I know , at first it wasnt a big deal but dude they are starting to back us in a corner here…ebay , now they are attacking indie artists…whats next??
It will make no difference. They can crack down all they want, and yes, they have a right to. However, you can bet that they will still be made and sold to the public, only in a very quiet manner.
Hmmmmm idea here give it some thought… What about IF mask makers took down their sites with mask pricing but just put up a “Gallery of Commissioned Wearable Artwork”…legally there is not a DAMN thing Trancas can do about commissioned artwork, BECAUSE it is an artist interpretation of a character. For instance my cousin which is a well known sculptor here in NC did a sculptor of a very well known and TRADEMARKED character from Disney with big circle ears…know who it is right? Well thinking ahead of time she just curiously asked a lawyer if it was considered copyright and guess what, since she commissioned it for a private collector is WAS NOT illegal. Just a thought mask makers, start asking customers to commission wearable artwork for private use. But like i said, just a thought…
-Tyler
Look, if I were Trancas, and I owned the exclusive rights to a character, and that character was being made by other’s to profit from, I’d be ticked off to. They can go to every site that currently has a Myer’s mask in they’re line-up and have it removed. However, the artists will still make them, and sell them under the table. Trancas won’t be able to do anything, unless they start going door to door. I doubt it. They wouldn’t have the time or the energy to do that. They need to focus all they’re time and energy on figuring out how they’re going to (if they can at this point) get the HalloweeN series back to a respectable franchise. They’re last few efforts have been abismal.
Sam’s a great guy, so i hope everything works out for him!
Best of luck bud
Mark Walton
Guys, I feel bad for Sam and others that have gotten caught in the middle of this, and it was something that pissed me off for a long time, but the anger came out of my ignorance.
Being part of the process of licensing known characters for the past few month with my new mask company, Trick or Treat Studios, I can tell you a few facts.
- These licenses are very expensive to obtain and they usually include a high initial upfront annual commitment and include revenue sharing of every gross dollar.
- As part of that fee, companies issuing these license are obligated to protect licensees from being damaged by non-licensed product. If this wasn’t done, there would be little value in having a license.
This is not popular among our community, but at the end of the day, they are obligated to protect those that paid for the license and it is in the contract.
My suggestion to mask makers would be to sell your masks by word of mouth and not openly on a public web site, or, apply for a license they can be obtained, I closed the deal on 5 of them recently.
Chris
Waitaminute… What did just happen? Trancas shutting down HSS…??? 
Angry… Hulk… A N G R Y ! ! !
I know one thing since Moustapha Akkads son took over things have changed drastically!Moustapha carred what all the fans thought his son does not!IMO he just wants the money!I think its CRAP what trancas did!:evil: 
Kind Regards Guys,Cade
I’m wondering if Trancas even knows what this hypocritical fucktard is even doing.
The guy collects these masks and then goes around screwing whoever he chooses. That to me doesn’t sound like a company thing, that sounds more like a personal issue by Rayman. If this were a company thing then every mask maker would have already had a ceast and desist letter a long time ago.
If I can make it to the next convention with Malek attending then you can bet this issue will be brought to light. Moustapha Akkad had no problem with people making Myers masks- why all of a sudden is there a problem? It’s no coincidence that it directly relates to Brian Rayman getting a job there- and the creation of his own website selling Myers crap. He’s trying to screw with the sales in this hobby so he can drive more sales to his personal website. Anybody who buys his crap needs to pull their out of their ass and see that they’re supporting this tool and his tactics.
I would like to know if the copyright owners to characters like Jason, Freddy, Leatherface & others practice this same method as Trancas…Trying to shut down indy artists?
And how come Trancas or any other has not shown up at any conventions like say Maskfest and raised a ruckus?
You made a good point here! The reason why I think is bc they know that if they really went to court with a bigger organization they outcome would not be anywhere as black and white as they make it look with us fans and small indie artists! They think they can bully us and shut us down with their ‘hey we’re the big dogs’ bullshit but I am telling you; Trancas owns Michael Myers the character but there’s no way in hell that just because someone makes a white faced mask any court would so easily agree that there has been a violation of copyright! I mean HEY what’s Pepsi to CocaCola, Burger King to McDonalds, etc. etc. etc. in the business world everybody copies and steals from everybody as long as you don’t call it THAT you’re good! Also what about the indie fan made films? I mean Trancas got away with their bullying shit thus far because nobody actually really had the balls to go to court with’em, but the first one to do it is gonna change this BS!!!
Oh and btw, what Trancas is doing is nothing else than discriminating NAZI bullying. Show me one judge who’d say you can’t sell a white mask and call it ‘xyz’ because Trancas owns the right for every white mask in the universe… RIDICULOUS!!!
Wow, some of you guys still don’t get it. Could be your age, could be that you just don’t WANT to believe it, or other factors. Chris pretty much nailed it as well, go back and re-read his post.
Charon666, what you keep failing to understand, is that YES THEY CAN GO AFTER YOU for selling a “white faced mask” if said white faced mask LOOKS like Michael Myers. That’s the point of intellectual property rights violations. Now, if you went out and bought a plain old face mask and painted it white, you’re fine. But if that mask is sculpted to look like a character that YOU don’t own the rights to, you’re screwed. Get it?
They could go to court and the judge would simply have to look at a photo of Myers, and then look at the mask in question, and if the judge can PLAINLY see that the mask was made to resemble Myers, you’re once again, screwed. Hence, intellectual property rights.
And Vader, you’re still wrong. Try this scenario. Trancas goes the extra mile and has Sam’s website(s) shut down and then files an injunction to order him to stop the production and selling of his masks. Sam quietly goes away and starts selling underground. Trancas (Seeing is they come here atleast once per week) finds out how to get in touch with Sam, and sends a person on their staff to purchase a mask. Sam all the while has no idea it’s a set up, ships the mask out and they have SOLID PROOF that Sam ignored the COURT ORDER to stop selling the masks. What do you think would happen exactly LOL? Do you think he or you would be untouchable then? I think not.
I understand that you’re mad about the situation, we all are, but for you to think that you would be immune to Trancas and the courts is laughable. We’re all breaking the law here, not you, myself or anyone else (Again, read Chris’ post) is above the law no matter how big or small.
TJ, I can CATGORICALLY tell you, that your friend needs a better Lawyer. Disney has a fulltime dept. JUST for copyright infringement and such. I’m talking fulltime, 7 days a week, 365 days per year. NOBODY and I do mean NOBODY can sell anything Disney related without Disney’s expressed written consent. Private collector or not, any sale, key word there is SALE, that is made without Disney’s approval, is instantly illegal.
I know a woman who wanted to sell Disney balloons as part of her flower arranging business, and even she had to not only apply for a Disney license, but then had to have it approved BY Disney, and has to pay an annual fee for the rights to do so. My Mother in law, is married to the Vice President of Walt Disney Entertainment. No offense intended here at all, but don’t even attempt to question me on this topic because it would be pointless for you.
I can tell you right now, it’s not Trancas that’s doing this. It’s Rayman, on his own. Even if he does work for Trancas, the brass most likely could care a less on the matter. As I said before, they have more important things to do, other then to crack down on indy mask makers. This is all about one idiot who’s on a crusade to try and further himself along at the expense of other’s. I do agree, Trancas does have every right to shut people down if they really wanted to, but as I stated, this is just a disgruntle prick who is trying to make life hard for certain other people, ala, David Brandon.
thewholefknshow: Question… Is what your reffering to somewhat like the “Personality rights” as i know that Personality rights are generally considered to consist of two types of rights, right to publicity, or keep one’s image/likeness from being commercially exploited without permission or contractual compensation, which is kind of like the use of a trademark, and right to privacy, or the right to be left alone and not have one’s personality represented publicly without permission… Just curious?
-50
I have stayed mute on this subject, but I must say you are full of yourself. For someone to question your knowledge on this subject may seem pointless to you but may be pertinent to others.Im not a know it all like youself, but for you to say it may be someones age is asinine.I could care less about trancas or your opinion. I thought I would let you know you dont have to talk down to people because they dont live up to your high knowledgeable standards on copyright infringement.
Seems as though Cryptco is down now too, says suspended…Empire heaven posted another thread about it. Seems like too much of a coincidence 2 sites in 2 days. I will tell you who I really wouldn’t want to be…Rayman, don’t take this the wrong way and I’m certainly not making a threat, but there are a lot of people who aren’t liking this guy right about now…
sigh here we go again…
Mask4me,
Me saying to TJ not to question me on Disney related copyrights is a fact, not me talking down to him, and as you can plainly see, I said NO DISRESPECT INTENDED right before my comment. Stop trying to stir shit up. I don’t care if you don’t like me, PM me if you have an issue with me. Easily done.
As for my age comment, deal with it. There ARE INFACT some people here as young as 13 yrs old, and some of the posters saying things like “FUCK TRANCAS” or “They can kiss my ass all day” etc, lead ME to believe that some of the poeple posting their replies are too young to understand the issue(s) behind the law we’re breaking to the fullest extent. If this hurts your feelings, then ignore my posts. But what I’m saying is true, whether you want to accept it or not.
Oh, and by the way, Rayman is acting DIRECTLY on the behalf of Trancas, he’s not “on his own…” They sign his paychecks, so to think that they have no idea that he’s on this crusade, is just crazy. They know allllllllll about it.