Classic-Castle.com

Here is the scenario:

Here is my MOC (entered in CCC-2, about 1 year ago): The Demon Bat

Here is someone else's new post: Demonic Winged Beast



To quote the "builder": "I believe I saw something like it on brickshelf, with the teeth and eyes and bionicle parts for feet... can't remember who - credit to him!" - That's an amazing duplication of the build; it would appear that considerable effort was performed to produce such a result.


I am interested in your thoughts on this. Please let me know via this poll. Thank you!

P.S. A very Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!
P.S.S: Does anyone know this guy?

Dude, thats a direct steal. If its stolen and the owner doesnt give credit to the actual person and say that this is completely his/her idea, I'd be offended. I know that LEGO is supposed to be about sharing ideas, and thats fine. But not stealing ideas and saying you made it up and not even considering mentioning the real creator behing it all! Its okay if its completely coinsidential, like a small idea of making greek shields, or using one of those fireman neck hoses upside down do make one of those cool 'splinter-cell' masks, but something like stealing a whole MOC is kinda pathetic. Well, it is if someone else takes credit for it, when really they didn't do it.

I really do not care, at least with the minifigs. Since people can easily come up with the same idea. I've seen pics of minifigs that look like mine.

However, MOCs on the other hand....... I really don't worry about it because no one is insane enough to build MOCs in the size and scale that I build them.

Hello!


Yes, I would be offended. If somebody wants to build something I have done I prefer people contact me and ask for permission. Whoever did it so far got this permission. After all it's flattering if somebody finds one of your models great enough to copy it...
However, I'm not over-protective of my creations, yet I want to know who copies them and for what purpose. I would never allow anybody to copy one of my creations and - for example - sell it as his own custom set. (And yes, that has happened in the past, and I was quite furious.)

Sir Nelson wrote:P.S.S: Does anyone know this guy?

I don't know him. But since it is a Lugnet post you see his e-mail address and are able to contact him, if you feel like it.


Bye
Jojo

I think he is the creator "seventh conspiracy", he is mainly a spacer.

He is a good MOC:er, but I do think its little of a theft, or not. Dunno.

Its a difficult question. On one hand, AFOLs are constantly borrowing techniques from each other. So much so that the tudor-style has become something of a standard. The employment of SNOT to create archer loops, or elaborate tudoring has also been employed by countless builders. Still, details alone do not define a MOC.

I think it is more offensive when somebody's borrowing goes beyond mere detailing. This is more common with smaller MOCs. If you are so bold as to essentially plagiarize someone without giving credit, that person would be in his or her right to be completely offended. A perfect example would be some of the small furnishings that builders like Jojo build. His furnishings are incredibly unique. In most cases, a copy would be easy to identify.

Still, this problem can be further complicated when a design is continuously plagairized, making it difficult for others to identify the original MOCer. For example, many MOCers now incorporate similar beds and cabinets into their MOCs, without recognizing the original designer. How many builders actually know who made the first bed using . I've seen countless pieces of furniture that use jumper bricks for drawers, yet I couldn't say with any certainty who was the first to do this. Still, builders don't want their MOCs to look inferior when a technique becomes commonplace.


Your situation is different. This is not incidental. Nor is it simply a builder borrowing one of your techniques. This is a blatant copy of one of your MOCs; a MOC that is unique to you, and you alone. It would be like copying Jojo's furniture and passing it off as your own.

What I find most offensive is the fact that the guilty party acknowledges that he plagiarized you, but then purposely downplays his crime. Essentially, he admits his theft, but trys to make it seem inconsequential. It is plainly obvious that he used the images in your gallery to construct his MOC. To say that he doesn't know who the original builder is, is a flat out lie.

email him.


Later.

This is a difficult call. He sort of gives credit, but he copied a lot of your MOC. It is not exact, but it is close. Yours has a lot more detail. I would probably contact him, and tell him that you are the "unknown" original builder. And tell him you would like proper credit. If he refuses, you can always post a link to your creation in his thread and discredit him .

Josh

are you Y-Bros-K on b-shelf cause i am one of your greatest fans i love your work and al of your vigz
and that guy has copied you to the maximum.

I would not be offended if someone borrowed a building technique seen in one of my MOCs, even if they didn't give credit. I am just pleased to see someone liked my idea enough to use it. I feel even better when the credit me, such as:

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=101360

and

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=117706

However, if someone basically copies one of my MOCs (which hasn't happened yet) claiming it was their own idea, I would be mad. I would e-mail that guy, and if he doesn't fess up, bring it public.

I believe that this AFOL is a member of Classic-Space, as well as Lugnet, since I've linked to this folder before from there.

I'm blasted if I can remember his name, though...

Personally, I am in the opinion of "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery". If your work was good enough to copy in its entirety, then it's pretty good.

Hey Nelson,

This has happened to me too. I really don't consider myself a great MOCer, so my reaction has been fairly ambivalent -- I'm torn between feeling very frustrated and feeling a bit flattered.

Not much I could do about Brickshelf images, but at least you can e-mail this guy or post in his thread...

I don’t think that somebody will copy my castle that easily.
But if so, I wouldn’t really care. We are all learning by copying..

So, no problem with me....

I wouldn't mind at all if some one used my designs for MOCs(current count: zippo) but if they go around like it was their own creation and nobody else's then I would be offended.

But otherwise, I don't see the big deal.

Hey all: Thanks for your feedback on this. I set the poll to run for a few days, but I think I know what the general concensus is. Anyway, I have just emailed the other builder, so we will see what happens (And, I will let you know the result.)

thecustomizerwithoutfear wrote:are you Y-Bros-K on b-shelf cause i am one of your greatest fans i love your work and al of your vigz
and that guy has copied you to the maximum.

Yes, that's me. Thank you!

Dunno if this was there before, but here's a passage from that guy's page:

Note: made this little scene for my son for halloween and was a retake of "Big Daddy" Nelson's Demon Bat. We have since made 4 of them to prey upon unsuspecting rainbow knights