Hasbro and Shapeways To Allow Fanmade Licensed Item Printing

I was waiting on this to come up. Glad to see its beign handled tastefully,although I imnagine a lot of hurt feelings over raised licensing costs.

I misread that first line as, 'Hasbro and Shapeways want to profit from your fan-made artwork based on Hasbro toys.' twice!

i know this might be a stupid question but would this go for pretty much everything on Creative round up and all of them fanfics?

I was under the assumption that "fan art" was always going to be considered fan art. Honestly I see this business collaboration with Hasbro as a downfall for fans. Expect to see the prices go up on anything that resembles Hasbro IP. Probably to the point where printing a full non assembled figure costs as much as buying a 3rd party figure. And that’s not including the cost of paint plus hours of sanding. In my opinion, Shapways sold out.

Autobot tap out wrote:i know this might be a stupid question but would this go for pretty much everything on Creative round up and all of them fanfics?

Nah, just on designs printed and purchased/sold via Shapeways. So figures, not visual art, fiction or the such.

Convoy wrote:I misread that first line as, 'Hasbro and Shapeways want to profit from your fan-made artwork based on Hasbro toys.' twice!

I'm pretty sure that's how you should read it.
Once Hasbro has a foot in the door of the third party market it'll give them grounds to try and take control of those products and profits. Designers should probably expect an increase in cease and desist notices on products that "threaten Hasbro's market", unless one agrees to license their work out to Hasbro.

MCutter wrote:

Convoy wrote:I misread that first line as, 'Hasbro and Shapeways want to profit from your fan-made artwork based on Hasbro toys.' twice!

I'm pretty sure that's how you should read it.
Once Hasbro has a foot in the door of the third party market it'll give them grounds to try and take control of those products and profits. Designers should probably expect an increase in cease and desist notices on products that "threaten Hasbro's market", unless one agrees to license their work out to Hasbro.

Maybe, but I think it'll still be a while before Hasbro can tell just how far its foot can get into the 3D printable market. There be much blurriness between distinct likenesses and same-general-ideas here.

I haven't bought anything from Shapeways or Renderform yet, and honestly haven't been following it that closely, but the first thing I will buy when I get around to it is that cassette scorpion. Though close kin of the IDW-esque Rewind in the thumbnail, could Hasbro really do anything about that particular item? Stinger only exists in an early draft of the TF:TM script, without so much as concept art for this or any other toy to bear a distinct likeness to. Just a quick description of something that never officially existed.

Expensive gestalt teams are the 3rd party items that get the most attention while Impossible Toys is going out of business, but the stuff they made their mark with might be most relevant here. If it's a design from TF media that Hasbro never has and never will touch in the official toy department (Quints, Prime hand blasters), what exactly could Hasbro do, and would they even bother? Also, if the printed object was something that would never pass U.S. toy safety standards, might Hasbro be so tepid about having their name associated with it in any way that they wouldn't even try to block it?

Factor in the threat of backlash from biting too many of the hands that feed them via sweeping 3rd party crackdown, since anyone who buys 3rd party stuff surely collects plenty of the real deal as well, and Hasbro will surely be tiptoeing cautiously into this printable minefield.

So this means that this stuff is now sort of official! Hmm now I'm interested.

As it is, Shapeways is already taking the lion's share of the profits made from each sale. With Hasbro's in on it too, does that mean even slimmer profits for the artist?

"...The companies would split the revenue...."

So, what's in it for the artist himself? Free advertising for his work?

A more important question: If a designer's work is not accepted by Hasbro, is he still able to sell them at Shapeways? Except for complete transforming figures (and even that is an open-ended question), AFAIK weapons and accessories aren't officially copyrighted. This is especially true for add-on parts and original weapons, where the designs are 100% made by the artist and not copied from onscreen CGI models or concept art.

Fan made artwork into toys eh? I wonder if I could get all of my characters in Transformers: Advanced Combat into toys. Probably not! Oh well it's just a dream. Just a dream folks.

Convoy wrote:I misread that first line as, 'Hasbro and Shapeways want to profit from your fan-made artwork based on Hasbro toys.' twice!

Okay, stop. No. This is not artwork. This is product. Artwork is stuff on canvas, or digital prints or one off customs. And even then sketchy (get it?) If art is being sold en masse by amteur artists Because its still Hasbro intellectual property. There is no difference between Shapeways and Fansproject beyond the material used for assembly.

Flashwave wrote:

Convoy wrote:I misread that first line as, 'Hasbro and Shapeways want to profit from your fan-made artwork based on Hasbro toys.' twice!

Okay, stop. No. This is not artwork. This is product. Artwork is stuff on canvas, or digital prints or one off customs. And even then sketchy (get it?) If art is being sold en masse by amteur artists Because its still Hasbro intellectual property. There is no difference between Shapeways and Fansproject beyond the material used for assembly.

The question is, what does Hasbro consider as "derivative work"? Does one consider a transforming cassette robot a derivative work of the Transformers brand, even if it bears no aesthetic resemblance to Hasbro's copyrighted material and has an original transformation sequence?

Weapons and accessories are even more of a gray area.

It's all open to interpretation, so it's really a matter of how generous Hasbro feels in letting independent 3d designers do their own thing. Generally-speaking, though, Hasbro has been quite nice to it's collector fanbase, so it's unlikely that they'll pull a Harmony Gold with this.

i read the agreement and im not sure about this
it sure sounded awesome when it was first announced but
hasbro will have all the rights of one's work, to modify, distribute, and do whatever they whant with it, only one getting the markup, and the right to say TRANSFORMERS, but even then they will get money the rights and control of almost everything
i know some great, awesome and beyond that designers already agreed and so but maybe im just not ENOUGHT designer to see the gains

Convoy wrote:I misread that first line as, 'Hasbro and Shapeways want to profit from your fan-made artwork based on Hasbro toys.' twice!

*Facepalm*


Of course thats what it means thats what selling any product and making businesses partnerships is about!



It's money people need it so they have to find ways to earn it.





Jesus Christ wtf is happening to the world where all companies is being accused of being greedy and selfish money makers.

I think this is great.It could work as bridge from fan creations to being a Hasbro Employe.

mirageandjazz1197 wrote:

Convoy wrote:I misread that first line as, 'Hasbro and Shapeways want to profit from your fan-made artwork based on Hasbro toys.' twice!

Jesus Christ wtf is happening to the world where all companies is being accused of being greedy and selfish money makers.

Capitalism.

Va'al wrote:

mirageandjazz1197 wrote:

Convoy wrote:I misread that first line as, 'Hasbro and Shapeways want to profit from your fan-made artwork based on Hasbro toys.' twice!

Jesus Christ wtf is happening to the world where all companies is being accused of being greedy and selfish money makers.

Capitalism.

I think people are just worried that the designers themselves will start missing out. The comment about people needing to earn money is the truest statement of all, and that courtesy needs to be afforded to the artists on shapeways as well. Guys like Renderform need to earn a living too, and these kind of things (heads, accessories) are his way of using his skills to earn said money. Nobody wants to see a huge company like Hasbro, who already have their fare share, take from the little guy. Obviously some of these designs are crossing both a moral and legal line, and it's obvious (and right) that Hasbro get in officially on it, but it needs to be done fairly. Hopefully it will be.

That said, I doubt official Hasbro and Takara designers get much in the way of pay on what is THEIR work, not when you see just how much gets shared out to other people just for the privilege of having a company logo on it. Sadly, that's business.

I still don't see why Hasbro don't scout out the breadth of talent that is out there, both on Shapeways and 3rd party toys. Plenty of fan artists and writers have made the leap to official stuff through Dreamwave and IDW. Why not here? Maybe this Shapeways business is the start of something like that?

I do hope that is the case too!

As you said, venues like deviantArt, Tumblr and the such were great platforms for artists and colourists to make it to professional and freelance position with IDW - this would be a great opportunity to restock the designing team at Hasbro.

hinomars19 wrote:

Va'al wrote:

mirageandjazz1197 wrote:

Convoy wrote:I misread that first line as, 'Hasbro and Shapeways want to profit from your fan-made artwork based on Hasbro toys.' twice!

Jesus Christ wtf is happening to the world where all companies is being accused of being greedy and selfish money makers.

Capitalism.

I think people are just worried that the designers themselves will start missing out. The comment about people needing to earn money is the truest statement of all, and that courtesy needs to be afforded to the artists on shapeways as well. Guys like Renderform need to earn a living too, and these kind of things (heads, accessories) are his way of using his skills to earn said money. Nobody wants to see a huge company like Hasbro, who already have their fare share, take from the little guy. Obviously some of these designs are crossing both a moral and legal line, and it's obvious (and right) that Hasbro get in officially on it, but it needs to be done fairly. Hopefully it will be.

That said, I doubt official Hasbro and Takara designers get much in the way of pay on what is THEIR work, not when you see just how much gets shared out to other people just for the privilege of having a company logo on it. Sadly, that's business.

I still don't see why Hasbro don't scout out the breadth of talent that is out there, both on Shapeways and 3rd party toys. Plenty of fan artists and writers have made the leap to official stuff through Dreamwave and IDW. Why not here? Maybe this Shapeways business is the start of something like that?

Took the words right out of my mouth.

I just read the article at Makezine, and at 20% royalty from the full retail price of each item sold, it's pretty fair. The only catch is that whether you make the cut to be a seller at Super Fan Art is at Hasbro's discretion instead of being a free market like Shapeways.

Va'al wrote:I do hope that is the case too!

As you said, venues like deviantArt, Tumblr and the such were great platforms for artists and colourists to make it to professional and freelance position with IDW - this would be a great opportunity to restock the designing team at Hasbro.

Yeah, Josh Nizzi is a good example.

I have a 3d printer http://www.heliora.com and already printed Optimus' G1 rifle and arms/legs. One day I'll finish the whole body. For now it's just my own designs.

The 3d printer I have is a little more expensive then an XboxOne. And I skipped the new console this year. 3d printing is so much more fun (when you can 3d model anyway)

It's great stuff, but designing your own transformer is difficult as hell. People tend to look down on Hasbro designers or complain about certain figures. Try and 3d model something that actually transformers. I have the greatest respect for Transformers designers since the day I tried to model one in 3D.

Oh yess:

If there are any 3d modelers on the forum who have a cool transformer 3d model. I can print it for you and send it

I'm seeing a lot of people react negatively to this. Remember, folks, whether you like it or not, all these 3rd party groups and artists are profiting off of Hasbro's Intellectual Property. We are searching out and buying these things because they are representations of characters that Hasbro put time and money into developing.

Hasbro has been VERY lenient in the way that it handles 3rd party makers. You can bet that if Hasbro was owned by Disney, there would be a swarm of lawyers all over the place keeping individuals from selling such things, and law suits in place suing for damages and such.

Hasbro hasn't shut down the 3rd party vendors. It hasn't shut down those who are using 3d printers to make money. It is, however, saying "you want to make money off of our IP? Fine. Okay. We'll work with you. But you have to pay us a cut of the profits"

Is that so horribly wrong?

Va'al wrote:I do hope that is the case too!

As you said, venues like deviantArt, Tumblr and the such were great platforms for artists and colourists to make it to professional and freelance position with IDW - this would be a great opportunity to restock the designing team at Hasbro.

I'm still waiting for my time to shine

Not to get too off topic or become a hater, but some re-stocking definitely needs doing somewhere at Hasbro. I went to Toys r us on the hopes of finding a couple of Orion Pax figs, and the TF section is awash with that no frills packaging (seriously cheap! Easy to recognise my bum!) And nasty looking 'toys'. Simplicity isn't the issue, the toys just look bad. I'm exhausted with the current stock of bad toys. It's Beast Machines all over again I feel something has gone inherently wrong at Hasbro of late.

SKYWARPED_128 wrote:Took the words right out of my mouth.

I just read the article at Makezine, and at 20% royalty from the full retail price of each item sold, it's pretty fair. The only catch is that whether you make the cut to be a seller at Super Fan Art is at Hasbro's discretion instead of being a free market like Shapeways.

20% may sound fair in legal terms, but it's a shame the actual artistic creator of a product gets less for their work. It's not even half. It's Hasbro's I.P, and yeah maybe even their 'design' if someone works from an existing character, but the toy, engineering and final look is that of the person who makes it. But this is just me digressing. That's how all things work, like I said earlier, sadly that's business.

Flashwave wrote: This is not artwork. This is product.

Products can still be artwork. Reproductive prints exist purely to mass-produce a piece of art to sell, making them what you define as "product", but they don't make the piece itself not art.

Your post is also worded like sculpture and statues aren't artwork.

Bumblevivisector wrote:I haven't bought anything from Shapeways or Renderform yet, and honestly haven't been following it that closely, but the first thing I will buy when I get around to it is that cassette scorpion.

I've got that one, and a few of the others that Tom Servo has done. They're nice little toys, though instructions would have been nice.

hinomars19 wrote:

SKYWARPED_128 wrote:Took the words right out of my mouth.

I just read the article at Makezine, and at 20% royalty from the full retail price of each item sold, it's pretty fair. The only catch is that whether you make the cut to be a seller at Super Fan Art is at Hasbro's discretion instead of being a free market like Shapeways.

20% may sound fair in legal terms, but it's a shame the actual artistic creator of a product gets less for their work. It's not even half. It's Hasbro's I.P, and yeah maybe even their 'design' if someone works from an existing character, but the toy, engineering and final look is that of the person who makes it. But this is just me digressing. That's how all things work, like I said earlier, sadly that's business.

Well, Shapeways rightfully takes the lion's share because they're the ones doing the manufacturing, packaging and shipping. Hasbro? Well, it's their IP, and there are certain benefits for working with them--no risk of C&D's, usage of trademarked names, better exposure. No matter how you cut it, it's still better than having them toss C&D's every which way.

Frankly, I'm still a little confused about the details of this whole Super Fan Art thing. It's being run sort of like a publishing house where you have to submit your manuscript 3d designs for consideration, and then it starts to look like a contest where the "selected artists" will have their designs featured on the site.

So, it it still a free market but with some added guidelines and criteria by Hasbro, or is it now run like a publishing house where your work only gets published featured on the site if the editor Hasbro deems it worthy?

This brings me to a question that's been nagging at me for a while. What about "gray area" items? Weapons for characters that were shown on TV, but weren't included in the actual toy, and Hasbro would never make separately? This is where the possibility of them "stomping on the little man", as you put it, arises.

noctorro wrote:I have a 3d printer http://www.heliora.com and already printed Optimus' G1 rifle and arms/legs. One day I'll finish the whole body. For now it's just my own designs.

Does the Optimus transform in any way?