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In the future, all space marines will be Warhammer 40K space marines

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Re: In the future, all space marines will be Warhammer 40K space marines

#101

Post by wisty »

jzilla wrote: post #98
Argorak wrote: post #90

Legally, where does that leave StarCraft, especially the soon to be released Heart of the Swarm (all have units called Space Marines)? If GW don't (and never did) enforce their trademark against Blizzard, do they have any say against a book author that wants to push the topic in front of a court? AFAIK, Blizzard didn't license the term.

It's pretty funny, Warcraft and Starcraft are both blatant ripoffs of GW's Warhammer and WH40k. I even recall reading somewhere the original Warcraft RTS was to be an officially licensed Warhammer game. But gee whiz, I wonder why we don't see legal action brought against Blizzard?

Starcraft rips off both WH40k and Aliens, but I think it rips of Aliens more. Plus, Aliens was released 1 year before WH40k, so it has precedence. And Aliens ripped off Starship Troopers (the book), and Starship Troopers (the movie) rips off Aliens. It's complicated.

WH original and Warcaft are both simpler - they both rip off LOTR.

Re: In the future, all space marines will be Warhammer 40K space marines

#102

Post by tedunangst »

Retric wrote: post #76
ajross wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As pointed out elsewhere, the grunts in Aliens were not "space marines". Once again: this is a trademark. GW doesn't have a monopoly on the idea of "Sci-Fi Marines". They have a trademark on the specific term "Space Marine" as used within their realms of business. That includes fiction, so the linked post was infringing. Sorry, but it was.

Sorry, but they did use "space marines" EX: "ALIENS SPACE MARINE LT.RIPLEY" http://www.amazon.com/ALIENS-SPACE-MARINE-LT-RIPLEY/dp/B0009...

When was that figure made? Ripley wasn't even a marine, of any sort, in the movies.

Re: In the future, all space marines will be Warhammer 40K space marines

#103

Post by Argorak »

wisty wrote: post #101
jzilla wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's pretty funny, Warcraft and Starcraft are both blatant ripoffs of GW's Warhammer and WH40k. I even recall reading somewhere the original Warcraft RTS was to be an officially licensed Warhammer game. But gee whiz, I wonder why we don't see legal action brought against Blizzard?

Starcraft rips off both WH40k and Aliens, but I think it rips of Aliens more. Plus, Aliens was released 1 year before WH40k, so it has precedence. And Aliens ripped off Starship Troopers (the book), and Starship Troopers (the movie) rips off Aliens. It's complicated. WH original and Warcaft are both simpler - they both rip off LOTR.

Which, in terms of trademark, is very irrelevant :).

Re: In the future, all space marines will be Warhammer 40K space marines

#104

Post by cygx »

the_gipsy wrote: post #42

Sounds awfully like "I'm only gonna do this if I get enough publicity out of it".

That's not the case here. It's just that an independent artist and novelist working in a niche market who recently had to take on a regular job again to pay for family expenses doesn't have money to burn on spurious lawsuites just for the heck of it.

I've been following her blog feed for a few years now - I started paying attention because of her free web serials, but the slice-of-life and business related postings are what kept me reading (on-and-off again, admittedly).

Re: In the future, all space marines will be Warhammer 40K space marines

#105

Post by BillySquid »

djrtwo wrote: post #44

How about a "Save the Space Marines" kickstarter to pay for legal costs on your case and future cases involving obsurd legal allegations stifling science fiction writers?

How about to kickstarter to buy the company and open source the game, like people building their own armies with 3-d printers!!!

Re: In the future, all space marines will be Warhammer 40K space marines

#106

Post by cygx »

codingkevin wrote: post #48
stcredzero wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're they "space marines" or "colonial marines?"

I believe you're correct on the official name. I would make a case that most people thought of them as Space Marines though.

Apparently the term 'space marine' was never used in the movies, but the alien-themed toys by Kenner from 1992 do use it.

Re: In the future, all space marines will be Warhammer 40K space marines

#108

Post by arkem »

wisty wrote: post #100
Argorak wrote: post #90

Legally, where does that leave StarCraft, especially the soon to be released Heart of the Swarm (all have units called Space Marines)? If GW don't (and never did) enforce their trademark against Blizzard, do they have any say against a book author that wants to push the topic in front of a court? AFAIK, Blizzard didn't license the term.

Blizzard was obviously "parodying" the Colonial Marines from Aliens. If you click on them enough, they'll even quote Aliens (as will the Dropship). A little bit of comedy makes almost everything legal (in the US).

Early Blizzard employees have given at least one interview where they said that Warcraft and Starcraft were inspired by their love of the Warhammer and Warhammer 40k universes.

Re: In the future, all space marines will be Warhammer 40K space marines

#109

Post by arkem »

Argorak wrote: post #90

Legally, where does that leave StarCraft, especially the soon to be released Heart of the Swarm (all have units called Space Marines)? If GW don't (and never did) enforce their trademark against Blizzard, do they have any say against a book author that wants to push the topic in front of a court? AFAIK, Blizzard didn't license the term.

I may be wrong but I think that the Starcraft unit is always called 'Marine' and not 'Space Marine'

Re: In the future, all space marines will be Warhammer 40K space marines

#110

Post by rodgerd »

unwind wrote: post #3

That is ... incredibly stupid. I'm no 40K fan (at all), but I realize it's huge. On the other hand, the concept of "marines, but in space" really is a genre trope as pointed out in the article. It feels wrong for a single company to own that generic term. I've read if not shelf-meters then certainly shelf-decimeters of SF with plenty of marines in them, none being of the Warhammer variety. I'm looking forward (not) f…

Anyone who read 2000 A.D. in the early 80s knows where the guts of Warhammer 40K was stolen from. (And Ridley Scott would like his Tyrannids back, please.)

Be pure. Be vigilant. Behave.

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