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3rd Party Warhammer 40K Primarchs Sculpts – Trouble?

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Leman Russ Primarchs

Oh boy…

The Primarchs are here, and no, they are not from Forge World. Polish miniature painting studio Den of Imagination has been sculpting and showing off their version of the famous Warhammer 40K Primarchs, exquisitely sculpted in (mostly) green-stuff and to match official Games Workshop artwork of the Primarchs to boot.

They are not for sale as such, though Den of Imagination uses them to advertise their “sculpting services”, so it may not be 100% “personal hobby either”.

A curious grey area? Trouble? Or fair game?

#1 – Sculpted to Match!

Imagination

For one, I want to applaud Den of Imagination for their skills. Of course, “not-Primarchs” have been out there for a while, such as Hi-Tech Miniatures’ “Proturbo of the Iron Giants“.

Unfortunately perhaps (at least it could be unfortunate), Den of Imagination lacked the imagination to whip up some easily identifiable, but still distinctly different names for “non-Primarchs”. Instead, they actively showcase them as just that: Konrad Curze, Leman Russ or Horus Lupercal of Warhammer 40K fame!

Fortunately perhaps (at least I hope it makes a difference), Den of Imagination isn’t selling these miniatures as Hi-Tech is selling “ArchFather Proturbo”. They are – in a way – personal showcase/hobby projects. One offs.

Or are they? Den of Imagination is a business, they are in it for the profit and they do offer sculpting services too.

I don’t claim to be a legal expert, but it might be a step too far from “one-off-hobby-project”.

#2 – Why It Could Be A Problem

Scouring of Prospero

Now.. maybe it is all for nothing, but a bit of caution is usually better part of valor here.

Past producers of “Warhammer 40K miniatures” that weren’t (yet?) released – Tyranid Mycetic Spores for example – apparently raised the spectre of GW loosing the right to make miniatures to their own background or rules, if somebody else beat em to it?

I believe it was part of the Chapterhouse Studio lawsuit (though not all of it).

Now, could a “slightly commercial” sculpting of Warhammer 40K Primarchs to match official Warhammer 40K artwork trigger the same problem: In other words, would the Leman Russ above, sculpted to match the Prospero Burns cover in exacting detail, conceivably put an IP-snag on Forge World doing a Leman Russ sculpt? Could GW (shareholders/management) see the need to unleash their legal wolves on Poland?

#3 – Thoughts?

Quite probably, I am overtly paranoid. Nevertheless, the issue has preyed my mind for a few days now, so I’d love to get some thoughts on this from the people out there?

  • Does Den of Imagination run the risk of crossing a line here?
  • Are “not-for-mass-sale” promotional sculpts for a business fair game?
  • A Twilight Zone?

Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Z.

Zweischneid

Zweischneid

I am Zweischneid. Wargame Addict. Hopeless painter and founder of Pins of War. I hope you enjoyed this article. Don't forget to share your favourite miniature pictures and wargaming videos at www.pinsofwar.net.
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  • Ruska

    Hmm. If they aren’t selling them, how can they get in trouble? If they were sculpting copies of GW/FW models, then I think it would be illegal, is it would be counterfeiting. But if it’s a re-imagining of a character from GW’s IP, it’s a little bit trickier. I think it is foolish to blatantly label them as the primarchs that they are supposed to represent, it would be much more difficult for GW’s legal team if they just called them generic names. Scibor has some very cool models that could function like a primarch or powerful character and they have generic names like “Lion SF Knight”.

    • http://pinsofwar.net/ Zweischneid

      Well, that is partly where I can’t decide for myself where it would fall.

      If they’d sell these as miniatures with unchanged names, Scribor-Style, they’d obviously be in trouble.

      If these were just “some guy” doing green-stuff madness for his own hobby-time, there’d be no issue.

      As it is, it’s kinda here nor there. They don’t sell them as “mass-produced” miniatures, though they do sell them as “please sculpt me a miniature”, and they clearly advertise these particular miniatures as “this is what we do sculpting for clients”.

      It kinda feels like sitting in the middle.

  • belverker

    got a feeling gw’s lawyers are watching closely and if it lpoks like these are getting out there as more than just 1 offs they might pounce, though i’m not sure where it stands if each 1 they sell is sculpted rather than cast…

  • Hive Senteniel

    mmm these models aren’t for sale so GW/FW can’t really get them for that. Furthermore it looks more like a “hey look what we can do”, which I think is fine as long as they don’t sell those particular models. If GW does go after them for it it’d be pretty much a coin toss with the judge right now.
    * On a sidenote is that an “Official” image of Konrad Curze I thought it was just a Fan-Piece from 40k Wiki (Warhammer40k Wiki tends to post a lot of Fan images, That’s why I use Lexicanum)

    • http://pinsofwar.net/ Zweischneid

      Yeah, I think that Curze image is from deviant art originally.

      Russ, however, is by their own article sculpted to match the Prospero Burns cover
      http://www.denofimagination.com.pl/2013/09/leman-russ-fall-of-prospero.html

      • Hive Senteniel

        Yeah, I definitely think Russ would be the main issue if GW went after them, seeming as he was deliberately made from a GW/BL cover art. Even so, it might still be sketchy, as he’s not for sale nor does GW have their own (recent) model to compare and contrast with. So they’re treading on a VERY thin sheet of ice.

  • Edohiguma

    While the models may not be for sale, GW could argue that Den is using names that GW owns for advertising Den’s services. Plus taking official artwork as basis for the sculptures. The ball is really in GW’s half now. Yes, they could go after Den, might even win. I remember, years ago, how Leonardo DiCaprio sued a German ice cream parlor that planned to use the name “Di Caprio” (despite it being a relatively common name and “Italian ice cream” still being a big selling point for ice cream parlors in Germany and Austria) and he won.

    Also keep in mind that trials in court are not about justice, but ultimately only about how a passage of the law can be interpreted.

  • Mark

    So painting studios cant say Ultramarines while showing their work? Its the same situation.