I have to revive this ancient thread here to let you all know that my previous post, regarding the positions of Mr. Rocco and Mr.Troiani on the subject of copywrites, as they relate to models inspired by their respective paintings are wrong. I was aware of the reality at the time, but I cannot, for the life of me, explain how I came to switch the two positions. It was an honest mistake though.
However, it was an honest mistake with ramifications that reached further than I'd have ever imagined. Someone recently quoted my post in a related topic at another forum, which sparked some debate, and eventually got Mr. Rocco's personal attention. He was understandably confussed by my statement and eventually was able to contact me to see what the deal was. As soon as I was aware of my error and the depth of the ensuing troubles it had caused, I immediately set about correcting it.
I have posted a full explanation of the actual events, as related in an editorial in Historical Miniatures Magazine, along with my humblest apologies to both Mr. Rocco and the members of that forum, and am doing the same here.
Mr. Troiani was the artist who sought legal action, not Mr. Rocco, and it was Mr. Rocco who had a relaxed attitude towards this practice. Just to clarify completely, I'll explain the events breifly, as they unfolded in Historical Miniatures Magazine issues #21-23 from 1999
In issue #21, then editor Ron Souza wrote an editorial about the legal action that Mr Troiani had sought against the model companies Warriors and Glory Miniatures for models they had produced based on his paintings. They had apparently not responded to his first notification of the alleged violation of his intellectual property rights, so he hired a lawyer and took it to thenext step. A settlement was then agreed on and the offending figures dissappeared from the respective product lines.
In that editorial, Mr. Souza had mentioned a discussion he'd had with Mr. Rocco about how he woudl react, were he in Mr. Troiani's shoes. I'll quote that bit of the editorial.
| 'When I first heard the rumblings about the letter that was sent to Glory Miniatures, the subject came up in a conversation I had with another noted historical artist, Keith Rocco. I asked Keith what he would do if someone created a kit based on one of his painted images. He said that he would be honored. He did say that he would appreciate being first informed. He would seek no compensation and would really like to see one of his subjects on display at a major miniature exhibition." |
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In the next issue, #22, Mr. troiani responded to the editorial in the "Mail Call" letters section of HM Magazine, feeling mischaracterized unfairly by the editorial. There were also a number of readers chiming in with letters on both sides of the issue. The discussion continued into the letters section of issue #23 as well.
So to recap, Keith Rocco will NOT persue an individual over a model inspired by one of his paintings. I doubt Don Troiani would either for that matter, though Mr. Troiani would go after a company who had made a model inspired by his work which had not secured rights to do so first. Mr. Rocco is not as rigid where that's concerned, even with companies selling models based on his work, though is within his rights to be.
I made a stupid error and switched the artists' positions on the matter, which has effected Mr Rocco in an area where he takes a great deal of pride; being accessable to modelers and other history fans as well.
I have apologized to Mr. Rocco for this error personally, and also the other forum, and now I am correcting the matter here and offering an apology to my fellow members here at the FSM forum. It was not my intention to decieve anyone, nor to discredit either artist, I simply thought I had something interesting to add to the discussion.
My humblest apologies folks. Please forgive me.