Copyright Risk from 343 Industries and Bungie LLC. Possible?

[Cadena]

Im located in Texas.

I run a business called iForge Designs and i am trying to buy a vehicle called a Warthog, and its inception came from the Halo Series created by Bungie Studios LLC. and now managed by 343 Industries, a sub-organization run by Microsoft. It is coming internationally from a man who lives in the UK and he built a replica for a film prop in his Halo fan film. I was going to go through with the purchase but wanted to know if it would be copyright infringement of intellectual property if he sold it to me because of its design idea and make.

Help anyone?

 

[quincy]

Im located in Texas.

I run a business called iForge Designs and i am trying to buy a vehicle called a Warthog, and its inception came from the Halo Series created by Bungie Studios LLC. and now managed by 343 Industries, a sub-organization run by Microsoft. It is coming internationally from a man who lives in the UK and he built a replica for a film prop in his Halo fan film. I was going to go through with the purchase but wanted to know if it would be copyright infringement of intellectual property if he sold it to me because of its design idea and make.

Help anyone?

Is it the film prop that you plan to purchase? Does the man in the UK who built the replica as a film prop say he owns the rights in the Warthog?

 

[Cadena]

Is it the film prop that you plan to purchase? Does the man in the UK who built the replica as a film prop say he owns the rights in the Warthog?

Yes it is the film prop/vehicle that i plan to purchase...Ill ask but i am not sure

 

[quincy]

Yes it is the film prop/vehicle that i plan to purchase...Ill ask but i am not sure

Asking him is probably the best way to get an answer to your question.

If the man who built the prop owns the rights to the prop itself, then he should be able to sell it to you without a problem. The problem would then come with how you use or intend to use the Warthog. If you plan to use it in a commercial manner (ie, for promotional purposes, in advertising), then you could run into some legal issues.

 

[Cadena]

You were asking if he owned the rights to the warthog movie prop but in what regard?

 

[quincy]

You were asking if he owned the rights to the warthog movie prop but in what regard?

Does the man who created the warthog prop for the movie own the prop or is it owned by the studio or 343 Industries or Microsoft?

If the man who created the prop owns the prop without restriction, then he can sell it and you can purchase it. But, again, what you can do with it under this scenario depends on all sorts of factors.

If the prop is a replica of a copyrighted/trademarked item, licensed by the rights-holder to the man for the limited purpose of replicating the Warthog for the film, then you are likewise limited in what you can do with it, with these limits imposed by copyright and trademark laws. You would need to license from the copyright/trademark holders the rights to use the prop for, say, the advertising of your business or for promotional purposes (for two examples).

If your intent in purchasing the Warthog prop is to have it for personal display as you would display a purchased work of art in your home, then a license from the rights-holder would not be necessary. Most personal uses of legally purchased copyrighted and trademarked items do not infringe on rights (ie, you can purchase a copyrighted book or a trademarked vehicle and you can use them and sell them and trade them or junk them, but there are restrictions on what else you can do with them).

If the Warthog prop is an expensive item, and you want to purchase it for reasons other than personal use, you would probably be best served by having all facts of the prop's creation and ownership reviewed by an attorney in your area. You may not want to rely entirely on the prop creator's word that he is free to sell it to you.

Good luck.

 

[Zigner]

I think some may be missing the scenario here:

MS makes the computer game called Halo. In that game, there is a vehicle. A fan in the UK built a real, physical version of that vehicle in order to produce a fan film based on Halo (ie: NOT an official film). Our OP wants to buy that physical prop and bring it to the US.


Discuss

 

[quincy]

Does it make a difference if I really don't want to discuss this?

One of the reasons I asked about rights and licensing is to better determine if the prop-creator actually had obtained any rights in, or a license to replicate, the vehicle for the fan film. If there was no permission granted the prop-creator from the rights-holders, then the prop-creator has undoubtedly infringed on some rights and, while Cadena could potentially still purchase the prop, this could limit even further what Cadena can do with the prop. And he could also find himself the target of a lawsuit, even if the suit were to go nowhere.