Bought these from the last GB. Had never played or bought Fallout but was interested in it, but can't give this company any money after they stomped on this.
They didn't stomp. They just didn't give a nod to my use of their rightful logo. We are all free to vote with our wallets, but this should not make anyone decide not to enjoy their products. I will still produce Vault # keys as well as other designs yet to be discovered...please give Bethesda a break.
Yup, it's not really their fault. There's a massive gap between "We'll sue you if you use our stuff!" and "We won't give permission to use our stuff explicitly because that sets a precedent that can be taken advantage of". SP is forcing designers to do something nigh on impossible, just to cover their asses in case a company gets upset. This is actually brought on by their new design for the way they want to run PMK, so they can sell sets for money after any GB...
If you want to boycott somebody because of this, boycott SP (particularly PMK), not Bethesda.
Let's put this into some perspective, please. SP is a very small company based out of a very small town in remote Washington state. The fact they are still able to make a business off of POS keysets gives us the opportunity to make our own runs of keys.
Consider they have limited machines that not only need care and maintenance, but cost $10,000s of dollars to replace. Dies aren't cheap and neither is the cost of keeping employees running these machines. Procuring plastics in such a wide range of colors and keeping them in the workflow process must be a bear of a task in and of its self.
Now, imagine running this niche company and all of the sudden someone is asking you to produce copyrighted materials. Say, Mickey Mouse, Bart Simpson, the Game of Thrones house symbols, Sonic the Hedgehog, or Vault Boy? Are you willing to risk your business for the risk of being sued for not licensing the product?
I'm sure if someone wanted to put up money and license the images from Bethesda, there wouldn't be an issue.
Obviously Zero won't take on the risk, or he'd sign the contract he was asked to sign. It's not as easy as, 'they won't let me use the image.' People's businesses and personal finances are at stake here. I'm sure there's a Chinese company that doesn't give a **** about use, but then there's still the distribution of said product, putting any seller at risk as well.
Totally sucks. I wanted me some more Fallout themed caps and for everyone to rejoice in the fun. It's a risk cluster**** that could probably be avoided if companies weren't so willing to sue over the use of their images. Greed is inherent in the American Capitalist Economy, if you can't tell.
