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Save the Space Marines!
Feb. 6th, 2013 07:12 pmAuthor M.C.A. Hogarth is under fire by Games Workshop(Warhammer). They got Amazon to pull the e-book version of her book, 'Spots the Space Marine,' which is in no way based on Warhammer 40K or anything else to do with Games Workshop. So why did GW target Hogarth? Because they're claiming trademark on 'space marine.'
Yes, you read that right.
Games Workship is actually trying to claim trademark on 'space marine' as a phrase in printed matter, as if it hasn't been in common sci-fi usage since, oh, the 1930's. Now, they do have a trademark on it when it comes to tabletop games, but books? Nu-uhn. (and really, even the tabletop RPG thing sounds a bit thin, considering that there was a game put out by another unrelated company called, yep, Space Marine, before, as I understand it, Games Workshop was even a gleam in anyone's eye)
If you follow sci-fi/fantasy news, chances are you've read about this somewhere today. The president of SFWA, John Scalzi, has a post about it here, and here's Hogarth's own LJ post.
Yes, you read that right.
Games Workship is actually trying to claim trademark on 'space marine' as a phrase in printed matter, as if it hasn't been in common sci-fi usage since, oh, the 1930's. Now, they do have a trademark on it when it comes to tabletop games, but books? Nu-uhn. (and really, even the tabletop RPG thing sounds a bit thin, considering that there was a game put out by another unrelated company called, yep, Space Marine, before, as I understand it, Games Workshop was even a gleam in anyone's eye)
If you follow sci-fi/fantasy news, chances are you've read about this somewhere today. The president of SFWA, John Scalzi, has a post about it here, and here's Hogarth's own LJ post.
