Looking for Tact-tiles (or a decent facsimile!)

[catsclaw227]

a friend of mine sent me this link:

Great Victory Widgets

I believe that these people were the ones that were accused of illegally using the Tact-Tiles name that I linked to a few posts up.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

I believe that these people were the ones that were accused of illegally using the Tact-Tiles name that I linked to a few posts up.

Yeah, dems da bunnies.

I like the little disclaimer that they can copy the original boards and use the name....

I am afraid that may be true - did the original manufacturer ever get a trademark on the name?

The Auld Grump, I had a set of the original in my hands, and let someone else get them, because they'd still be around, right?....

 

[catsclaw227]

I like the little disclaimer that they can copy the original boards and use the name....

I am afraid that may be true - did the original manufacturer ever get a trademark on the name?

I don't know, but Ashrem Bayle on the other thread stated that they were using the name illegally, because... well.... he and a partner owned the name after legally purchasing it from the original owners.

So, there you go, these are the arguments set forth.

 

[pjrake]

So, I had a brilliant idea for my husband's Christmas present this morning: buy him a set of his own Tact-tiles! We've been borrowing from a player in our group, but my husband DM's all the time, and we'll be moving soon and having a set of our own would be cool. I'd heard that there was a bootleg set out there, and also that the rights for the originals had been bought by another company and were also in production.

I have to admit that when I looked for them online today, I found pretty much nothing. I'm skeptical of the clear ones from Great Victory Widgets, as they use wet erase markers, and I'm still not quite sure that clear is the best choice. But, apparently, Longtooth Studios (who I'm presuming is making the licensed ones) isn't in production right now. Ebay has nothing but the clear set.

Does anyone know where I can find a decent set of these things? I'd even take used in good condition, at this point (like anyone would give up their set!) Does anyone have any opinions on the quality of either of the new versions?

Much thanks to you!

~The DM's Girl

I'm selling my set of 12 tiles (the original BC products). PM me if you are interested.

here's a video of my [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njOnuJDe7Ks"]tiles[/ame]
-PJ

 

[Mark]

Great Victory Widgets

That's the site of the company that has supplied the products being sold under the name Tact-Tiles Mark II at my FLGS. I do not have any reason to believe that they shouldn't be selling them other than the post from AB in that other thread. The fact that he was aware of them sometime ago and they still manage to sell through distribution channels without his being able to stop them makes me wonder about his claim. Perhaps he came to some agreement with them? Maybe he outright sold them the brand name that he says he secured? Maybe it was theirs all along? I cannot say, but 8 tile in a box for $95 seems a lot to me regardless. They are gridded and are clear, which makes them better in that regard than to originals, IMO. The FLGS also carries the 50mm x 50mm tiles, which look nice, and the rubberized mat that you can supposedly draw on with their special white marker, though the FLGS guys were hesitant to try it out in case it wouldn't erase. The mat is $65.

 

[Thanlis]

That's the site of the company that has supplied the products being sold under the name Tact-Tiles Mark II at my FLGS. I do not have any reason to believe that they shouldn't be selling them other than the post from AB in that other thread. The fact that he was aware of them sometime ago and they still manage to sell through distribution channels without his being able to stop them makes me wonder about his claim. Perhaps he came to some agreement with them? Maybe he outright sold them the brand name that he says he secured? Maybe it was theirs all along? I cannot say, but 8 tile in a box for $95 seems a lot to me regardles

They registered the trademark right after the initial spate of arguments about who owned the name. I have no reason to doubt that Ashrem did purchase the name from the original manufacturers, in some sense (i.e., he gave someone money and someone signed a contract saying "you own the name now"), but it's also depressingly clear that he doesn't own the trademark. You can do a trademark search and look it up.

I'm bummed about this; I don't like the Great Victory Widgets guys because they spammed a few boards using sockpuppets. Also I don't really want clear Tact-Tiles personally. But it is what it is.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

So, Ashrem may have been scammed twice, once deliberately by the Widget folks, but originally by the original 'owner' who never bothered to trademark the name.

IP protection is only good if you register to use it - the matter has come up more than once with folk music. A song may be around for a couple of hundred years, sung popularly in a region, but if a songfinder goes and copyrights it then suddenly it is not in the public domain until the copyright runs out - which is a lot longer now than it used to be.

Some songfinders would copyright, then return the song to the public domain, as a means to protect it, Burl Ives did that more than once. (Which is why I smile when I hear Holly Jolly Christmas... honestly. )

The Auld Grump

 

[jdrakeh]

So, Ashrem may have been scammed twice, once deliberately by the Widget folks, but originally by the original 'owner' who never bothered to trademark the name.

That really sucks. That said, it may not have been a "scam" at all. You'd be amazed at how little many hobbyists turned publisher know about trademarks, copyright, and patents. Just look at the the Outlaw Press/Flying Buffalo mess for a good example of how badly you can screw yourself by not registering trademarks, using verbal instead of written contracts, and generally foregoing every protective measure that US law allows for with regard to protection of IP.

 

[Mark]

A song may be around for a couple of hundred years, sung popularly in a region, but if a songfinder goes and copyrights it then suddenly it is not in the public domain until the copyright runs out (. . .)

That's not my understanding -

Brown & Michaels - Copyright FAQ

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...ant-put-public-domain-back-into-copyright.ars

http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm

 

[Storm Raven]

IP protection is only good if you register to use it - the matter has come up more than once with folk music. A song may be around for a couple of hundred years, sung popularly in a region, but if a songfinder goes and copyrights it then suddenly it is not in the public domain until the copyright runs out - which is a lot longer now than it used to be.

Umm, copyright doesn't work that way. A singer could copyright their own performance of a song that isn't subject to copyright, but that wouldn't exclude others from using the song. Just from using that singer's recording. Copyright (in the U.S.) only applies to "original works of authorship", and a song that was public property doesn't qualify just because you sang it.