Kiln on 31/8/2017 at 22:32
Hello,
I'm writing here because I had this idea at the back of my mind for some time now.
Basically, Im a 3D artist, and deeply in love with the world of Thief since my early teenage years.
What I want to do is create Thief lore figurines of various characters (both known and obscure), using 3D printing and painting the prints myself as well, and over time quite possibly selling them as original artworks to anyone interested.
The sticker with the selling part would be copyright of course, and so I would ask, if creating and selling my own original artwork inspired from the Thief lore could be considered as infringement by whoever lately bought the Thief license ? If anyone here has a clue on this, I'd appreciate your opinion.
The main goal with this would be to make a few physical examples, and create a website similar to the lore ones we've seen on these forums, but specifically dedicated to exploring the world of Thief through physical figurine characters, trinkets, places ...
So now, how would the community here could respond this kind of idea ?
Cheers,
Kiln
downwinder on 1/9/2017 at 00:08
i am a professional 8-bit minimalistic digital pixel artist,i have already a small set of thief art i have done,as long as it is 100% your creation you can sell it,but it "cant" be sold as a licensed thief product,it would just be a original piece,also i would make sure the piece is not named directly after the real thing
your best bet to make money is to join one of those sites where you can sell art=but even those are dry as far as sales,end up pretty much giving away art=making your art worthless
i personally only sell to private collectors myself,as i will not have my art cheapened just to make a few bucks
if you got a example of a piece of your art i can tell you if you would have a issue with copy write
SnugglyBurrick on 9/9/2017 at 19:21
Well, I can't advise on the legal question. It seems most fandoms can get away with selling items from their media, based on the few that I've seen
I can, however, say that I'd be very interested in buying the figurines. Probably the lot, honestly
As a possible suggestion, that Mechanist Angel statue loot item might look nice. Even had a go at making one myself but I'm useless at proper modelling
Renault on 9/9/2017 at 23:18
I'm not a lawyer, but common sense here should win out. If you make a "thief" figurine, that's pretty generic and I doubt you'd have any issues.
However, if you start making figures of obvious Thief stuff like Viktoria or A Hammerite or a Mechanist Combat Bot, and then sell them for real money, I doubt Eidos would be very happy with that. Whether they decide it's worth their time to sue you or not, that's completely up to them. But it seems like a no brainer that they would have the rights to do so. It's their property after all, and you're potentially stealing profits from them.
SnugglyBurrick on 10/9/2017 at 00:49
Quote Posted by Brethren
I'm not a lawyer, but common sense here should win out. If you make a "thief" figurine, that's pretty generic and I doubt you'd have any issues.
However, if you start making figures of obvious Thief stuff like Viktoria or A Hammerite or a Mechanist Combat Bot, and then sell them for real money, I doubt Eidos would be very happy with that. Whether they decide it's worth their time to sue you or not, that's completely up to them. But it seems like a no brainer that they would have the rights to do so. It's their property after all, and you're potentially stealing profits from them.
That's true. I'd file this whole thing under 'fan art', which is technically copyright infringement and could be stopped but it rarely is and as long as you don't get too big, Eidos probably wouldn't give it a second glance. I can't find any info on them suing or putting a stop to other fan artists. Not to say they won't, just that it doesn't look like they have.
Yandros on 10/9/2017 at 01:49
I imagine you would have to be producing the pieces at some considerable volume to make it worth them doing anything. Selling a few here and there on Etsy won't draw any ire from them I'd wager.
SnugglyBurrick on 10/9/2017 at 20:13
Quote Posted by Yandros
I imagine you would have to be producing the pieces at some considerable volume to make it worth them doing anything. Selling a few here and there on Etsy won't draw any ire from them I'd wager.
I'm changing my tone a little bit here since I came across this story from 2013:
(
https://www.theverge.com/2013/8/17/4629764/square-enix-stops-fan-from-selling-3d-printed-final-fantasy-vii-figures)
Which doesn't bode well, since Ol' Squeenix owns Eidos and they're apparently a tad protective of at least their FF property. Whether they give a rats posterior for our little group is another question.
Personally, I think you'd still be ok selling the odd figurine out of an etsy store or something. They might not like people messing with their IP but I don't think Thief is high on their priority list, so I say go for it!
And let us know what you decide and when we can get them, because I would actually really like one so I'm pretty optimistic about this whole thing
Kiln on 18/9/2017 at 17:44
Quote Posted by downwinder
i am a professional 8-bit minimalistic digital pixel artist,i have already a small set of thief art i have done,as long as it is 100% your creation you can sell it,but it "cant" be sold as a licensed thief product,it would just be a original piece,also i would make sure the piece is not named directly after the real thing
your best bet to make money is to join one of those sites where you can sell art=but even those are dry as far as sales,end up pretty much giving away art=making your art worthless
i personally only sell to private collectors myself,as i will not have my art cheapened just to make a few bucks
if you got a example of a piece of your art i can tell you if you would have a issue with copy write
Downwinder,
Thank you for the response ! Sorry for mine is a bit late but I was away on holiday.
Yea I very much hear you on the selling part and Im still working that out at the moment. Still no contacts with collectors though, but i havent even begun on that road, and to tell you the truth, I wouldnt know where to start ?
I have a very broad set of skills but am currently looking to apply them with mostly my drawings/illustrations. I dont necessarily draw fantasy related stuff but my art style is one very close the types of illustrations you would find in older printed early 20th late 19th century books. I am also about to start an etching course to give my illustrations a deeper and more authentic punch.
Im more than happy to share my work here actually, as I always find the vibe very "thiefesque" with the subject matters and the way i work light, shadows and tone.
Heres one, hope you like it ! (
https://imgur.com/a/wf1vW) https://imgur.com/a/wf1vW
PS: I hate to be cheeky and ask, but will anyway :p, do you think this could be the kind of work your collectors would be interested in by any chance ? Also, do you have a website with your work ?
@SmugglyBurrick
Well I currently have various illustrations of the style you see above.
I am also currently working on lightboxes designs using Thief Lore displayed in a general Thief style so not to attract attention, and I will definitely keep you guys posted on that !
Cheers,
