For the last few weeks I've been wanting to buy the Dreamcast Junkyard's Ultimate Dreamcast Guide - the plan was to place an order just before Xmas.... But I guess Santa has other plans - seems the book has recently been blocked from sale by SEGA (Europe) From what I can see the book is essentially all text - essentially a reference guide - and in black and white (not that it makes a difference if it's in colour...) Have a read through this and check the email from SEGA near the end of the article. http://www.thedreamcastjunkyard.co.uk/2015/10/the-ultimate-collectors-guide-book.html There's a video of the book as well. Now, I'm no legal expert but I'm scratching my head wondering what legal grounds SEGA have to block the sale of the book? There are no copyrighted images - and more importantly there's no SEGA logo reproduced anywhere in sight. Can anyone chime in and give me 'any' reason why SEGA could legally stop it from being sold? I don't believe the author has broken any laws whatsoever.
Infringing on the Dreamcast trademark? And not stating that it was not sponsored by Sega. And using those fonts on the cover.
But he isn't infringing on the Dreamcast trademark at all - that would only apply if the actual logo was reproduced anywhere in the book. The book is essentially just a massive spreadsheet with notes. If you read the email from SEGA it seems to translate as "you can't talk/say/write/publish anything" about the Sega Dreamcast without our prior approval. Which in turn translates as this entire thread here at AssemblerGames is illegal. I believe the book falls entirely into the 'fair use' category.
it makes snese, if its legal doccuments about hardware, companys can block them, its like if there was a nintendo NX dev kit auction, nintendo would downrighr cancle that shi*
Hi there, I'm the guy that got the email from Sega. I emailed back asking for an explanation but have been met with silence. We purposely didn't put 'Sega' or the DC swirl on the cover, plus if anyone confuses 'The Dreamcast Junkyard' with 'Sega,' then I would be worried for them. There are no images or allusions to it being official, and the PR guys at Sega initially shared the book on Twitter, Instagram and their YouTube channel Sega Central. Seems they didn't have a problem with it and were full of praise...and then suddenly Legal got involved. I noted from the analytics to the blog that Sega Publishing visited several times before the email was sent, and the news that Pix'N Love are producing a Dreamcast book has recently come to light. The guide isn't dead - it'll be back bigger and better and we'll have back up this time. Round one goes to Sega, round two is coming soon... It isn't documents about hardware. It's a list of games to aid collectors. Nothing in this guide isn't available in the public domain. Infringing on the Dreamcast trademark? How exactly? using this logic, writing the word Mercedes here on this page is infringing on Mercedes IP. The font is public domain and not an official Sega font (you can tell by the 'M').
Imho the lawyers are just trying to justify their own employment. "Look sega we're doing stuff for that money you pay us." Of course it could be that someone at Sega (except for the lawyers) made the decision but, somehow, I doubt it.
Pretty much unrelated, but when it comes back, would an eBook version be feasible? I wanted one (and was probably going to order one after my Christmas shopping), but don't want to mark up the book with my collectings. It would suck if your name was Mercedes
Sorry, I wasn't trying to be a cock. This thing has been taking over my life for the past few days and I've heard so many pseudo copyright experts giving advice it's driven me to distraction. You are correct, but I don't think this action by Sega has anything to do with that. It's because they aren't making a profit from the guide book. It's cool though. And apologies once again - forums can make even the most innocent retort look like a personal attack, it wasn't the intention at all. An ebook is an option at this point, thanks for the suggestion.
From the French law view, if you go to court, you win. My guess is — but I am not yet that fluent in European copyright —, if you go on European court, you will win too.
I would e-mail SEGA legal and tell them you intend to sell the remaining stock of the book - and politely ask them on what specific legal grounds they feel the book the should be withdrawn from sale. Highlight the fact that the book does not contain any SEGA copyrighted images (logo, swirl, name, game sleeves, etc...) It's quite possible SEGA legal simply haven't looked at the book and are assuming it does contain copyrighted images. Also mention the fact that if they aren't forthcoming with a reply - that you will consider taking them to court for the damages they may have caused to the sales of the book. I don't think anyone in their right mind would side with SEGA - if they did win, it would set a legal precedent that would ban just about everything we say, write, or read. As an example, this would have to go... (along with most of Wikipedia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_commercially_released_independently_developed_Dreamcast_games None of those games are endorsed by SEGA To give you an idea of 'fair use' laws, have a look at this DVD which is/was readily for sale across the UK http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Unauthori...hash=item4d3c9c596c:m:mw6XvTk_rlC6RrzkJa7iwWg As I've maintained - I'm no legal expert - but if they can get away with commercially releasing a DVD from that popular franchise, I don't see how a reference guide for Dreamcast games, with no infringing content (at all), could possibly be argued as anything other than 'fair use'.
This is totally stupid. Aside from anything else, this is the sort of action that makes a company lose it's fans, and there are a lot of Sega fans in the world, but if Sega are going to take this attitude then there'll soon be a lot less Sega fans in the world.
I was looking forward to picking one of these up. It's a shame you have to run into red tape, although I do understand both sides. Keep us posted with the ongoing shenanigans.
