DAMNATUS - Warhammer 40,000 Fan Films Banned by Games Workshop

Fellow fan filmmakers we need your help!

Games Workshop has banned our non-profit Wh40k fan film project (http://www.damnatus.com) after 4 hard years of work because of some differences between the Anglo-American copyright system and the Continental European Droit d'Auteur. Now it is also forbidden to all fans to create films in their IP Policy.

Media coverage:
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/07/11/1536240

Please support us, the Star Wars community had similar problems with Lucasfilm but they learned to tolerate fan films and to benefit from them.

Sign our petition:
http://www.petitiononline.com/damnatus/petition.html

And spread the word - all shall know how wrong this decision has been.

 

I'm about to be a massive killjoy here, but pretty much nothing gets solved, changed or anything else by online petitions, particularly those held at PetitionOnline.

The best way to show Games Workshop, or any company you wish to express your desire to, is to send letters. Real letters with stamps. A thoughtful letter shows that you are a serious consumer who cares so strongly about the issue that you took the time to write a letter and cough up the postage. A petition entry from "captainawesome69" shows that some guy can use the Internet.

With that said, hopefully Games Workshop will see the value in fan films as free advertising and community-building.



Rick McCallum loves you!

 

It hasn't worked with Battlestar Galactica either.

 

Claim it's a parody (Signed by the way, if Lucasarts have shown us one thing it's that fan works are beneficial).

 

I have to warn you also, GW doesn't care what consumers or even retailers think or want. GW has a history of total disregard for anyone who is not GW. I used to be a great fan of the 40K realm but the disgust over GW has killed any interest. They have been hitting anyone and everyone they can with C&D's. The costuming board can't even make their own Halloween costumes and make a showoff thread without getting hit with a C&D. I really wish it was as simple as a petition to get them to wake up to the reality of the damage they do to their own franchise this way, but the only thing they will understand is financial ruin. Boycotting GW and all their products is the only answer to getting their attention. In any case I say make your fan film, just don't make the production aspect public. If you need to solicit help for it, only approach individuals and don't post on public boards, then just do it for fun. Best of luck in whatever you do.


-x

 

I agreee with Eighteen, you can't win against a commission of lawyers who have studied their client;s in and outs for five + years, to make sure they can shut anyone down if the need too, But the reality is , you as a consumer can send a clear message the next time they put out a new product. boycotting and lack of interest is the biggest way you hurt a corporation, and bad word of mouth is Death on wheels, I remember when STAR TREK was putting out their films and fans couldnt do parodies or even have stage shows with out a problem, but when the franchise suffered because of lack of interest at fan gatherings and dismal sales of product, the bigwigs took notice, they had too, their wallets were thinner than the last years and they couldnt understand why until someone pionted out that they ( star trek ) were to stict and they were loosing their fans, That was a statement made by the fans and it worked,

alot of movie companies are now realizing the importance of the fans and online interaction with them, some even get online with you , Like Kevin Smith, the role of Fan is no longer just to go and watch the movie, a Fan is now a commodity to the studio, because you buy clothes, games and action figures and tell others to do the same, and with all the cool new companies coming out with better games and products, these upstart studios better watch out, because I have seen alot of big companies go under that started strong, Corolco,Tri Star, and Orion films just to name a couple. Paramount is glad that Rick Burman is leaving and George Lucas loves the fan films now, that should let you know the importance all of us have, But like Adam said , online is one place you can send a message but hard copy is what is tangible to these companies, or make a video like " SUPER SIZE ME " did about how you dislike the gaming company and show other fans complaining as well, that shook up McDonalds, perhaps you can get their attention that way ,do surveys at a convention.
but the real question now is , how far are you really willing to go to make them hear you.?
good luck and thanks for letting me have the soapbox for a minute

 

Thanks for your thoughts. It's true, such online petitions can only be the start. But it's a good sign for us that we do not stand alone.