Racketboy Store 2.0 Ideas

[jp1]

Maybe you could sell DVD inserts for games for people to lazy or for some reason unable to print them out themselves/.

+1 for this. I have 2 huge collections that could benefit greatly from this.

[skate323k137]

Maybe you could sell DVD inserts for games for people to lazy or for some reason unable to print them out themselves/.

+1 for this. I have 2 huge collections that could benefit greatly from this.

sadly selling re-printed cover art would qualify as copyright/trademark infringement. You're profiting off of the design of someone else.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Maybe you could sell DVD inserts for games for people to lazy or for some reason unable to print them out themselves/.

+1 for this. I have 2 huge collections that could benefit greatly from this.

sadly selling re-printed cover art would qualify as copyright/trademark infringement. You're profiting off of the design of someone else.

Well you don't have to sell it. It could be given away with any order, or just plain given away if the store sales were to create that kind of a profit margin.

[skate323k137]

so it's cool to counterfit money so long as you give it away?

I'm obviously using a very extreme counterexample, but still, walk into Kinkos with the cover of a DVD or game, and odds are, they won't copy it for you. of course you can copy it yourself, and I don't care if you do, I'm just saying that commercially reprinting copyrighted images whether you sell them or not is technically a no-no.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

I know, but a guy can dream right?

[nickfil]

so it's cool to counterfit money so long as you give it away?

This is a horrible argument. Money isn't under copyright. It is government regulated. It isn't a logo or a web design. Counterfeit money is handled by the secret service (I should know, a filmmaker friend of mine got in trouble once for using a briefcase of 'counterfeit' bills once and detained him for 24 hours) and only after they have conducted their investigation is it handled by a court. It is the only thing they do other than protect the president. Copyrights are handled only if you are sued for it and then it is handled by copyright lawyers in court. There is a "the matrix" towing company in Philadelphia that parks their trucks in a lot near my house sometimes. Same exact logo from the movie. They are infringing on copy protection that the film company has and the film company could take them to court. They probably won't. I'm not saying racket is in the same boat of small fish in big pond, but I'm just making a point. It is only ever illegal when you get caught by the company.

plus- there are specific laws with copyright that vary according to medium. It has to do with if an image is changed something like XX% it is considered a new image and copyright is lost. Stuff like that.

also- depending on the copyright on the art it may have lapsed into public domain.

another alternitive is to make your own kind of racketboy criterion collection of covers. Something that is completely original and you own the rights to

AND it is true that if you give it away, it doesn't fall under copyright infringement. I could make my own batman comics from here to eternity and as long as i fronted all the money to make them and just gave them away to people AOL time Warner couldn't touch me. If they could- they could in fact go after anyone that has ever doodled batman in the margins of their homework. (i'm looking at you spacebooger) A way that racket would be completely safe (although verify with a copyright lawyer with one phone call) is to sell the cases at a higher rate than what you can get them at online somewhere (inflate the price to cover cost and profit of the art/slip) and then give people a choice to add a "free" slip if they want to. I'm like 90% sure that he and everyone at "racketboy" would be fine. Fuck- you could even offer both. One with a free slip and one just strait up for 2 different prices. As long as on the receipt no one is ever charged for a super metroid cover, you'd be fine.

[skate323k137]

I'm laughing really hard at your expense. sorry, but i knew someone would take my example way too seriously.

of course money's different. let me try to breathe now. sorry for your time, hope you're a fast typer.

really though, you raise good points. i'm not saying anyone would ever get in trouble for it, especially if you gave it away. but why would anyone want to give away free color ink?

still, i wouldn't feel right mass printing someone else's stuff w/o permission.

[nickfil]

I'm laughing really hard at your expense. sorry, but i knew someone would take my example way too seriously.
of course money's different. let me try to breathe now. sorry for your time, hope you're a fast typer.
really though, you raise good points. i'm not saying anyone would ever get in trouble for it, especially if you gave it away. but why would anyone want to give away free color ink?
still, i wouldn't feel right mass printing someone else's stuff w/o permission.

uhm- but your example was strait forward? How would i not think that you think money is copywritten? Its all good though man. I'm not bent out of shape or anything, just throwing in my .02

I agree with not trying to screw over artists. As an artist, i get that. But if you are printing retro cover art from 20 years ago.... i mean... permission or no do you think that guy who drew it is even sweating that stuff anymore? Chances are if nintendo has any kind of contract system he got paid either a flat or hourly rate and Nintendo owns the image anyway. DC owns batman, bob kane doesn't. Johnny art guy got his money and got the hell out. I'm sure he isn't getting royalties, and even if he was he would be, Johnny hasn't gotten a check in a LONG ass time. Shit- nintendo hasn't gotten a check from that kinda thing in a long ass time. When was the last time they ever used the artwork from the box of the adventures of link? probably the last time they made the cartridge. What i'm saying is- even if i was the guy who made it, and I found a site that had people reprinting it in low runs for a small small fee, i don't know if i would even bother taking action then. Chances are Johnny has moved on and it isn't even on his radar anymore. 20 years, shit i've moved on from books i've worked on 4 months ago.

You kind of struck a nerve for me. A lot of people who try to break into comics are really touchy and afraid of copyrights so i deal with this sillyness every so often. Trying to comment on every blog post that they work up of a batman piece they drew that batman is copyright dc comics and all that bullshit. It just illustrates that fear of the law is actually more powerful then the law itself. And honestly- the whole thing steams from people just being unaware of how it works. So when misinformation is out there- i try to correct it to the best of my knowledge. My roommate is actually an archiving librarian who took a few classes on copyright and knows quite a bit more than me on it.

All in all what i'm saying is this: there are ways to get around this kinda thing. Lets all put our big boy balls on the table and do it up because i for one think it is a great idea and i would be dissapointed if it didn't work out. I would order like a total zillion of them.

I'm pretty sure that the VERY worst thing that would happen would be a C&D. And even then you could still probably give away remaining stock on the sly without anyone really knowing.

*edit* oh and reguarding what i was saying before about the free slips for the game art... You can charge more for the actual cases. Lets say racket was going to price them at a buck a piece. He could price them at 2 or a 1.50 and then throw in a "free" slip. Thus, he DOES actually get payed for the slip, just not technically. So yeah- no free color ink at all. You could call them premium cases and then sell blank ones for a buck called regular cases or something like that.

[nickfil]

Oh! and fyi racket: if you do like this idea but need help with it, i did do 4 years of art school and do an aspect of design for a living. I know my way around all the programs you would need for something like this. This would be something i would love to help out on. I don't have a ton of free time, but i could help chip away at it for sure.

[Anapan]

"Mogzus plushie" - a [?] block plush toy that when squeezed emits a cute squeek and shoots out two steel bolts that lightly spring outward and pierce the victim's hands.
I'd buy one.