Fallout fan site threatened by Bethesda

[Lennis]

The war between regular people (that is, we the fans) and intellectual property holders seems to be intensifying, and that should be of great concern to everyone here.

The short version is that a fan of the Fallout franchise started a website for freely downloadable Fallout-inspired posters.  Bethesda's lawyers claimed the site was infringing on their intellectual property rights, and demanded that the fan art be removed and the domain name, www.fallout-posters.com, be handed over to Bethesda.  As of this writing the art has been removed, but the fan has refused to hand over the domain name.  I do not know if further legal action is pending, but the removal of the art alone is a disheartening victory for the opponents of free expression.  We need to monitor this situation carefully, as it represents a clear and present danger to the Compendium and every other fan site out there.

Read the full story here:
http://au.gamespot.com/news/bethesda-threatens-gamer-over-fallout-fan-site-6372043

[utunnels]

That is truely depressing news.

[tushantin]

"Fanarts" only represent an idea, a creative expression on an artist's / fan's side. Unless it is a "film" or some sort, on its own it doesn't have a story to infringe the copyright of anything, and especially when the artist isn't using it for profitable gain*. I see no reason why FP should conform with Bethesda.

*While I say that, there ARE millions of artists profiting from parodies and fanarts, such as those on Newgrounds and DeviantArt. But they only every earn a penny or so for its works.