Q about Casting and Copyrights

I know I can't take a kit part and cast copies for sale. What about:

a. Modified kit parts?

b. Scratchbuilt parts that happen to also appear in kits?

For example, Aoshima makes a set of 18" TE-37 wheels. What if I made a new master (completely from scratch) of a 18" TE-37 and made copies of it? Could I sell those legally?

Jay,
Check out whether the copyright is an international copyright or just one that is in effect in the country of origin (like with US Patents and International Patents - US patent can only really be enforced in the US if you know what I mean).
If you are small enough, you may be able to get away with it anyway on the grounds that, 1) a major corporate trying to stop you making some money is only going to make them look like a big bully and cost them money and 2) you will make such a small difference to the major corporation's sales that they won't bother with you since it will cost them more to try to stop you than what they will lose if they let you sell your stuff.
Hope that gives you some ideas?

Chris, don't trust Jay, if he places an order for one of each of your products you know what he is up to:D ;)
j/k

Ray

1) Modified kit part will probably not violate the copy right law of the kit manufacturer. But the amount of originality is always debatable, and I don't think there is any rule or guide line.
2) Selling TE-37 without a permission from Volk Racing will be a problem. But that's only if they care about it. :) Or, you can write to them and ask for a permission.

My question is what is the idea behind selling a wheel, which already exists?

2) Unless you sell the wheel for cheaper than it already is, there is no point selling it anyway, when people can buy it from well known companies. But how will you make the tires :confused:

Shouldn't be a problem modifying a kit part, certainly not if whoever buys this part is still required to buy the kit from which it came. For example the tyres would still need to come from a fujimi set for your modified rim.

I can understand why you would want to alter the TE37 coz its not very acurate, the spokes are too chunky for a start. I had considered modifying one myself, hence why i brought several sets recently. Subway did a perfect job for his Top Secret supra using the fujimi set.

LOL... I was just using them as an example, since they'd be something everyone would easily recognize. :p

And if I knew how to make tires... I wouldn't even have started thinking about casting in the first place! :o