Chinese LEPIN like company copying again?

[Jeroen Ottens]

8 hours ago, coinoperator said:

By using the copyrighted name Star Wars they probably will get serious problems.
Edit: They even use the name Disney, about trouble seeking :-)

Selling mocs...
Now there you have a problem since moc builders rarely copyright their designs.

MOC’s are copyrighted by default. MOC builders rarely enforce their copyright.

[Andman]

2 minutes ago, Jeroen Ottens said:

MOC’s are copyrighted by default. MOC builders rarely enforce their copyright.

Based on which law or license?

[Toastie]

Just now, Jeroen Ottens said:

MOC’s are copyrighted by default. MOC builders rarely enforce their copyright.

Plus, I just read their "about us", "mission" and "legal stuff". Clicked on the individual sources etc.

To me it appears as if they have some sort of official reinforcement. May be totally wrong, but it feels like that. Or they are just boldly going forward.

I also believe they have "diversified". There are now a multitude of companies delivering the stuff, which is then handled by the Lepin internet shop. Maybe wrong but this would surely render lawsuits a nightmare.

Man.

Best
Thorsten 

[coinoperator]

12 hours ago, Jeroen Ottens said:

MOC’s are copyrighted by default. MOC builders rarely enforce their copyright.

That is true but moc builders do not file their designs so that copyright is only theory and near to completely impossible to maintain.

So 1 : ~ = 0

[Vectormatic]

On 11/16/2019 at 4:49 AM, Ankoku said:

It is somewhat disheartening to see people use the thread to talk about how great X, Y or Z LEGO clone is, when the original point of the thread was to see whether a model was a copy of a MOC.

It feels like any such thread gets hijacked.

As the original poster, feel free to lock it.

Tells you something about Lego and their position in the market doesnt it? Even in a strictly policied community of loyal AFOLs, the though police isnt strong enough anymore to stop people from not only privately considering clone brands, but also publicly discussing, as soon as there is a pretext for discussion.

Personally im not okay with 1:1 copies of official sets, but for instance CADA sets all seem to be in-house designed (even if some are pretty similar to MOCs, like the porsche 919, but that uses some non-standard parts, so cant be a 1:1 moc ripoff either), and im totally fine with that. Some may argue to skirt close to licensing-issues with a very much lambo-like set without actually licensing lambo, but lego does/did the same, the prelim pics for 42039 were pretty much 1:1 Audi R18

 

[Ankoku]

Not really. It is not different from having a PC forum and people taking every opportunity to tell you how great Apple computers are. It is the difference between a computer forum and a PC forum. I am sure there are probably some construction block forums out there where you can talk about clone brands to your hearts content. That said, this is a LEGO forum and many of the posters are LEGO purists, regardless of LEGOs policy on the matter. So the general reaction is exactly what I would expect it to be.

You also have to remember that this was a thread asking whether a specific model had been copied or designed in house, the latter being the case. That is all. It didn't take many posts before everyone was advertising various other LEGO clone companies and stating how great they are. This happens time and time again, which is why there are even rules about it. That is what people get fed up with. Again, I am sure there are non-LEGO forums where such things can be discussed.

For me, I buy things like S-Brick, but that is it.

[Toastie]

54 minutes ago, Ankoku said:

Again, I am sure there are non-LEGO forums where such things can be discussed

I do absolutely agree on what you wrote, however, there is one thing that can potentially be very dangerous in the real world: Closing your eyes and believing that when you can't see it, it is not there.

And because you can't see it won't affect you. I have seen that too many times happening - just recently within my professional activity. For almost 3 years I kept telling a rather powerful German company that their product may appear superior, but only when you close your eyes; but when you compare to what is available in world - with open eyes - you may want to change your mind and do something about it. Either make your own product better, change your own belief in being superior, etc. etc. But do something.

Douglas Adams has phrased it differently but along that lines, I believe.

Spoiler

The Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses have been designed to help people develop a relaxed attitude to danger. They follow the principle "what you don't know can't hurt you" and turn completely dark and opaque at the first sign of danger. This prevents you from seeing anything that might alarm you. This does, however, mean that you see absolutely nothing, including where you're going.

It also tells you that there is something that would alarm you, could you see it. This information alone could potentially alarm you.

Best
Thorsten

 

[Ankoku]

I am sure LEGO is all too aware of what the clone brands are doing. You don't get to where they are without keeping tabs on the competition. Mega Bloks was a big competitor at one point. They got things like the World of Warcraft license. That said, I didn't like how they converted that license into sets. Just like I don't like LEGO doing large, specific pieces which can't easily be used for other stuff (The front of some LEGO trains), it was far worse with Mega Bloks sets. Also, at that time, their bricks were worse quality. Unsurprisingly, Blizzard is now working with LEGO with things like Overwatch.

If there suddenly was a brand which offered a superior product, rather than a cheaper clone, I am sure we would all be very aware of it. Regardless of what forums we frequented. LEGO would also be well aware. That said, I have yet to see it or anything close.

There was an interesting one with clone motors which had some aspects of them which were better than the LEGO ones, since they don't have to deal with legacy/compatibility issues. That said, they stuck them in casings identical to LEGOs, including the controller, which is just depressing and puts you off them. Much like S-Brick and Buzzwizz, create a good product, your own design and stop being shady copiers and forums like this will be interested and will be happy to talk about such things. As it stands though, most of the time, the cloners are just cheaper and copying what LEGO does, even packaging style wise. Which doesn't endear you to them.

As I said before, if you are a PC owner, you are well aware of Macs and vice versa. That said, if you are on a Mac forum, you probably don't want to be talking about PC and that desire isn't making you blind to either their existence or their pros and cons.

[Gray Gear]

That comparison is missing one important point imo: PC and MAC dont go well togehter, but LEGO most and its competitors and clones are compatible almost perfectly. I mixed LEGO and other Brands, because it improves the possibilities for my MOCs. I source my bricks wherever I can get what I need, and just have fun 

[Ankoku]

Mac is basically Linux and Linux runs on PCs. Many Macs computers also run Windows. So, the analogy holds.

[Peppermint_M]

Ok, so now you're all off topic it seems. Rehashing the same old arguments that have been trod since Tyco Bricks were taken to court. I left the thread here on request as it was related to Technic, now that it isn't, I am going to lock it.