Westfield Cars Ltd be afraid Caterham could be out to get you !

[ALLADDIN]

Perhaps the "work of art" is a bad example.

Cobra copies seem to.prove that both originals and replicas can exist in harmony if the parent company isn't too anal ?

[Wile E. Coyote]

I saw this today too... was "recommended" in the links at the bottom of PH. Only when I clicked it did I realise it was from early 2012!  Bit like when obscure stories get back into the "most read" list on the BBC News site.

[Meakin]

I disagree. If I'd spent a couple of years of my life producing a piece of art work that was to be sold as limited production run, I would do everything possible to then protect my investment.

I would be more than a little bit annoyed if somebody I'd sold my art to decided to run it through their photocopier and then profit by selling the cheeper copies. These would not only devalue my original pieces but further I would not be receiving any monies from the revenues of those sales.

But the copies would not be the originals if ypur limited productions were that popular then the extra cheapo copies would actually push your price up. There is only one mona Lisa but 1000s of copies that doesn't devalue the original pn the contrary it makes it one of the most famous pieces of art work.

I have worked in the software industry and believe me I understand the frustration in people copying my work however piracy is completely different from copying, ie the deliberate selling of something as an original. art especially cars as the copies are that ie not original

As long as that is clear I see no reason for people not to replicate something especially if the original is no longer profit ting the original designer/company ie merc no longer make that car

Paul

[Mark (smokey mow)]

But the copies would not be the originals if ypur limited productions were that popular then the extra cheapo copies would actually push your price up. There is only one mona Lisa but 1000s of copies that doesn't devalue the original pn the contrary it makes it one of the most famous pieces of art work.

I'm afraid I can't see how cheep copies could drive up the price of the original, it merely saturates the market and makes something that was once rare or unique then quite common. The mona lisa was famous long before you could buy copies of it from the gift shop, so I disagree that these have helped to raise its profile or value.

If the copies were being made under licence so the copyright/trade mark holder shares in the profits then thats quite different, but IMO mercedes were entitled to protect their trademark in this instance.

[Meakin]

The problem is that if copying of a particular shape or art is protected and stopped that it then will eventually disappear. There are a limited number of sl300 and they will disappear off our roads to be owned by a minority that would store them away never to be seen.

Similar to the mona Lisa argument nobody can actually own that piece of art anymore. They can only own a copy.

A copy on the other hand can be shown and seen for generations to come.

If Colin Chapman had done the same as merc then there would be no sevens on the road at all and a fantastic well balanced race car would dissappear off the roads and into museums.

Most classic bikes on the roads are made from copied parts. To find a truly original that actually works I would say is impossible.

As I said originally if merc were still making the car then I could see the argument but as they are not, I see no reason why our heratage should be destroyed and certainly the designer I feel would like to think of their design living on.

[pickmaster Andy Lowe]

Imagine if the designer of the wheel had done this, where would we be now?

Where would Mercedes be now ?

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

To use that analogy; I bet the designer of the Minilite is a bit peeved at all the copies though!

[pickmaster Andy Lowe]

As the human race without developing copied ideas we would be living in caves still

That not saying a fee could not be paid to the originator while still alive or still in production

Nothing's new anymore

[Rab (bombero) Reid]

Imagine if the designer of the wheel had done this, where would we be now?

Where would Mercedes be now ?

That's the difference though, mate. The wheel was invented not designed. Design is an art form, an expression; invention is something quite different. You patent an invention and you copyright a design.

[jeff oakley]

In my opinion it would be simple to sort any such issue out. I would set a period of say 15 years after that anyone could do a copy of the shape of the car.

 

I can understand Bentley when a guy built a copy of a GT when it was clearly a current model, same way as Aston Martin jumping all over they guy who was making body kits to fit the jag XKR to make a DB look alike, again still in production.

 

Some though seems to be well less worried. Ferrari don't go after those who produce a MR2 based copy, but they do if someone sells a shirt. I guess they see it as being so obviously a fake car as to not worry. No one would buy an MR2 as a genuine car but the shirt easy to pass off.

There was a story of the Italian police crushing a fake Ferrari but it seemed it was being passed of as genuine in a fraud, not a replica.

 

When the first Lambo replica was built in the UK, the then owner of Lamborgini gave him his blessing as he felt anyone who could build a car so good was okay. The owners now VAG are very highly motivated to use lawyers to shut people down. 

 

When Merc did this in 2012 they looked like bullies of the first order.