"*sigh*... Cease & Desisted by CBS" Topic

Well, my not-really-worst-but-still-unpleasant fears have come to pass. My MicroTrek line of teensy-tiny, Star Trek-inspired ship minis were yanked from the Shapeways store and I was sent a pleasant note by Shapeways management that they had received a C&D letter from CBS.

I don't disagree with CBS's right to do that, to defend their IP, or shut down unlicensed producers. I'm just sad that they chose to pick on me, given that there are hundreds of Trek-infringing models available on Shapeways. The ones I had there were tiny and had minimal detail, being recognizable as Star Trek-inspired only by their basic shapes. There are models still for sale on Shapeways that look like they could have been made by the studio artists at CBS themselves!

I'm also wondering why Shapeways yanked my "15mm Transporter Room" and "15mm Sick Bay" offerings. While they shared certain visual continuity with the sets of TOS, they were all original work. I'm asking Shapeways to reconsider on those items. In any event, I had already posted those two as components of the original products (e.g., "15mm Infirmary Beds").

Kinda takes the wind outta the sails. All I wanted to do was provide gamers with an alternative to the $15 USD-per-ship minis available from ADB, WizKids, or Mongoose. I'd gladly take the "Trek" out of the name if it satisfies CBS.

*sigh*

It is the "trek" in the name that pinged them. I wanted to use some music from the original series in a film and they wanted $10 USDk per second. I parodied it and it was fine.

You need to name the line something that does not evoke the name of the series. And I think you could put in the description that your product was inspired by the science fiction films you grew up with. Make a tweak to the files and resubmit them.

Just a thought.

Rename the transporter and sick bay sets, and those should be fine.

Mako is correct. It's the names not the models. They regularly do Google searches for the names.

Sorry to hear it man. At least you know what to do moving forward. I will keep buying your other stuff!

Sweet! Thanks, folks -- I'll give them another shot and see if I get spanked!

I guess you could do: Star Drek.

I thought Paramount had the IP, not CBS

CBS owns the overall brand, Paramount owns the rights to the films. The C & D could have come from either.

But unless he exactly copied one of their designs shouldn't have come from either. Doesn't the Franz Josef (sp?) estate--specifically his daughter own the original designs for the DN, DD, SC, CA and Tug? If they don't own the rights they can't complain, and if his designs are different (i.e. just a ship w/a saucer and engines) they Shouldn't have any claim.

Now proving that is another matter unfortunately.

Go with some generic name like future space to be safe.

IIRC "Star Blech" was used by Mad Magazine so that is right out as well. :P

Use a name that means the same but with different words.

Stellar sojourn

Galaxy Que… oh-oh!

Javelin, there was a recent thread on this at Starship Combat News. Drew knows the current owner of the Franz Josef estate minis rights and gave a little summary of their IP situation. CBS doesn't own all the rights they often claim to own.

Meanwhile, be mindful when creating minis lines about direct references to owned IP like Star Wars, Games Workshop and Star Trek. It's very easy to get caught up in an IP sweep even if your models are "inspired by" rather than an actual violation.

But once again this is a reminder when naming and discussing your Shapeways lines on forums to be cautious what you say. Even if you are the IP owner, who wants to fight a legal battle or wrestle with Shapeways to get stuff restored?

Not every company benefits (as Chapterhouse did) by having a massive law firm do pro bono work for you. The betting money was on Chapterhouse going bankrupt before a ruling could be issued, or being snowed under by GW lawyers even though they had a good case (and thanks to the law firm, the resources to MAKE that case). Or settling out of court with a bankruptcy and admission of guilt to avoid a legal battle they could win if only they had the lawyers.

Okay, I'm rebranding them all as "MicroFleet", so unless CBS has also trademarked the word "Fleet", that part should be good to go. I'm going to re-upload them and see what happens!

Shapeways has so far not responded to my request for a copy of the C&D letter. Not that big a deal, but I'd like to see it nonetheless.