Universal Licensing Closing Cafepress (Firefly stuff), Black Market Beagles, 11th Hour

POSTED BY: Mavourneen
UPDATED: Friday, October 27, 2006 16:13
VIEWED: 8864
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NVGHOSTRIDER

Tuesday, October 24, 2006 4:22 PM

Three words. Black Market Beagles. With emphasis on two words and one of 'em ain't Beagles. Utelize the pipeline and Browncoats will flourish.

BOOMERGOODHEART

Tuesday, October 24, 2006 4:39 PM

My husband and I have been selling Browncoat lanyards through our website, and at DragonCon this year. We're hoping to add mugs & shot glasses with the word "Firefly" on them. I sincerely hope the shitheads don't come after us.

Pardon the language.

BoomerGoodheart
"I love my Captain."

CHINDI

Tuesday, October 24, 2006 6:11 PM

well... actually, they do own the intellectual property associated with the creation of this film and these characters and a portion of the sale of licensed material supposedly goes to Joss and those who did the creating in the first place.. so I have a hard time calling them jerks..they created the stuff or bought it and own it... Cafe Press and anyone else could actually get a license to sell and then they would be "legal". I appreciate the guerilla marketing aspect of this.. and the fan love that goes into these creations.. but in the end, these sellers are making money from someone else's intellectual property...

Chindi just another point of view

FLAME

Tuesday, October 24, 2006 6:56 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Chindi:
well... actually, they do own the intellectual property associated with the creation of this film and these characters and a portion of the sale of licensed material supposedly goes to Joss and those who did the creating in the first place.. so I have a hard time calling them jerks..they created the stuff or bought it and own it... Cafe Press and anyone else could actually get a license to sell and then they would be "legal". I appreciate the guerilla marketing aspect of this.. and the fan love that goes into these creations.. but in the end, these sellers are making money from someone else's intellectual property...

Chindi just another point of view

I say you're an Alliance spy. And since we don't have a keel to haul you on... out the airlock with you!!

Seriously, though, Joss has said all along that he doesn't want the money and he's happy the stuff's being made, and ultimately, it's HIS intellectual property, even if FOX and UNIVERSAL put up the funds to give it to all of us. We bought the DVDs and movie tickets. They did the job and they got paid. Now they just want to get ugly.

FOX didn't want FIREFLY. They canceled it, then sold it to UNIVERSAL, so as far as I'm concerned, FOX can suck my strawberry.

As for UNIVERSAL suddenly gettin' tetchy... it makes no sense. If corporations were always tetchy about vast armies of fans who are whimsical in the brainpans, then why, I ask, why is there still allowed tons of fan-made stuff out there for Star Wars, Buffy, BSG, Deadwood, etc.?

I wish I knew more about what was going on, but somehow I don't think it's because they're planning to bring back the show or do another movie or make any nifty merchandise. I am a jewelry designer and a graphic designer (was doing that long before FIREFLY came along), and I know that when someone really likes your material, and/or it's selling well, they come and buy you out. Whoever's behind this, if they really wanted to make some sweet moulah or were jealous of how we've cornered the market, they would be buying OUR designs from us, not slapping on C&D orders or sending nasty letters or pressuring Cafepress. Unless they're morons.

Or, as someone here has already noted, maybe they're just dicks. I'm gonna have to go with that one.

~ Flame ~

SIMONWHO

Tuesday, October 24, 2006 7:06 PM

Personally, I think this move makes it seem less likely that there's going to be another movie and they're just trying to squeeze every bit of cash that they can from the franchise. If you think the property is effectively dead, it doesn't matter if you piss off the fans - you can just sell the rights to official merchandisers and who cares what the growth or otherwise of the fandom is.

RAINSTICK

Tuesday, October 24, 2006 7:56 PM

I don't know what's all the fuss about. honestly, what did you expect? Fox and Universal have to maximise profit from the brands they have created through selling merchandise etc because all their competitors are doing the same thing with their synergies. from a business point of view you cannot permit other companies or individuals to use the brand that you own the copyright to and use it for commercial gain. and that is what all the people do/did who sold blue sun t-shirts and such. when we are writing fanfic we also use the verse and serenity and firefly and everything pertaining to that even though the intellectual property rests with the companies. the only difference is that people writing fanfic are not doing it for commercial gain. if they tried to put their fiction in print and sell it, they would be doing exactly that and inviting a lawsuit.
Don't get me wrong, I don't like these practices of the big media players myself, but that's just how the industry works (if you want to know more about that, read Chomsky or McChesney etc). don't act so surprised. the people getting mail from the legal divisions of said companies had it coming.

NOTMANDATORY

Tuesday, October 24, 2006 9:29 PM

I'm new to the Verse, and have been actively following the guerilla marketing efforts across the Net.

Given what is happening to 11th Hour ( see the legal action against 11th Hour thread ), how many other people have received such heavy handed legalese in their inbox? How will this be perceived across the Net for those BSG folks? SG-1 types?
Buffy?
Harry Potter?

Insert your fandom here?

LEIASKY

Tuesday, October 24, 2006 10:52 PM

>There seems to be a double standard out there. Wonder why all of a sudden this has happened.

Because new licensees are being signed for the Property and Universal as well as Fox have an obligation, to those that paid them their required fee, to clamp down on unauthorized product.

"A government is a body of people usually notably ungoverned."

MAVOURNEEN

Wednesday, October 25, 2006 2:38 PM

Bumping this...Adam from Black Market Beagles has also announced that he is closing his site on October 27th. Sounds like he hasn't received a notice, but is too worried to continue.

http://blackmarketbeagles.com/

UNREGISTEREDCOMPANION

Thursday, October 26, 2006 8:07 PM

Make me want to strike back in some cleaver fashion....like giving away artwork that falls under fair use along with a complete set of instructions as to how to make your own shirt.

Or selling T-shrt transfer material with a "free" design on it.

~~~~~

"Funny and sexy. You have no idea. And you never will."

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