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Hi Heinrich, I believe CAF Models is working with Ancre to get this issue worked out. He has pulled his models until resolved. ZHL is a distributor for CAF. Maybe @Uwek could help out with info on this.Thank you Daniel. I just had a look - just worried about the "copyright issues" that Max mentions.
Lol,Why?It is promising that they worry about the copyright issues now. However (in light of the latest happenings and nothing to do with the MSW dictatorship) I decided not to buy anything Chinese.
János
No apologies necessary Heinrich.This is a great explanation Mike. Now let us close this topic and not highjack BigMike's log. Apologies Mike!
Being a student of Chinese history, I understand the concept of intellectual property never existed in the past in China. Copying someone else’s work was acceptable and even flattering for the original creator. In the West intellectual property is protected by copyright and patents which are abused with impunity anyway by well developed underhanded means and legal trickery. At it’s worst it stifles progress and development.Language barriers... Several Chinese model company's purchased Ancre drawings and used those drawings to develop kits. This is perfectly legal when those models are for personal use. However, once they become kits "for sale", then a proper "commercial use" license must be purchased from Ancre. Due to language, legal and cultural differences many people in China (and elsewhere) did not know this. It was not intentional and not stealing.... it was by mistake. Uwe has helped to bridge that gap and these companies are now beginning to work together to obtain proper copyright licenses to produce their kits.
I am not sure why this has not been explained until now. It should not be a secret. There is no ugly underground pirate model building industry.
I have seen the very same mistake made by people living in the USA running small businesses who just did not understand the law. It is not a malicious crime, it is just a misunderstanding.
Regarding whether you can or cannot PURCHASE a model kit on the internet. As a CONSUMER, you can buy ANYTHING you want, and BUILD anything you want. There is no crime against this as long as it is for private personal use. If it can be legally puchased from Ebay, Amazon, AlliExpress or any other E-Commerce platform it is, by definition legal (International Free Trade).... If you are buying it for personal use to build your own model it is, by definition legal (Fair Use). Copyright issues are for the kit makers and sellers to worry about... not the consumer.
Do not let anyone tell you different.
Sail on.
NOW you are getting the hang of it!!!! We need to light this forum up a little!!!I see "Admiralty Bands"!!
The Admiralty Bands are the hottest thing in ship modeling right now.NOW you are getting the hang of it!!!! We need to light this forum up a little!!!