Copyright Law Scuppers Fan Film

I was browsing the BBC’s Tech news today and came across an interesting story about some German Fans who have been making a Warhammer 40,000 fan video and have poured a lot of money into this project have now been told that it cannot be shown…

A copyright row means that one of the most ambitious fan films ever made may never be shown before an audience.

Four years in the planning Damnatus, made by German fans of the Warhammer 40,000 game, cost more than 10,000 euros, took months to film, employs 11 principal actors, dozens of extras and sophisticated post-production special effects. Now finished the film runs to 110 minutes.

But Huan Vu, director and producer of the movie, said Damnatus’ creators have now given up trying to get the film in front of an audience.

Nottingham-based Games Workshop created Warhammer 40,000 - a science fiction wargame which revolves around battles fought between factions and races that populate the universe in the 41st century. It is an outgrowth of the Warhammer tabletop game created by Games Workshop in 1983.

I have seen this type of thing happen with mods for games as well, where an eagerly anticipated Halo mod for Command & Conquer Generals was coming close to completion and the founder of the mod got a cease and desist letter from Bungie. With Bungie announcing in a few weeks its own RTS game for the Xbox 360 called Halo Wars.

What do you think of this matter? And how would you feel if something that you put a lot of hard work into and your own money to create only went up in smoke? I would personally feel quite annoyed.

[tags]Copyright, Warhammer 40000, Games workshop[/tags]