Merchandise and Wares

[Donttellmygfimon]

Hey guys,

Just having a brain storm here.

Both me and my dad love FA/FAF.
As the avid player of the honourable and noble UEF that he is. (His words; (or more likely Gyles); I know I know - I am encouraging him to diversify to other races but he can only recognise them by their wrecks ). I accordingly got him a UEF designed t-shirt for his birthday. Which is much treasured and loved.

Now I am not sure if this has already been covered in a forum but unless I am mistaken I think Gyle might have given this a shout out in one of his casts a couple of years back, but I am not sure what came of it. With Christmas now 3 months away I thought I'd jump the proverbial ACU cannon and find out if there is any FAF merchandise (t-shirts, mugs, hoodies, posters); you know, that sort of thing; available through the community.

If so could we publicise it a bit and generate some interest for any who would like a FAF related Christmas present.

And if not would it be possible to get something like this going? There may not be much money in it but I am pretty sure that it is something the community would appreciate. I personally really like the idea of a FAF hoodie.

So if this hasn't been done before, would there be anyone out there with experience in this sort thing; or alternatively know of a way of getting merchandise printed; that would be willing to take this on?

It would be great if we could drum up some interest for this and see if there is a niche out there for it.

I do not at all have the experience to do this but am willing to push this in my free time if the community thinks they would benefit.

I am also open to suggestions of things people may like and how this would be achievable.

Oh and I am not sure on the surrounding legalities or ownership and copyrights that go to whoever owns the game now with producing products like this.
I know that sites like esty used to get around these if people are handmaking their own wares.
If it's done not for profit then does that avoid any ownership infringements?
If someone could let me know about this if this is an obstacle that would be great.

Thanks

Nick
Donttellmygfimon

P.s. Don't tell her this is where my free time is going either okay...

[Gorton]

Oh and I am not sure on the surrounding legalities or ownership and copyrights that go to whoever owns the game now with producing products like this.
I know that sites like esty used to get around these if people are handmaking their own wares.
If it's done not for profit then does that avoid any ownership infringements?
If someone could let me know about this if this is an obstacle that would be great.

Pretty much this.

I feel the goodwill of the owners would rapidly vanish if we tried to monetise faf, even if we were only using profits for money to go to prize pools.

[Mel_Gibson]

I'm all for this. Don't know who would object to funds for good causes (unless they thought all funds were going to Gorton's drinking kitty). Worst case scenario, the owner of the code turns up and we can pin them down??

I'm quite intoxicates so many disclaimers for retardation apply to this post

Edit: Being on this website while intoxicated shames me to the core

[nine2]

https://www.etsy.com/au/search?q=supreme%20commander

[biass]

We could fund GW/paid devs with this maybe.

[Donttellmygfimon]

Oh and I am not sure on the surrounding legalities or ownership and copyrights that go to whoever owns the game now with producing products like this.
I know that sites like esty used to get around these if people are handmaking their own wares.
If it's done not for profit then does that avoid any ownership infringements?
If someone could let me know about this if this is an obstacle that would be great.

Pretty much this.

I feel the goodwill of the owners would rapidly vanish if we tried to monetise faf, even if we were only using profits for money to go to prize pools.

My take on it is this,
I would prefer if this could be something that the community benefits from, ideally selling any at cost value. If there is any discounts that can be made in bulk production then the units are sold at individual cost value and the difference goes straight into a FAF account for the use of improving the game. Personally I would really like to see the money going towards developing new campaigns, new missions, introducing new aspects and generally building on what we already have, giving back to the community as a whole rather than the money given away in prize pools - I feel this would only be to the benefit of a select few.

This could be fundraising for aspects of the game that never got completed, I think Biass is on the right tracks, if we could look at the potential for a developer to work on a contract for new expansions, maps, races, missions etc. or alternatively compensate / give the freedom to people in the community already working on these (Speed2 for instance) even if its just a sign of appreciation for their good work, then this could really make a difference to them and us.

Who knows, in a few years time there could be the potential to redesign the game and bring it up to standard of high quality games being released today (Visually speaking - SCFA is still the best!)

I appreciate there may already be people doing this off their own backs like Anihilnine pointed out, but I see no reason why this couldn't feed back into the game that we all love and are here for.

[Hawkei]

Oh and I am not sure on the surrounding legalities or ownership and copyrights that go to whoever owns the game now with producing products like this.

The issue has nothing to do with the game, unless you are using trademarks, or copyright material from the game content. The game content was produced by Gas Powered Games, and published by THQ. As such any game logos or game content art would be copyright material belonging to THQ (or GPG depending on their internal agreement). Although Square Enix took over the whole operation... Short story is, reproducing game art is infringing copyright.

As for FAF, it is unclear whether there is any formal corporate entity established. In which case the FAF logo could not be classified as a trademark. It could however be classified as copyright protected material. But if FAF is not a legal entity it cannot own property, and copyright would belong to the individuals who created the graphic art.

Because the copyright is property belonging to an individual you'd be unlikely to suffer legal consequences. But, using it without permission is likely to make them very unhappy. I would suggest you contact the persons who created the graphic art and seek permission to use it.

[Zoram]

Oh and I am not sure on the surrounding legalities or ownership and copyrights that go to whoever owns the game now with producing products like this.

The issue has nothing to do with the game, unless you are using trademarks, or copyright material from the game content. The game content was produced by Gas Powered Games, and published by THQ. As such any game logos or game content art would be copyright material belonging to THQ (or GPG depending on their internal agreement). Although Square Enix took over the whole operation... Short story is, reproducing game art is infringing copyright.

As for FAF, it is unclear whether there is any formal corporate entity established. In which case the FAF logo could not be classified as a trademark. It could however be classified as copyright protected material. But if FAF is not a legal entity it cannot own property, and copyright would belong to the individuals who created the graphic art.

Because the copyright is property belonging to an individual you'd be unlikely to suffer legal consequences. But, using it without permission is likely to make them very unhappy. I would suggest you contact the persons who created the graphic art and seek permission to use it.

FAF is FA with an Extra letter, I'm no lawyer but I doubt adding a letter makes using Forged Alliance material ( like a faction logo or unit design) any less of a copyright infringement.

But assuming any money could come out of it, enough to pay anyone to do anything, maybe having a working lobby should be the top priority before pipe dreams

[Hawkei]

In order for something to be copyright, trademarked, or any other form of protected intellectual property, it is given that it must first of all belong to someone. In relation to FAF. FAF could be described as a community run by individuals and therefore, because it is not a legal entity cannot own copyright material. So if was are talking specifically about the FAF logo's or graphic art created by individuals then those belong to the individual persons who designed that art.

However, if the game were to include unit graphics from in game units, or the game logo, or something derived from in game content, or the game art, then this could be infringing the copyright owned by the game developers themselves.

[IceDreamer]

FAF is now a legal entity in the USA. Visionik has set it up as a company, and we have ownership of the server and client code and associated assets.