It’s not news that Chapterhouse and Games Workshop are currently embroiled in a legal battle over copyright infringement and claim to various copyrightable materials etc. I read an update this evening in which Chapterhouse won a minor victory which could potentially open them up to a much bigger one as they brought Games Workshop’s credibility into doubt.
Now I don’t want to get dragged into the whys and wherefores because ultimately it’s far too complex for me to understand lacking the legal training needed. All I understand is this: both genuinely believe they hold copyright over an idea/s.
Never let it be said I feel sorry for Games Workshop. Their recent conduct – akin to Doctor Evil’s misguided attempts at supervillainy which end with hilarious results – has left me feeling increasingly hollow about that side of my hobby (hence the lack of Primarch articles) but I do understand their desire to want to protect their ideas. And Chapterhouse for that matter.
To be clear I’m not saying that’s what they’re doing. It’s just as likely they want to stop anyone else from having a good idea – if Spots the Space Marine is anything to go by – but for argument’s sake let’s just assume that the legal department is merely executing the wishes of the development team who work hard to produce a rich and vibrant universe set in a game mechanic that’s creaking beneath the weight of their ambition.
With that assumption made (so please don’t fan rage me) I kind of get where they’re coming from. When I’m not working, writing this blog, playing the odd game or not putting brush to model I’m writing. Now because I suffer from the same short attention span that all wargamers are afflicted with, I’m writing a few things. A sci-fi novel or two, a book that treads the line between a rom-com and a sit-com as well as two games that I’m actively working on and two more in a draw for another time. All the ideas are mine and I’ve worked hard to cultivate them, distinguish them from anything else and make them believable.
In many ways, regardless of my feelings towards Games Workshop now, as a wise (and bitter) thirty year old, I owe Games Workshop a lot. Aside from their games getting me into the hobby I love, they showed me how background is supposed to be written. Finding that perfect blend between variety, depth and ambiguity is what keeps us wanting more and what I try and create in my wargaming efforts. There have been times as I’ve tried to piece together histories of the various factions I’m balked at the enormity of what I was trying to create and fully appreciated why they have as many people on staff as they do. It’s a big, hard, difficult task. One in which a mistake or an inconsistency can shatter that sense of immersion and kill a game.
It’s well documented how much I love fluff over rules. I’ll play an average game if the fluff is great and the models are cool because that’s what fires my imagination. I don’t see models on a board, I see titanic space fleets or ranks of super soldiers. Models aren’t removed from the board, their struck down in a hail of enemy fire. When I play a wargame I not only get to be the supreme commander but the executive producer and director too.
So as someone who has done their best to create original works, with unique, vibrant and interesting worlds therein I completely understand where individuals within the Games Workshop are coming from. Whoever they may be. And to be honest, I would go after anyone who stole my ideas because I’ve worked hard to create them. And as with all obsessions it comes with heavy compromise.
I suppose the big and extremely significant difference between me and the Games Workshop is that although they too fiercely protect their ideas they do so because there’s millions of pounds/dollars involved, share holders who want their taste of the pie and the jobs of thousands of people around the world. Not to mention the millions of people who love their games.
I’d like to think that if my games ever reached the dizzy heights I would find the water’s edge between protecting my ideas and crushing those that want to do something a bit different with the models for my game. As I say, I don’t excuse Games Workshop. If I’m honest I don’t really understand the case, them or what the hell they’re doing these days but I do understand.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens with the Chapterhouse/Games Workshop case as were Games Workshop to lose – as I understand things – it could well shatter the grip they hold over a number of copyrights. More over companies like Chapterhouse will explode as gamers are forced more and more to look for alternatives to Games Workshop’s ever sky rocketing prices. Watch this space…
