Copy right

[sars]

Regarding CD to mp3, if its for the CD owners personal use thats perfectly legal.

The change in law, as recommend by Hargreave's has not been ratified as yet

http://www.consumerfocus.org.uk/policy-research/digital-communications/copyright

Regarding the use of material that a company has trademarked (eg the BMW roundel) then use by a third party is a civil offence. The manufacturer would be in breach of trademarking regulations (not copyright which is a slightly different thing).

Agree, not sure its civil though as you are in breach of the Trade Marks Act of 1994

Regarding technical drawings, I'm pretty sure from my experience in aviation that its the drawings that are copyright, not the thing produced from them

Copyright not only protects the drawing, no point me designing the valve and someone copies it and its identical to my component drawing, as for The Chinese they do not recognise copyright

 

[Hunter]

I really like this site and i think in general it is really well run and administered but every now and then someone can be a bit heavy handed or not as diplimatic or as tactful as they could be...i remember this happening back in late 2009 early 210 on here when the site lost quite a few members who contributed consistantly (i wonder how Gers and the crew are doing these days) and i just dont want to see it happen again

 

[sars]

Unfortunately Hunter, spe3ctre has absolutely no choice but to take action when posters start to discuss anything illegal. Buying CSL reps is not illegal, distribution of pirated software is.

 

[mrlozzer]

So far as CSL reps or similar are concerned, I can only equate it to a similar copyright infringement of which I know a bit, namely with guitars. In the 1970s, several Japanese companies started making facsimile copies of Gibson Les Paul guitars. Gibson sued and got the factories closed down. None actually carried their logo, but they were otherwise identical. Today, you can buy any number of LP style guitars, perfectly legally from any number of companies. To the trained eye they look the same, but the curves have different radii, they are a different weight, different shaped headstocks, different neck radius etc. Gibson cannot sue, because they are similar, but not identical.

CSL reps look very similar to OEM wheels, but their weight and construction is quite different, and when inspected remotely closely they will have various dissimilarities. BMW themselves don't refer to CSL wheels as such, they call them Style 163M wheels. Therefore, companies that sell these wheels aren't breaking copyright law by name or design. If they were, BMW would soon try to close them down.

People who sell copies of BMW navigation discs are breaking the law, because for them to work they must use code which has been designed by BMW and is copyrighted by them too.

 

[sp3ctre]

Ok, hands up, I apologise for being a bit "heavy handed" in this case, I could've gone a bit easier. That said, sars is right, I have to take a hard line with these things as I have seen what happens when companies the size of BMW decide to go after the little guy... it's not pretty.

 

[tomscott]

Ye on a piece of advertising that was put in the newspaper (artwork was complete) it carried a BMW & mini logo and said BMW trained technicians local prices. BMW germany head office sent them a heavy letter explaining if it happened again they would shut them down... local newspaper 20k circulation... yes they are big brother.

 

[mrlozzer]

Ok, hands up, I apologise for being a bit "heavy handed" in this case, I could've gone a bit easier. That said, sars is right, I have to take a hard line with these things as I have seen what happens when companies the size of BMW decide to go after the little guy... it's not pretty.

As the buck stops with you your stance is completely understandable. The reason I cited the 'guitar' example is that I have experience of precisely this happening with a client of mine. In that case, the multi-national went after a little guy. And you are right... it wasn't pretty although it was nowhere near as bad as it could have been.

 

[Bumpy]

BMW appears to be generous with their Logos and aftermarket parts. Mind you the aftermarket appears to be of inferior quality.
I have a long history with Harley Davisdon and have been witness to a Harley Enthusiasts Web Site that was totally stripped of The Motor Company's images used without their authorization. I was almost laughable to see the threatening letters forwarded to the webmaster by HD's Legal Dept. Remember this was an enthusiasts site of Harley owners who typically discussed their interests and adventures. After the purge the site was left with gaping holes where pics used to reside.
Apparently HD is ultra protective of any and all imagery, even down to their iconic potato, potato exhaust sound ( which was unsuccessfully copyrighted )

So things could be worse doncha know ?

 

[ZedFourM]

I have a long history with Harley Davisdon and have been witness to a Harley Enthusiasts Web Site that was totally stripped of The Motor Company's images used without their authorization. I was almost laughable to see the threatening letters forwarded to the webmaster by HD's Legal Dept. Remember this was an enthusiasts site of Harley owners who typically discussed their interests and adventures.

I have seen Porsche do the exact same thing. Their marketing department very jealously guards the Porsche name, and a Porsche enthusiast web site that I was involved in the origins of (porschelist.com) had to change its name (to rennlist.com) or be shut down.

Even Porsche Club Great Britain, which has a relationship with Porsche Cars going back almost to the first AFN imported models had to get special permission to continue to use the Porsche crest, and effectively become part of the Porsche AG marketing department to do so.

 

[BMWZ4MC]

Early Westfields were essentially facsimiles of Colin Chapman's Lotus 7. Caterham, who had bought the rights to the 7 from Lotus, threatened to sue Westfield in the late 1980s but eventually settled out of court. In an endeavour to avoid further litigation Westfield went on to make significant improvements to the design such as independent rear suspension and a wider track, and it was almost two decades before Caterham caught up

 

[lacroupade]

The second bullet point below might explain why car parts (and possibly even Sars valve assuming its not patented?) can be reproduced without penalty by non-OEM manufacturers...but that a guitar design cannot be reproduced in full...or a Z4 reproduced in its entirety....

To qualify, the design must be original (not commonplace in the field in question) and not fall into one of the excluded categories (s. 213(3)):

- principles and methods of construction;
- articles which must connect with or otherwise fit another article so that one or the other may perform their function;
- designs which are dependent on the appearance of another article;
- surface decoration.

 

[cjp2k]

The second bullet point below might explain why car parts (and possibly even Sars valve assuming its not patented?) can be reproduced without penalty by non-OEM manufacturers...but that a guitar design cannot be reproduced in full...or a Z4 reproduced in its entirety....

To qualify, the design must be original (not commonplace in the field in question) and not fall into one of the excluded categories (s. 213(3)):

- principles and methods of construction;
- articles which must connect with or otherwise fit another article so that one or the other may perform their function;
- designs which are dependent on the appearance of another article;
- surface decoration.

Does that include wheels, this is very interesting, as far as I was aware 3rd party parts for bodywork etc are all made under license

 

[tomscott]

It would be like saying you can't put non oem parts like eibacks or any upgrades or replacements for that matter. BMW won't honour anything like that. As it wasn't part of the design specification you could go on forever with this.

 

[Adamski]

So can we have a list of banned things that we are not allowed to talk about on the site...

So far the list consists of pirated sat nav software :|

To be fair guys, sp3ctre is just trying to keep the forum out of trouble, and keep us all with stuff to talk about and ideas to share on the forum




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mrlozzer]

To be fair guys, sp3ctre is just trying to keep the forum out of trouble, and keep us all with stuff to talk about and ideas to share on the forum

That's it in a nutshell.