Re: [Fwd: PC: Walthers Decals]

["Patrick Harris" <seaboardempire@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

What an "interesting" interpretation of morality and copyright law.
Convenience trumps right and law.

Patrick
seaboardempire -AT- earthlink.net

----- Original Message -----
From: Blue Moon Network Administrator <root -AT- net.bluemoon.net>
To: <penn-central -AT- smellycat.com>
Sent: Monday, July 23, 2001 4:25 PM
Subject: Re: [Fwd: PC: Walthers Decals]


> On Mon, 23 Jul 2001 rharris -AT- columbus.k12.oh.us wrote:
> >
> > Okay, let me play the devil's advocate.  I'm a decal manufacturer, we'll
> > say, and I am thinking about designing and releasing new sets of PC
decals.
> > I'm going to invest research time in making sure the numbers and font
are
> > correct, and invest time and materials in their printing on quality
decal
> > film stock.  I really want to do this just so some cheap so-and-so can
buy
> > ONE set and then just use his computer to rip me off!  I think not!
> >
> > I hope I don't hear anyone complain when no new decal sets are produced.
> > If we don't play by the copyright rules, there may be a time when this
will
> > be the case.
>
> There is nothing unlawful about duplicating decals for personal use. It's
when
> you distribute someone's unique work that you infringe.
>
> I have used the artwork from various sets as a starting point to generate
> _correct_ decals for various power and rolling stock. I find that quite
often
> there are no 100% accurate commercial decals for what I am modeling at the
> time so I make my own. Our HO club road's "modern" scheme uses PC
lettering
> and number styles, we'd be insane to cut up PC sets and not to make our
own.
>
> I keep a large selection of commercial decals "in stock", I probably have
> upwards of 60 sets right now, intact and unused in both HO and N scale. If
a
> set meets my needs "as is" I will use it, if not I may scan and modify one
to
> my specific project's needs. There's nothing wrong with that.
>
> In fact, I have found that even doing a straight off duplication of some
> decals entails far more work for exacting results than the commercial
decal
> set is worth. The only justification for doing it at the time is that I
didn't
> want to wait another week to finish a PC boxcar project and I needed 4
sets of
> different numbers for an NYC to PC reporting marks only swap. Running off
> decals for entire car numbers beats the heck out of piecing them together
from
> single digits. When I did 10 identical EL boxcars in HO, I ran all the
side
> and end numbers off at once and used a commercial set as the master. I'd
have
> gone nuts piecing together 240 individual numbers, in fact I don't think I
> would have done any if I couldn't have printed my own as I wanted the
"fleet"
> look from the start. Of course my numbers looked better than the
commercial
> decal manufacturer's when I was done, but I'm nut about artwork.
>
> You said the key phrase above, "buy one set", and that's exactly what the
> decal manufacturer is counting on, a number of people buying at least one
set,
> if someone buys two or more it is just the icing on the cake, not the cake
> itself. If a project to do 4 or 5 cars is made feasible by copying a
> commercial decal where otherwise not even one car would be done then the
> manufacturer has made a sale that they wouldn't have, they certainly
benefit.
>
> The manufacturers will continue to release new and more obscure sets
because
> that's their business. Once the artwork and setup is done they can rerun
them
> when they need to. I don't think the home duplicators have much of an
impact
> on their business. Now those who copy and sell them, I say prosecute them
to
> the fullest extent of the law. Make their "free" decal sets cost them a
few
> thousand dollars :)
>
> Just my two cents because I buy AND make a lot of decals.
>
> Henry
>
> J. Henry Priebe Jr.       Blue Moon President & Network Administrator
> root -AT- bluemoon.net         www.bluemoon.net - Blue Moon Internet Corp
> V.90, X2 & K56flex        www.railfan.net  - The Railfan Network
>
>
>