[kmalsom]

Originally Posted by BPTDirector

Mimicked designs are not bad, accidentally or purposefully copied or reused names are not bad as long as copyrights are not violated, all chips are GOOD!!!! I have always loved looking at all the chips here, whether they were tributes, copies, original designs, etc.....the only regret I've always had is not having enough money to buy 1000 piece sets of all designs presented. Sometimes we all take ourselves much too seriously, myself included.
BPT

This actually happened to me. A fellow CT'er sent me a PM about the name I had put on the chips I was designing, that I was copying his name. I had never even seen his chips and the name was one I had been playing with for almost a year. I ended up changing the name, but the name was an obious name for the chips.

[TimmyP]

BPTDirector,

I am in total agreement with you again.

Monopoly the game and its parent company couldn’t get patent protection on the others using the word monopoly in their game title the word itself was to general for broad protection. It is the only the distinctive imagery and only the actual game that has copy write protection.

The small nature of a poker chip and the few words that are distinctively chip related make similarities if not repetition inevitable.

[Wooderson]

Originally Posted by Gaming Ore

Ten, I applaud your BOLD move!

I do too. Yet, I think it is a horribly bad idea.

Originally Posted by Gaming Ore

The concern here is that copy-cat chips will re-enter the collector marketplace in the guise of genuine chips...And in the interim, or ensuing time that chips are made, we would hope that the participants in chip manufacture and creation refrain from copy-cat practices and/or chips that unscrupulous others will use to defraud potential buyers.

Caveat Emptor. Let market forces deal with those that defraud. Let being burned be a lesson to learn from.

Let's not make ChipTalk into more of a Nanny State than it already is.

[osumike11379]

Originally Posted by TenPercenter

This is not intended to be any official www.ChipTalk.net set of rules. I was not anticipating ChipTalk Admins to police it in any way.

I envision a Code of Conduct that would be drafted by, and then emotionally enforced, by the members themselves. If that happens, then Administration involvement would never even be needed. If another WORLD STARS OF POKER" at the "Riu" chip was brought out, then the members would come out against it.

If we adopt the Code, then that type of thing would not likeyl occur in the first place.

Why have the policy if it has no provisions for enforcement?? If you live in ohio you know what this is like (the smoking ban with no laws to enforce it..pointless!) I applaud the effort to have chiptalk be "self-policing" but I feel this is misguided..this is what I will think will happen in the future...

Vendor: check out my ___ chips!!!
Signee of code: You are violating the code!!!
Vendor: Whopdee ****!!
Signee: You can't do that!!! I'm gonna neg you!!!

and on and on until the vendors get so sick of it they leave..as someone said before..these are just POKER CHIPS....and far as these vendors making WSOP chips..they aren't doing anything wrong..if they were they would already be getting sued...just my opinion and I hate to sound so strong but I don't feel this is needed..just imho

[TenPercenter]

Originally Posted by osumike11379

Why have the policy if it has no provisions for enforcement?? If you live in ohio you know what this is like (the smoking ban with no laws to enforce it..pointless!) I applaud the effort to have chiptalk be "self-policing" but I feel this is misguided..this is what I will think will happen in the future...

Vendor: check out my ___ chips!!!
Signee of code: You are violating the code!!!
Vendor: Whopdee ****!!
Signee: You can't do that!!! I'm gonna neg you!!!

and on and on until the vendors get so sick of it they leave..as someone said before..these are just POKER CHIPS....and far as these vendors making WSOP chips..they aren't doing anything wrong..if they were they would already be getting sued...just my opinion and I hate to sound so strong but I don't feel this is needed..just imho

Am I calling this idea a "code of conduct" incorrectly? I keep seeing it repeated that we have to "enforce" a "policy" to do any good, but I explain that I think it will still help just by embracing the code. I don't want to have any official policy, and I don't5 want to enforce anything, and I don't want anyone "policing" anything. We draft a Code, and anyone that chooses to can agree with it.

And so to your scenario: I see that scenario working just fine, that could happen. However I'd say that the part where "vendors get so sick of it they leave" becomes "vendors get wise after the first mistake and begin to promote what doesn't get bashed by the community."

If someone gets neg'ed for copying some other design... so be it. If the idea of a "No Copies Code" is bad, then I guess people that are against copies will be the ones getting the negs. So be it as well.

[TenPercenter]

Originally Posted by osumike11379

and far as these vendors making WSOP chips..they aren't doing anything wrong..if they were they would already be getting sued...

I have repeated several times and I don't think people are getting my point... It's not a legal issue. I'm not talking about "getting away with it" without getting sued.

I'm saying, is it right or is it wrong to copy other designs?

What if you are a collector, not a player, and you have some very valuable REAL WSOP chips? Would you want the market flooded with 200,000 replicas (tributes?)?

[TenPercenter]

Now let's all repeat the Non-Conformists' Oath:

"I promise to be different!"

"I promise to be unique!"

"I promise not to repeat things other people say!"

Good!



Steve Martin, sometime in the 70's

[sn0wstorm]

Originally Posted by TenPercenter

I'm saying, is it right or is it wrong to copy other designs?

What if you are a collector, not a player, and you have some very valuable REAL WSOP chips? Would you want the market flooded with 200,000 replicas (tributes?)?

The discussion just went way beyond this.

IMO, no. Copying someone elses design without their permission is wrong.

But this discussion has 2 camps. One camp the collectors. They fear that with the ease of making copies & commems, their expensive collections loose value. Granted.

The other camp is the players. There are some of us who don't have that big amount of money to spend in a original Vineyard set. Or a Dunes Set. Or want to play with WSOP-like chips. But they/we do want to play with nice chips aswell. Does that justify plain copies without permission? No.

What I think is: Encourage uniqueness. Creating something new can be great. See the Protege line or the Sin City Showdown chips. There are still so many possibilities in chipdesign that are yet not done. Encourage.

But don't throw rocks at people if they want WSOP replicas or Bellagio Commems. Permission should be asked, yes... but there is a big interest in these chips.

Just my 2 cents...

[Strange]

I think that the collectors concern as stated here is a red herring.

I don't believe that, as an example, the existance of the retro Binions ceramics that Fins designed would have a negative effect on the prices of the original chips. Not for a second. If you want a sample set of the originals, then a sample set of the ceramics just won't float your boat. If you want a set of 1000 chips, then you'll buy the ceramics.

I just do not buy that argument. Does the fact that Picasso's work is re-produced mean that the originals are worth less? I don't think so.

From the first suggestion, I had in mind that this 'C5' was supposed to encourage the flair that exists here and to set a standard that brand new designs, while more difficult to come up with, were more interesting and had higher value to this community.

[Jonah 99]

[quote=Strange]I think that the collectors concern as stated here is a red herring.

I don't believe that, as an example, the existance of the retro Binions ceramics that Fins designed would have a negative effect on the prices of the original chips. Not for a second. If you want a sample set of the originals, then a sample set of the ceramics just won't float your boat. If you want a set of 1000 chips, then you'll buy the ceramics.

I just do not buy that argument. Does the fact that Picasso's work is re-produced mean that the originals are worth less? I don't think so.
quote]

Agreed, I think the originals would increase in value due to demand.
(i.e. now I have a set of tributes, wouldn't it be cool to have a sample set of originals)
Reproductions = OK, Counterfits = NO NO