British games company says it owns the idea of space marines

British company Games Workshop, well known for producing tabletop wargames and other products set in various fantasy universes, has claimed that it owns the idea of future space marines and that nobody can write books featuring astro-bootnecks* without its consent. Last December the company succeeded in getting the novel Spots …

[Eenymeeny]

40K Shades of Warhammer

Somewhere, in a parallel universe nearer than you may think...

The telephone rings.

GW. Ms. Hogarth?

H: Yes, speaking.

GW: We heard you wrote an ebook set in the WH40K universe...

H ...ah, yeah ... look, fan fiction...

GW: ... is what we are after! I mean, look at the success of Nine-and-a-Half Shades of Electric Pink*! You take the trouble to write stuff about our stuff, were not going to stamp on you with a space marine's iron-clad boot! No way! What, are we Pear Inc.* or something? Instead, we were going to ask you to come along to our office, talk over publishing your ebook as an add-on for new subscribers, add some art, maybe you'd like to chat with our staff writers. Other companies might waffle on about vague stuff like honesty, courage, humility. That's bollocks, we say!

H: Ah, right...

GW: Yeah! We know that talent means profit and that's good for all of us, right? See you Monday in Nottingham?

H: Well, I mean, that *is* a surprise. I'm impressed ... See you at 9 a.m. sharp!

* It is a parallel universe, after all.

[Alien8n]

Re: 40K Shades of Warhammer

Worked for Buffy and Angel. Check out Cristopher Golden, wrote a lot of the Angel novels. Writes a really good alternative vampire story (Shadows series)

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: 40K Shades of Warhammer

"Worked for Buffy and Angel"

That's because Joss Whedon is awesome in all universes.

[Omgwtfbbqtime]

More prior art

CJ Cherryh: Rimrunners 1989

You Bet your life?

[Alien8n]

Re: More prior art

I missed that one, and it's on my bookshelf (as is Heinlen, E E Doc Smith, and quite a few others)

[Anonymous Coward]

I beg to differ

"Games Workshop, in advancing this claim, are effectively attempting to snatch ownership of a very basic idea"

assuming they're not a bunch of (...) space (...), they're probably trying to get some extra, FREEEEEE publicity. Either way, I do hope that by doing so they have inserted a deep-space charge in their own space marine anal cavity, and it's a short fuse.

Unfortunately, the case (if the facts are as presented by the Register) just reinforces a not-so-new point: if you're a nobody v a giant, such an Amazon, they can do whatever they want, and there's next to zero chance of you getting justice.

[Why Not?]

Prior Art

Well in a previous life as Odysseus sandal repair maker and horse gelder(A trade that served me well later in my employ with Alexander the Great) we invented the concept of Marines that crossed large continents and also fitted into small spaces.

My Lawyers will contact GW shortly.

well it seems just as sensible!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Prior Art

"(A trade that served me well later in my employ with Alexander the Great)"

Hang on - didn't he die from an infection after being thrown from his horse? Hmm...

[AshRid]

It wouldn't be so bad

.....if GW weren't huge hugely guilty of ripping off other sources themselves....

Imperial Guard special character Sly Marbo "one man army" - his CO's name is also rip off of Rambo's CO from the films.

Daemon Prince Doomrider (Ghostrider).

Just two examples off the top of my head.

Unfortunately their strategy for dealing with the internet age and the economic climate is to put their prices up and sue everyone!

[Alien8n]

Re: It wouldn't be so bad

One I suddenly remembered earlier (and almost head planted the desk that I didn't spot it earlier). Almost the entirety of the W40K universe is lifted en mass from 2000AD's Nemesis the Warlock series.

[mark 63]

"This would lead to the idea of space ships, thus to space navies"

a sad endightment of human nature

[John Brown (no body)]

"a sad endightment of human nature"

A sad indictment of spelling ability ;-)

[Anonymous Coward]

Play them at their own game...

I'm just going to go and patent "The use of miniature soldier figures to simulate futuristic space battles"

[relpy]

Wait a minute...

Lewis wrote something I agree with!

I need a stiff drink...

Paris because - eh? - I said stiff DRINK dammit.

Whiskey icon please.

[Eclectic Man]

Temporal crime

I believe I know what has happened.

Heinlein, Doc Smith et al are actually future people who, having been plagiarising GW's 'Space Marines' took a leaf out of the Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and sent their books back to a time before GW existed so that they could then use "Space Marines" wihtout fear of prosecution. GW is the unwitting victim in this temporal crime.

(The Editor of the HHGTTG notoriously copied details of the Universe from the back of a cerial packet, embellished them and sent the book back in time and successfully sued the ceral company for infringement of compyright.)

OR maybe GW is just a mindless bunch of j***s who will be the first against the wall when the revolution comes.

Sorry it is a Firday afternoon, after all.

[The Boojum]

Re: Temporal crime

From a copy of the Encylopedia Galactica that I found after it fell through a time warp from 50 years in the future:

"Games Workshop were a bunch of mindless jerks who were the first against the wall when the revolution came."

[Christoph]

Re: Temporal crime

Or maybe they were watching Blazing Saddles - the bit where Hedley Lamarr is told "What the hell are you worried about? This is 1874, you'll be able to sue her!"

[Droolster]

DOOM?

Isn't the character in DOOM a space marine?

[Anonymous Coward]

As noted above - GW have a trademark for "Space Marines" in the software and tabletop gaming areas.

Unfortunately, an e-book qualifies as software not as a book - this is why the paperback is still available and the e-book is not. And (as noted) GW had to take action to assert their claim in the appropriate area of business.

The real problem is that the legal profession does not know where to draw the line between software and books, particularly when those books are electronic.

[Frogmelon]

"Chaos"

Among the other things thrown into the melting pot, I always thought there were some similarities between Warhammer 40,000 and the Nemesis: The Warlock, and ABC Warriors stories from 2000ad. Important references to "Kaos", the Termight Empire (the legions of Termight being involved in a religious "Spanish Inquisition" against aliens), Torquemada, etc.

[Chad H.]

Re: "Chaos"

Well Kaos being the bad guys I would think goes back to Get Smart....

[Simon Harris]

squeak squeak...

I have an idea for a story about an elite fighting force of genetically engineered interstellar mice...

I think I'll call them Space Murines.

Mine's the one with the cheese in the pocket.

[MrZoolook]

Games Workshop is a BRITISH company?

I always figured it for a US brand... The irony is, now I KNOW they aren't, they go and ACT like one, and pull this kind of crap!

[Alien8n]

Re: Games Workshop is a BRITISH company?

The irony is they failed to maximise their position in computer gaming allowing Blizzard to copy all their stuff and beat them to it with World of Warcraft. Even more ironic as the way copyright and trademark law is actually written everything Blizzard did was perfectly legal. Whereas everything GW is doing now is not.

[Christopher Geoffries]

Space Marines

I an author and have a free novel on my site written in protest.

christophergeoffries.blogspot.com/2013/02/space-marines.html

[8-{>]

Book available again ....

Looks like the EFF have held Amazon's hand as they retraced their steps through the decision to take down the book.... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21409490