowing such practices to take place under their banner. Surely they have a responsibility to all the trader members to protect their interests, but this I question, as it appears to be a matter of whomever pays the most for table space is right in the eyes of the Guild.
Product I know has been pirated are kits belonging to Slater’s and Connoisseur, both being major contributors to 7mm.
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pete waterman
June 18th, 2009 at 11:13 am
Not only are those wagons pirated copies, they are DEFECTIVE pirated copies.
Take a look at the bogie wagons, (you know whose they are) they are warping under their weight.
In my book, the Cheapo cr*p turned out to be the most expensive stuff I’ve ever bought.
June 18th, 2009 at 11:25 am
I agree I got caught with one of these.
June 18th, 2009 at 11:54 am
Hi Pete,
Well put. I know of a kit manufacturer who saw an item on another traders stand. He thought it looked a bit familiar and sure enough it had been copied. He had a go at the trader but not sure it was ever fully resolved.
I’ve tried to buy castings for my own scratchbuilt efforts from some of the kit manufacturers. Some will supply but others won’t . I can sympathise with their point of view . Things aren’t so easy for us metal bashers now that Home of O Gauge has finished.
best wishes
Graham Powell
June 19th, 2009 at 7:54 am
Chaps,
I don’t know what the legal niceties are of naming and shaming and I wouldn’t knowingly buy a pirated item. The problem is that with mail order the customer may have already given the trader the money before he or she even finds out it is a pirated item.
So wherever possible I say name and shame !
Regards
John
July 9th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
I have heard from Dave Andrews who thinks that some sort of kite mark may be the A
answer.
July 17th, 2009 at 3:09 am
I had a similar problem a while back when I made model aircraft parts. A Solicitors letter to the company in question, in the USA, just generated a denial, but a copy of the letter to their UK distributors, a big outfit with a 100% reputation, got results!! They obviously leaned on them, and the parts were removed from their range. The copies were exact repros of my etched parts, but they even copied my instruction sheets and diagrams; the only thing they changed was the part identity numbers on the diagrams were white numbers on black circles, instead of black on white!! The text was word perfect copy, they even uses almost identical product codes to mine!
The fact the legal trade were employed so promptly seemed to stop the rot in that case. It cost a couple of hundred pounds, but i think it was worth it.
The ‘kite mark’ would be a good idea, but another thing I used to do was change things very slightly, the odd rivet slightly out of line, a radius changed here or there, nothing that is obvious but that you can identify. Then if the castings are ever copied, these features will still be there. You need a few, but if it ever comes to court it makes proving things a great deal easier. If both parties claim to make ‘exact’ models of a real loco, a non-technical judge or jury might expect similar models to also be identical even if made by different people, but if you can list some documented ‘tweaks’ to your model, demonstrate them with pictures etc, then show the self-same featues on the pirates work, it will be clear how they made their moulds!
I hope this pans out for you. Pirates are everywhere in the model hobby world!
Tim
July 17th, 2009 at 7:21 am
My Mum ran “Kingfisher Models” in the 80’s and 90’s and there were at least three cases of people using her white metal castings as patterns for their own products. It got so bad she started to manufacture in “tells”
I agree the Guild should do more