Another Modelhaus kit ripped by Pedro

[Paul Hettick]

Now he has stolen Don Holthauses 67 Impala wagon. I can't believe what some people do.

[Quick GMC]

I don't know who Pedro is, but how is this a surprise to anyone. Unless someone bought the rights to their molds, or they decide to pursue legal action, their stuff is pretty much up for grabs. There is no infringement if nobody pursues it. 

[Paul Hettick]

I'm not sure how to do this but below is a link to pedro's copy of Don's wagon.  The photo posted with the black back round is the Modelhaus. Note the same incorrect B pillar that leans too far rear word at the top.

 

http://media.fotki.com/1_p,rtddqskdwgrwkkgxwkfqsqggtsgsr,vi/bsbqfkqtdxbsbfrdbrrxfbrrbrfbd/8/3275648/14253424/FullSizeRenderMA290080480001-vi.jpg

[Paul Hettick]

When an artist spends 40 to 200 hrs creating a master one would think it would be his.

[afx]

What are your plans for your masters?  Are you pursuing another distributor to make them available again?

[Tom Geiger]

I don't know who Pedro is, but how is this a surprise to anyone. Unless someone bought the rights to their molds, or they decide to pursue legal action, their stuff is pretty much up for grabs. There is no infringement if nobody pursues it. 

Note that R&D Unique sued a company that copied their products and got a large settlement.  

The best scenario is a modeling community that stands up for what's right and refuses to buy from the pirates!

[gtx6970]

Sadly that's the risk one takes when they send it out the door. Chances are somewhere , someone is going to make a copy of it at some point in time.

My personal opinion is once ModelHaus has closed there doors for good. Chances are this will happen more and more

 

Unless its copy-righted in some way , My gut feeling is there's not much can be done to prevent it or seek punitive damages once its done .

 

Best , maybe only course of action IMO is if the culprit if found out , make the hobby aware of it.

 

[ranma]

 Well Enough already!!!! Don't you guy's think that over 50% of the resin casting out there are made from either a promo or a kit? And They copied smp/amt/ revell/Johan ect. without asking! I know that Modehaus wasn't the only ones to make a 67 Impala wagon, Star resin made one . Jimmy Flintstone , Make's copies of the smp 60 Nomad wagon and revell's old 57 Ford four door wagon. Even Paul made a 53 ford wagon that I seen on resin realm and it looks simular to the one Flintstone still offers  for sale on his site. This also happens in the 1:1 automotive world. Ford based their 66-76 Bronco  heavily on the International Scout.

Edited March 27, 2017 by ranma

[Dave Van]

Note that R&D Unique sued a company that copied their products and got a large settlement.  

The best scenario is a modeling community that stands up for what's right and refuses to buy from the pirates!

R&D sued Estes and parent Tower.....they had deep corp pockets and sold the copied items internationally.

Taking a law suit against a cottage industry will not go as easy......I know my decal catalog has been copied by a guy that sells them on ebay and even getting them to step in is most difficult......a suit even more so and costs a lot more.

Having my hard work copied is not something I'd wish on anyone. But I can see taking an out of production item (vintage AMT kit or a resin kit) make some improvements and casting it.  It's a very gray area when someone casts an out of production item be it a aMT kit or a Modelhaus kit......where do we draw the line???

[gtx6970]

I know my decal catalog has been copied by a guy that sells them on ebay

 

I'll bet I know by who , Initials are JH ?  If so your not the only ones they've copied .

Once I found out they were selling copies of others decals , I quit buying from him. And I'm told the quality is not all that good

[bismarck]

I'm not sure how to do this but below is a link to pedro's copy of Don's wagon.  The photo posted with the black back round is the Modelhaus. Note the same incorrect B pillar that leans too far rear word at the top.

 

http://media.fotki.com/1_p,rtddqskdwgrwkkgxwkfqsqggtsgsr,vi/bsbqfkqtdxbsbfrdbrrxfbrrbrfbd/8/3275648/14253424/FullSizeRenderMA290080480001-vi.jpg

That's a dam shame!!! I've been looking for that very body to build a copy of a 1:1 wagon my dad owned years ago. But I WON'T  buy stolen and/or pirated knock offs.

[Dave Van]

I'll bet I know by who , Initials are JH ?  If so your not the only ones they've copied .

Once I found out they were selling copies of others decals , I quit buying from him. And I'm told the quality is not all that good

Bingo!!! I screen print my whites so they stay bright white......He just puts my decal in a photo copier and sells them like that....pure junk.

[Quick GMC]

Note that R&D Unique sued a company that copied their products and got a large settlement.  

The best scenario is a modeling community that stands up for what's right and refuses to buy from the pirates!

I'm sure Moldehaus could do the same, but being retired, it's not affecting their revenue anymore, so it would just come down to whether or not they wanted to spend the time to pursue it. With no revenue to protect, nothing to gain from it, they would just be throwing money away. It's sad, but that's just what it is. 

You are right though, the best way to support them is to not buy the knockoffs. 

[High octane]

Will that person selling the '67 Impala wagons be vending at the NNL East, or no?

[Dave Van]

I'm sure Moldehaus could do the same, but being retired, it's not affecting their revenue anymore, so it would just come down to whether or not they wanted to spend the time to pursue it. With no revenue to protect, nothing to gain from it, they would just be throwing money away. It's sad, but that's just what it is. 

You are right though, the best way to support them is to not buy the knockoffs. 

Suing someone after you no longer make the product AND you are no longer in business would be a very expensive victory for the right to say 'told you so'......damages would be nill and thus the win would be only a moral one. 

[Paul Hettick]

I forgot all about the Ford Bronco excuse for stealing others resin kits.  Since The Modelhaus is still in business, just not taking orders, and for sale, I would think that a person who takes it upon himself to copy the kits from the Modelhaus would be doing damage to the value of the said business. Every kit that is bootlegged drops the value of the business.  I would think there would be one heck of a lawsuit possible.

[Dave Van]

I forgot all about the Ford Bronco excuse for stealing others resin kits.  Since The Modelhaus is still in business, just not taking orders, and for sale, I would think that a person who takes it upon himself to copy the kits from the Modelhaus would be doing damage to the value of the said business. Every kit that is bootlegged drops the value of the business.  I would think there would be one heck of a lawsuit possible.

I had/have all the documentation to prove my case for this guy stealing all my work.....his order of my sheets, USPS tracking numbers......decals bought from him showing they were my work. But the difficulty and cost......much less the most valuable thing time, would again be more a moral victory.....just the way thing work.....now prove $500,000 in damage....you might break even.

[Tom Geiger]

I forgot all about the Ford Bronco excuse for stealing others resin kits.  Since The Modelhaus is still in business, just not taking orders, and for sale, I would think that a person who takes it upon himself to copy the kits from the Modelhaus would be doing damage to the value of the said business. Every kit that is bootlegged drops the value of the business.  I would think there would be one heck of a lawsuit possible.

Since the vendor in question is from Chicago, it wouldn't be hard for Modelhaus to drag him into court. 

Everyone in this hobby owes Modelhaus, Don and Carol Holthaus a lot of gratitude. They defined the measure of quality and professionalism in the resin casting business. They are the standard that everyone is judged against. How many times do you hear, "Is it Modelhaus quality?"  That is a reputation earned by years and years of hard work, an eye to outstanding quality, and honesty. People should not buy kits that have been ripped off from them out of respect.  Unfortunately there are too many people in this hobby, both sellers and buyers who don't get this.

And the quick buck guys come into this business, getting a jump start by plagiarizing others work, come and go. They don't want to do the hard work to build the business from scratch. And those of you who buy the product and sing their praises are co-conspirators working against the overall good of the hobby.  Note that when one starts a business on dishonest grounds, that's not a one time thing. Dishonesty and lack of moral character are a way of life for way too many people. It won't be long before they're ripping you off too.  If it's okay to steal from the Holthaus'es, it's okay to steal from you too!  And when it happens I'm sure you'll come running to the board to complain about it!  And you've gotten what you deserve!

 

[gui_tarzan]

I understand re-popping someone's hand-work without any modifications, especially if they're still making them is wrong, but plenty of people are doing just that with out-of-production parts that were designed and produced by AMT/Revell/Monogram etc. so where do you draw the line? They still hold the license for the original parts and those licenses to Ford, GM & Chrysler aren't cheap. I would venture a guess that if they wanted to they could go after the entire resin community and they would put a lot of people out of business. And for what? As was explained by someone with legal knowledge recently it doesn't matter how much or little you change something, the original work still stands. I agree whole-heartedly that copying someone's original design like JF's figurines would be wrong, and ethically making copies of someone's resin parts and reselling is indeed wrong but let's not take it too far or I fear it will bite us in the rear-ends. It's a fine line in the copyright world that we all walk when we reproduce and sell parts that someone else actually created. 

[ScottH454]

I never heard of modelhaus before an never heard of them being the quality standard. Everything I look at online I have found flaws or an ignorant lack of quality. This is why I felt compelled to get into resin casting so people could see what was possible. So far I am not selling box stock parts but imagine at some point I would to build a catalog. These parts being direct copies are merely an offering to make them available without buying a whole kit. So if someone recast these there just bypassing the initial cost of the kit. As for what I am making the detail isn't gonna transfer to we'll an without the skills to make the same quality part in the first place the couldn't compare. All I can say is promote your product so people know who you are an what you have. Continue to release fresh new parts an you will have more to offer than "them". Now on that note I'm off to uses to ship two engine kits.

[Lunajammer]

Some years ago I had some success selling a custom body and custom trailer I'd mastered myself. Then a well established resin caster asked if I'd like to trade for one of their products. I was so fearful he was going to bootleg it that I turned him down and quit selling it on ebay so that he couldn't get one. Well, I met him and learned more about him later and then felt bad for being so paranoid. But it clarified to me how vulnerable you are once it's released to the public.

[Tom Geiger]

 never heard of modelhaus before an never heard of them being the quality standard. Everything I look at online I have found flaws or an ignorant lack of quality. This is why I felt compelled to get into resin casting so people could see what was possible. 

 

  Hmmm... entering a business you know absolutely nothing about and being arrogant about it too!  Good luck to ya!

Edited April 8, 2017 by Tom Geiger

[redneckrigger]

 

  Hmmm... entering a business you know absolutely nothing about and being arrogant about it too!  Good luck to ya!

Well stated, Tom....................the very least a new caster should do is to investigate what and who has gone before them............and if he has indeed never heard of Modelhaus, and STILL not checked out their lofty standards set for ALL of the resin casting industry, well, he may not have a long life in the industry. Good luck sir.

[DrKerry]

Hate to say it that there are a lot of resin companies in business and selling today copies of other peoples stuff. I can't recall names of all of them but have seen resin engine kits that are a direct copy of Revell's Heavy Chevy Chevelle, Engines from a few various and current Corvette kits, skull heads from Hot wheel cars being sold as shift knobs, Wheels from who knows how many different kits (And I wont go into another fact on that), Different 4 wheel drive axles taken from kits that have been re issued, Winches from a couple different 4x4 kits, tires from the Orange Blossom Special kits in white resin, There are a ton more than this and I can keep going... I know most of ya all are ticked by someone copying someone elses work, if that's the case ya need to hate more than just Pedro!!!! I'm not going to name names of the compnaies but there is at least if not more than 20 of them and I bet none of them got the ok from the originator of the piece they copied!!!!! Sorry to be a Richard but like Ranma said above, let it rest!!! No one will ever stop anyone from pirating. You can file law suit after law suit and there will be another waiting behind him to do it anyway...

Heck if nothing else consider it a compliment that your stuff is that good that someone will copy it!!!!!!!!

Ok, said my two cents I'm done!!!

[Yahshu]

I find all this very strange, Scale Reproductions did Eleanor from gone in 60 seconds and someone that is/was on this forum ripped it off was selling it as his own and everyone was raving how good his was. How do I know it was a rip off? I had bought one from this person then bought the Scale Reproductions one, both exactly the same just this person had removed Scale Reproductions name. So I'm guessing that it's ok to copy other people's products just as long as that person or business is not associated with this forum. I bought a resin 71 Scamp though someone here who got it from the caster in the US as the caster wouldn't sell to Aussie's because of recopying, well when I sold my collection off I never sold the Scamp so no one here would copy it, it sits in a box under my bed and I may just finish it one day, the Eleanor's are long gone. Moral of the story, if you don't want it recast, copy right it.