Games workshop sued Copyright Theft RICO Fraud

In the grim dark future there is legal war...
youtube.com/watch?v=jx__jrFealI&t=300s

Link to complaint: spikeybits.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/conpmaint.pdf

Ironically Games Workshop shutting down others due to using the word "space marine":
eff.org/deeplinks/2013/02/trademark-bully-thwarted-spots-space-marine-back-online

Other urls found in this thread:

spikeybits.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/afdfidavit.pdf
us.coca-cola.com/store/
nypost.com/2017/06/05/cash-me-outside-girl-is-pissed-people-are-using-her-catch-phrase/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eldar
twitter.com/NSFWRedditVideo

How about a tl;dr?

Games Workshop is being sued in the US in the state of Florida for 62.5 million dollars due to their selling practices charging that their practice is a monopoly, filing 7 charges total, violations ranging from violations of the RICO act to the sherman-act.

The BIGGEST part of the lawsuit demands that Games Workshop terminate their ownership of the Warhammer brand in its entirety making it public domain within 10 years.

7 charges in affidavit against Games Workshop are as follows:

1. Violation RICO statutes
2. Price Fixing
3. Stock Manipulation (Pump and dump)
4. Fraud
5. Tortious interference with Business
6. Copyright Theft and Public Fraud
7. Misuse of "copyright laws"

Now here is the question: Does this actually have any merit or plausibility of winning in court?

Florida courts are all kinds of weird. The only stranger courts is Louisiana with their goddamn Napoleonic legal system.

Also,
>terminate their ownership of the Warhammer brand in its entirety

That seems a little...excessive.

mfw it's just a bunch of nerds with GW haterboners slinging shit at the wall and hoping something sticks

So that means everything they've ever made? What would that mean for games and miniature manufacturing?

No this will be thrown out

Honestly, a small settlement out of court is most likely.

You know, I bet they actually saw this thing coming, hence the whole rebranding of all their lines recently.

It's possible that this guy has been making threats for some time.

The complaints about 3rd party retailers are probably the most valid things in there, which I suppose isn't saying much. But they could hold water if he's got evidence.

>Now here is the question: Does this actually have any merit or plausibility of winning in court?
Its already gone through the clerk who is an attorney in US courts meaning the case is proceeding forward.

>So that means everything they've ever made? What would that mean for games and miniature manufacturing?
Based it seems upon the suit even in the worst case scenario which likely wont happen that the entirety of the warhammer IP be made public, in NO way does that stop GW from still producing GW merchandise and related content.

>meaning the case is proceeding forward.

That doesn't really mean much. Many cases make it to court that are frivolous and thrown out quickly or force a settlement between the two parties just to make it all go away.

For the record, we had a guy in Houston try to sue the city for poisoning his water supply...at a house he did not own or live in, and hadn't had water for like three years before he filed the claim.

>You know, I bet they actually saw this thing coming, hence the whole rebranding of all their lines recently.
True and no doubt this is GW corp strategy done based upon sound legal advice.

>>Honestly, a small settlement out of court is most likely.
However this does not change the charge in the initial complaint of creating a 50 million trust for anyone seeking damages for copyright infringement which would also free GW from any future lawsuit by any party seeking to make a claim based upon their past.

>But they could hold water if he's got evidence.
The evidence for the retail scams seem to be done not just off the store location accusation which is part of the complaint. But the solid part for contention is the "Pump and Dump" scheme only with models instead of stocks where the retailer GW pumps stores with product at an inflated price, only to offer it themselves through their own stores or direct online purchase at a cheaper price.

>Set up branded GW stores
>Only sell your product in your stores
>IT'S A MONOPOLY
How does that even fucking work?

>That doesn't really mean much. Many cases make it to court that are frivolous and thrown out quickly or force a settlement between the two parties just to make it all go away.

The aggrieved party does seem to have standing also the copyright claims have standing as well. Those can only be dropped by the plaintiff which like you said means maybe they pay him his damages and he goes his own way.

Any person literally even you could instantly refile just because your bored for the copyright trust, thereby it may be in GW interest to settle that part of the lawsuit in full possibly depending on their legal advice.

>Set up branded GW stores
>Only sell your product in your stores
>IT'S A MONOPOLY
>How does that even fucking work?
It seems based upon the filings that GW used sales at local retail stores to determine where to put their own official stores for their products.

>It seems based upon the filings that GW used sales at local retail stores to determine where to put their own official stores for their products.

Seriously? That's just good, old-fashioned market research. :^)

>It seems based upon the filings that GW used sales at local retail stores to determine where to put their own official stores for their products.
But that's not a monopoly or a cartel. That's like saying Google is a monopoly for giving Youtube search features.

>>It seems based upon the filings that GW used sales at local retail stores to determine where to put their own official stores for their products.
>Seriously? That's just good, old-fashioned market research.
The plaintiff is alleging that this method violates the Sherman Act and is a Tortious interference with business. Included is a letter sent from GW to the plaintiff that shows that GW has a policy of setting price minimums that retailers are allowed to sell their products. Meaning if a GW did open down the street or online, that they can directly offer better prices than the stores and the stores are not allowed to lower their prices or match their price due to this policy.

These details are listed in the affidavit of filing you can find here:
spikeybits.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/afdfidavit.pdf


>That's like saying Google is a monopoly for giving Youtube search features.
It is, you left out gmail... There is a case to be made for divorcing Youtube and Google into separate entities which would kill youtube day one since it has never made 1 cent of profit.

How did I know this would be from Florida...

>How did I know this would be from Florida...
OP here, yea I know what ya mean, I was pleasantly unsurprised as well...

>1. Violation RICO statutes
Holy shit, GW got RICO Acted? Are the guys at the top of this fucking dumpster fire of a company finally going down?

>Holy shit, GW got RICO Acted? Are the guys at the top of this fucking dumpster fire of a company finally going down?
There is a criminal complaint filed against GW by the plaintiff mentioned in the filings for his court paperwork.

>Would anyone go to jail?
100% nope this is America, corps and employees dont go to jail minus the ONE enron guy who probably pissed off the wrong person at one time or another to end up in jail.

The fact that the legitmacy of the criminal compaints are dubious at best doesn't help.

>The fact that the legitmacy of the criminal compaints are dubious at best doesn't help.
did you read them, do you have a link to them? I wasnt aware any paperwork was available on them outside of the initial complaint which may not have ever moved forward for prosecution ie just filing a police report, do you have a link to that?

>Florida
Dark powers of Chaos Confirmed. I am flad GW may very well go under due to their malicious practicies and awful Introduction of Gulibbrand.

Better to burn out than end up the ways thing are now. Fuck 8th. You should raid the hearing streams and whatnot to ensure GW fails.

It'll be like our version of the Z trial.

>GW
>Offering better prices

Come on, you can't be that retarded, GW had NEVER offered better prices than independent retailers...

Reminder that part of his complaint includes him admitting he was selling recasts.

>GW pumps stores with product at an inflated price, only to offer it themselves through their own stores or direct online purchase at a cheaper price.
GW at least don't do that. They're pretty straight about always sticking to MSRP for their own customer sales.

>also the copyright claims have standing as well
No they don't, you can't make copyright claims based on copyright that isn't yours.

>be sole producer of profuct
>not monopoly

Pick one.

Thats fine, but GW isn't the sole producer of wargaming minis.

>Meaning if a GW did open down the street or online, that they can directly offer better prices than the stores and the stores are not allowed to lower their prices or match their price due to this policy.
Yeah but GW have literally never done that and more often than not are the one offering the public the higher price. Because it's almkst become standard to offer some discount on GW stuuf but they themselves nevrr sell below MSRP. The price minimum was a policy they started to protect physical stores (GW and independent) from being undercut to much by online only stores.

Maybe not, but they're the sole producer of Warhammer 40,000 minis, aside from the Chinese/Russian recasters or the Wargame Exclusive/Raging Heroes oversexualized stuff.

>spikeybits.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/afdfidavit.pdf

Have people even browsed through this, because this sounds more like the mad ramblings of a conspiracy theorist than a legit legal case.

You mean just like how every other wargaming company makes minis for their own games? That's like complaining that EA has a monopoly on DLC for their games or Porche has monopoly on leather seats for their cars.

The NFL doesn't have a monopoly on football gear, user. It's the same sort of thing.

It's not even close.

Your getting to specific tgere. Every company isbt g e sole producer of their brand of s gicen product.

Ferrari are the only people who make ferraris, but that doesn't make them a monopoly.

Excellent advertising strategy for the suer.

Seems entirely reasonable to me, considering that the franchise consists of nothing more than other people's creations which they were never payed any royalties for. Not to mention of GW claims ownership over words that were used by others long before them, such as 'space marines' or even invented in recent history by a known person as in 'eldar'.

Oh fuck off you shit head.

Not him, but it's not about them actually offering better prices, but having a monopolistic agreement with stores that forbids them from selling at lower price than X, where the X might be marked so hard the store will have to actually ADD to the price on their own rather than get any profit, since X will be too high for anyone to bother.

And since they are enforcing prices with possibility of loss for the other side of the agreement, then it's breaking entire bunch of anti-trust and anti-monopoly laws.

It doesn't matter if they did. It's the fact they have all the groundwork for doing so. Them being "nice" and not pulling such trick means absolutely shit if they still create such possibility.

But being nice and not pulling that trick is the only difference between that and common buisness practices.

But thats not what they're doing. orettty much every independent sells at least a little under GWs prices. So the minimum mustn't be that high.

So now that even Spikeybits has been called out by its own readership for giving this shit false credibility you've resorted to posting it on Veeky Forums?

Did anyone here really not hear about this sooner?

The complaint unironically calls for GW's North American stores to be given to he plaintiff and their IP transitioned to public domain because they're a bunch of European socialists.

And no, it didn't pass the initial filing, he's already been told that he can't charge them with criminal copyright infringement he doesn't own the copyright to.

More specifically, he mischaracterizes the 40k setting to make it seem more similar to mechwarrior, also claiming Space Hulk Terminators are rip-offs of Mechwarrior units despite the terminators coming out a few years before. He more or less dismisses fantasy whole-hog as a Tolkien rip-off, but does cite it being discontinued as another grievance elsewhere. Funnily enough, a lot of the examples he cites are names that we were making fun of GW for changing.

tl;dr, this guy got blacklisted by GW for selling recasts (specifically, he'd take pre-orders of GW event product, order less, and offer to sell 'high quality recasts' to the people who showed up later for the same price) and is throwing everything and everything he can think of at them, no matter how stupid.

Most of this should been clear to anyone who even looked at the actual filed complaint.

But you know people, user, can't get enough of that "GW gon fail now" hate boner.

>slowpoke.jpg

>Now here is the question: Does this actually have any merit or plausibility of winning in court?
the issue where he's got any hope is about GW's business practices regarding retailers. everything else can practically be dismissed without any closer scrutiny

well, as I understand it GW allegedly told retailers that they may not sell for less than, say 20% discount versus GW direct sale price.

Lawsuit looks like a fucking mess written wise. Strange statements, hyperbolic language, some weak arguments and demands here and thee. But there is some substance in it.
>Copywrite bullshit. In the law there is a rule that sates if you misused your copywrite gregariously, you may lose it.
>Is GW a Manufacturer or a retailer? Different tax codes, privileges, legal liabilities. I think they are double dipping.
>Breach of Contract issues. Is what they did wright or wrong? Who gives a fuck? Did they break their own written or unwritten agreements? That is what matters.

I really want to see this lawsuit reach the discovery phase. Going to see some fireworks as GW needs to reveal their shady shit.

Lets sue Coke for having a monopoly on Coke

Coke does not create an online store to sell exclusive coke products while fucking with retailers and suing other brands for using the word "Cola".

>GW is literally the worst company in the world, no other company has done anything like what GW has
>and if they have, it hasn't been exactly what GW did, thus GW is worse

us.coca-cola.com/store/

>The only stranger courts is Louisiana with their goddamn Napoleonic legal system

Peekeetoi, motherfucker. You should be so blessed as to have Code Napoleon instead of common law, where one crackpot judge can just decide precedent for everybody else until SCOTUS finally decides to look at it twenty years later.

But I digress; I think charges 5, 6, 7 here have enough merit for a judge to drag GW in for hearings.

Still doesn't change the fact it's against anti-trust law.
Let's make a relatable example. Imagine assault rifles being banned as a weapon you can have as a civilian. The fact you have one in your locker and never use it doesn't mean you are not breaking law by not making use out of it.

But they CAN do that, which is the whole point here

Love GW products do not think them evil or anything. Just think their shit chicken are coming home to the shit roost. Lots of companies pull shady shit, some get busted some do not. C'est la vie.

All I see is faggy backpacks and custom labels. Nothing close to 'Awesomeberry web store exclusive only taste". You need to do better user.

>The NFL doesn't have a monopoly on football gear, user. It's the same sort of thing.
GW does not have a monopoly on war gaming.

That would mean that Blizzard should give up all their properties for the exact same reason. And eldar is still a mythological term and it is null and void as officially they are not called eldar.

>take pre-orders of GW event product, order less, and offer to sell 'high quality recasts' to the people who showed up later for the same price
You have a source for that? would be an interesting read

>All I see is faggy backpacks and custom labels. Nothing close to 'Awesomeberry web store exclusive only taste". You need to do better user.
Where are you going with those goalposts user?

>Now here is the question: Does this actually have any merit or plausibility of winning in court?
No, not at all. Most of it is the ravings of a madman (GW running a mafia in order to maintain a monopoly? That's insane, ignoring the fact that mafia isn't a catchall for any form of organized crime) and the copyright stuff is just ridiculous because:
A) you can't sue pro se for the violation of someone else's copyright
B) the term space marine isn't something you can shut down a company before, GW tried this and got thrown out
C) most of the complaints he mentions are in fact not based in reality, for instance the official term is adeptus Astartes.
D) if big space men fight space bugs in the far future is grounds for action, a fuckton of major companies are getting sued, so they ain't letting that happen

>Honestly, a small settlement out of court is most likely.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHhhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Ha.
No, not likely at all. If GW gets to the point where that makes sense they've hired the absolute worst lawyers in the world.

My goal post are fine. Coca-colas web store is fucking weak compared to GW exclusive products. Some back packs and cool dingoodles is nothing compared to GW's line up (especially taking the relative size of the companies into account). Coco's web store is actually something you would expect from a manufacturer. Some random items probably made by some other company, just there for brand recognition more than any income it produces...

GW on the other hand...

RIP GW, Primaris Marines and AoS will fade into darkness.

Thank fucking god.

>monopoly

This has always been the dumbest law in the US. Almost every commodity is unique enough for its producer to be considered a monopolist - the Apple is the only company that makes iphones, for example. Of course GW is the only company that makes Warhammer.

Also, every product has substitutes. If you don't like an iphone you buy samsung. If you don't like GW you play warmahaordes or something. Consumers don't have a right to a producer's product at a price they determine is "fair" - if you don't like the price just fucking leave.

To illustrate how dumb this law is, consider GW's options:

1) raise prices
oh no, they are gouging! They must have a monopoly!
2)lower prices
oh no, they are dumping! They must have a monopoly!
3)keep prices identical to competition
oh no, they are colluding! They must be a monopoly!

Absolutely retarded, I hope GW wins and countersues the shit these clowns.

That's not what anti-trust or monoply laws in the US are about. It's not about being the sole producer, it's about taking action to prevent others from entering your market. Which hasn't happened with GW, because things like warmahordes and infinty exist.

>Not looking into GW's Strong Arming of other Minature companies in the U.S.
>Disregarding GW lawsuits over the past decade

Fuck off and educate yourself.

Only one part of it needs to have potential merit to get I to court. I guarantee you that they could find at least one thing that potentially has merit. As far as them losing the entire brand, that's very unlikely. It's up to the judge alone to decide punishments, and something that drastic is unlikely at best, even if they've violated all those laws.

nah 5 is mostly him getting buthurt for them refusing to sell to him after he started selling recasts. Thats the one with the most potential to backfire on him.
all the copyright stuff is going no where, you can't make claims on copyright you don't own.

Wishful thinking, GW completely losing in this would mean a decline (at best) of Warhammer 40k and shitmar, for all of the bullshit they have pulled I would say this is karma if such a thing existed.

>2. Price Fixing
How can you be price fixing when the competition is selling their stuff cheaper and the only reason GW is selling despite being more expensive is due to the fact they're more popular?

Hell outside of their own retail chain I've yet to see a place that sells their tools and paint that don't have a cheaper alternative right next to it.

The thing with court cases like this is that each individual part is thrown out or held up on its own merits. If even one of those listed complaints has merit, it's going to court. Now, in the event that the complaints that make it actually pass and GW is found guilty, it will only be for those complaints, and any punishment will scale with those specific complaints.

>No they don't, you can't make copyright claims based on copyright that isn't yours.
I thought this at first as well but it is incorrect.

no judge is going to create the legal nightmare that having something be public domain in the US only, but copyrighted intellectual property in the rest of the world would cause.

>Have people even browsed through this, because this sounds more like the mad ramblings of a conspiracy theorist than a legit legal case.
Its certainly unlike any legal document I had ever read given the colored language that is used. but hey its 2017, its a crazy world and a fasicst nazi is president who hates america so who knows what can happen.

>GW on the other hand...

Do go on.

>And no, it didn't pass the initial filing, he's already been told that he can't charge them with criminal copyright infringement he doesn't own the copyright to.
It did pass the filing, which is why you can read the processed documents. He has a criminal complaint against GW however I am unaware of its contents but judging from the Affadavit it appears to be about wire fraud to do with money owed, or a payment sent. Its unclear unless someone can get that police report which is all it is.

>He more or less dismisses fantasy whole-hog as a Tolkien rip-off
This def struck me as a stretch since elves, and dwarves I am pretty sure existed before Tolkien with Tolkien being much like GW and simply putting existing elements together. Only thing I can think of that could be different is that today we have law, and copyright/trademark law is more defined today, allowing people today like the girl who said "Cash me outside" to sue three different developers for over a million for infringing on her trademark.
nypost.com/2017/06/05/cash-me-outside-girl-is-pissed-people-are-using-her-catch-phrase/

The same exact thing will happen as did when the Kenyan Muslim communist was president.

The Client, in this case, is an actual confirmed Squats player, this is going to end in blood.

>That would mean that Blizzard should give up all their properties for the exact same reason
Even if Blizzard gave up their copyright claim some of their products and that is if they even claim to own them?

In this lawsuit or with Blizzard even if they did release their own trademarks it wouldnt stop them from continuing to make their products. Night of the living Dead the movie never had a copyright, however the owners were still a allowed to sell it and generate new content for it if that makes more sense.

But GW doesn't hold the rights to Squats, he's suing the wrong party.

GW is a manufacturer, I am assuming legally they re under a different tax and legal scheme vs a retailer. So you look at the web store, tones of exclusives. Exclusive meaning items you cannot buy at a retailer (even the GW owned shops). As of this moment I am seeing over 600 items that are exclusive and of the same line as their regular products.

Thus you can see a clear difference in quantity and category of items being sold exclusively online vs Cola. (Hell even the fact that you can buy ALL of the products they make online is fucking crazy, it really breaks down their own argument they are a manufacturer only, I do not know of another corporate manufacturer that does this to this scale).

>D) if big space men fight space bugs in the far future is grounds for action, a fuckton of major companies are getting sued, so they ain't letting that happen
this is very true. Lets use Star Trek as an example. Paramount owns JJ Trek which operates under a difference license than TV show Trek owned by CBS. Part of the legal requirements for JJ Trek is that it must look different than CBS Trek. Hence the visuals are different, uniforms, klingons everything. We see the same thing with the new Trek tv show Discovery, STD is not made under the CBS license but under the Bad Robot Paramount license which is why nothing from the uniforms, klingons, or even the shooting style looks similar to the CBS produced Trek content.

>The thing with court cases like this is that each individual part is thrown out or held up on its own merits.
this can happen very early in the process and is often why you in civil or criminal cases you see a whole host of charges or accusations leveled, its like throwing shit at the wall in the legal world.

Im interested to if GW cares about the copyright part, if their own lawyers determine they have a large exposure due to their designs of being sued in the future, having a lawsuit in a US court that says this is it pay 50m and noone can sue you ever again. Then again that would be only under US law, but still interested to hear what happens there.

So for those that have read the affidavit, scroll down to the bottom and search up the complainant's email address. It's a comedy gold mine

>GW is a manufacturer

What is coke then?

>their own argument they are a manufacturer only

So when is it illegal for manufacturers to sell their own products?

>assuming

Well, that's not much of an evidence. But lets assume you're absolutely correct and GW, as a manufacturer, gets to run on different rules as retailers. Where's the illegal part? Where does it say "if you make stuff, you're not allowed to sell them except through a 3rd party." What sort of totalitarian Soviet law is that?

>Exclusive meaning items you cannot buy at a retailer (even the GW owned shops).

Weird, a local retailer chain does let me order "exclusive" models. But lets say I couldn't. Where's the illegal part?

>Thus you can see a clear difference in quantity and category of items being sold exclusively online vs Cola.

So your complaint is scale?

>even the fact that you can buy ALL of the products they make online is fucking crazy

How is it crazy? That you don't have to go and dig through brick and mortar shops to find what you want or browse all the web stores to find the one that stock that one thing you need? That you can actually buy everything you need straight from the manufacturer? Crazy shit, man, right?

Wait, is the point of this lawsuit that ordering what you want online is easier than going to a brick and mortar?

>Wait, is the point of this lawsuit that ordering what you want online is easier than going to a brick and mortar?
no, lol.

Fuck man! You need to contact GW to be the lawyer. You are too god-tier word twisting for us Veeky Forums fags

You are aware that estate of the guy who dug up term 'eldar' in old books actually has multiple deals with GW and receive big bucks from them annually? Why do you think GW is allowed to make LotR/Hobbit games?

In short, imbecile behind this lawsuit didn't even bothered to check what is the third tab on GW website after Sigmar and 40K...

I was joking, stop being so serious faggot.

Tolkien didn't invent "eldar". If GW had exclusive right to use the name, why are they turning it into Aeldari?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eldar

It's basically an autistic tabletop playing /pol/ poster screaming about mafia and the jews.

It'll go nowhere.

and he's a fucking yiffer! this shit gets better and better

THIN YOUR PAINTS!

>I support companies like Comcast and Time Warner the post

Your example is dumb. A monopoly means there is no alternative.

In this scenario, it would be that if you don't want an apple, you are shit out of luck because apple ran the competition out of business and has a stranglehold on the market for phones, meaning they can do as they please and no one can say shit for dick about it.

Thats a monopoly.

don't you mean: THIN YOUR 24 KARAT GOLD LEAF!