http://www.beastsofwar.com/games-workshop/announcement/
We’ll start with the Short Story…
Over the past two and a bit years, Beasts of War have received a number of missives from Games Workshop’s legal team (Even one including a request to remove every video containing a GW product).
The difficulty with legal letters, is they cost us a lot of money every time we get one, you could easily pay five hundred to a thousand pounds just to get an appropriate solicitor to read it and give you some advice on how to respond! So they really do take their toll on a small business.
In June of this year, GW published a new set of trade terms that their trade customers must adhere too, in these terms was a clause that effectively meant that, Wayland Games would have been punished for any advance reporting of any GW release by Beasts of War Ltd (Article 9.4) despite Wayland Games not providing any such information to Beasts of War, and despite both companies being separate.
When we asked GW about how this would affect fair use, it was pointed out to us that ‘Fair Use’ did not apply, as this was a contractual matter, and not a copyright matter. This unfortunately means that potentially any demand could be placed upon us by Games Workshop and be considered a contractual matter, and based on the previous demands we have received, we feel that the risks are too great.
As a result we feel there is no option but to abide by terms set out by GW.
From today (Friday 4th October 2013) Beasts of War and Wayland Games are ending the partnership we have worked very hard to create. This is disappointing for us all and we would like to thank the hard working team at Wayland Games for their support, the access to studio space and building the amazing Tabletop Nation venue where we have participated in some memorable events, many of which have been the highlight of our time spent in Essex. And we look forward to attending others in the future!
Myself (Warren), Lloyd and Justin will now be working exclusively for Beasts of War alongside Ben and Sam, as an entirely independent media organisation.
We do this as we feel that Beasts of War and it’s amazing community deserve to have the best opportunity to not only exist, but to thrive.
Despite continued growth even while not being in a position to report on GW products it seems completely alien to us to run Beasts of War and not be able to report on the most dominant game and company in the industry.
We respect Games Workshop, and are using this opportunity to once again reach out to them and say… We do Beasts of War, because we love this hobby and this industry, including your part in it, and at all times we try to treat others fairly and we hope you will do the same.
We will be moving studios over the next few days, we will also be opening a permanent studio space in Nottingham and have quite a long list of cool new things in the pipeline to discuss (and deliver!) with you guys over the coming weeks including of course a new range of content and shows dedicated to 40K etc.
We are excited about this, we want to see the project and community grow and grow, but we’ll be honest with you guys, we are worried and a little afraid for what the future will hold for us all, and so more now than ever, we could be doing with your support!
We’ll start with the Short Story…
Over the past two and a bit years, Beasts of War have received a number of missives from Games Workshop’s legal team (Even one including a request to remove every video containing a GW product).
The difficulty with legal letters, is they cost us a lot of money every time we get one, you could easily pay five hundred to a thousand pounds just to get an appropriate solicitor to read it and give you some advice on how to respond! So they really do take their toll on a small business.
In June of this year, GW published a new set of trade terms that their trade customers must adhere too, in these terms was a clause that effectively meant that, Wayland Games would have been punished for any advance reporting of any GW release by Beasts of War Ltd (Article 9.4) despite Wayland Games not providing any such information to Beasts of War, and despite both companies being separate.
When we asked GW about how this would affect fair use, it was pointed out to us that ‘Fair Use’ did not apply, as this was a contractual matter, and not a copyright matter. This unfortunately means that potentially any demand could be placed upon us by Games Workshop and be considered a contractual matter, and based on the previous demands we have received, we feel that the risks are too great.
As a result we feel there is no option but to abide by terms set out by GW.
From today (Friday 4th October 2013) Beasts of War and Wayland Games are ending the partnership we have worked very hard to create. This is disappointing for us all and we would like to thank the hard working team at Wayland Games for their support, the access to studio space and building the amazing Tabletop Nation venue where we have participated in some memorable events, many of which have been the highlight of our time spent in Essex. And we look forward to attending others in the future!
Myself (Warren), Lloyd and Justin will now be working exclusively for Beasts of War alongside Ben and Sam, as an entirely independent media organisation.
We do this as we feel that Beasts of War and it’s amazing community deserve to have the best opportunity to not only exist, but to thrive.
Despite continued growth even while not being in a position to report on GW products it seems completely alien to us to run Beasts of War and not be able to report on the most dominant game and company in the industry.
We respect Games Workshop, and are using this opportunity to once again reach out to them and say… We do Beasts of War, because we love this hobby and this industry, including your part in it, and at all times we try to treat others fairly and we hope you will do the same.
We will be moving studios over the next few days, we will also be opening a permanent studio space in Nottingham and have quite a long list of cool new things in the pipeline to discuss (and deliver!) with you guys over the coming weeks including of course a new range of content and shows dedicated to 40K etc.
We are excited about this, we want to see the project and community grow and grow, but we’ll be honest with you guys, we are worried and a little afraid for what the future will hold for us all, and so more now than ever, we could be doing with your support!
40k- Space marines(5000 pts) Imperial guard (3000 pts) Tau (3000 pts)
Epic 40k-Space marines/Imperial Guard(2000 pts)
Infinity Yu jing (Aprox 1000 pts)
Necromunda Escher Mad capsules Avalanche
Blood bowl Skaven
Epic 40k-Space marines/Imperial Guard(2000 pts)
Infinity Yu jing (Aprox 1000 pts)
Necromunda Escher Mad capsules Avalanche
Blood bowl Skaven