Damnatus, a film made by German fans of the popular science fiction gaming system Warhammer 40, 000, has been stopped by copyright problems. Damnatus, the result of some four years of planning and work, has cost the fans 10, 000 Euros to complete, with a running time of 110 minutes, but because of copyright rulings Warhammer’s owners Games Workshop have refused permission to show the film before an audience, leaving the film-making fans in the position of having a completed movie but being unable to screen it to anyone.
(image from the Damnatus website which is available in German and English)
According to the BBC article German copyright law causes a particular problem in this case because it confers creator rights that can’t be given away, meaning even if the film-makers wanted to they couldn’t give their rights to Games Workshop in order to get the film seen. According to Games Workshop’s legal head Andy Jones German copyright law would also mean that if the company gave permission to release the film without being assigned such rights they would essentially be surrendering the title to the Warhammer 40K property, obviously not a tenable position for any company:
“To lose control of Warhammer or Warhammer 40,000 is simply unthinkable. So we must be vigilant, and perhaps sometimes seemingly heartless in our decisions to safeguard the IP for the future success of the business and the hobby… This is perhaps to be regretted, nonetheless in the final analysis we simply have no choice but to say ‘no’,” Andy Jones, Games Workshop, speaking to the BBC.
The film’s director Huan Vu said that they thought they would have been able to come to an agreement with Games Workshop – they had been asked at an earlier stage to stop production but due to a misunderstanding it had continued. “I imagined that in the end I would be forced to sign some more or less ‘fair’ contract in which I’d have to give them all rights bar the unalienable ones, but to get this film out I’d underwritten everything,” he told the BBC. The Damnatus team have set up online petitions and asked other Warhammer fans to let the company know how they feel, although Jones made it clear that the company was not acting malevolently and actually admired the film, but without an agreement they couldn’t allow it to proceed any further. Its a real shame as from what I can see on the Damnatus website it looks like a very professional job it is quite amazing what can be achieved in a fan-level production now, but obviously any fans who decide to try their hand at movie-making do need to be aware of copyright implications.
(cover to Boom Studios limited edition hardcover Warhammer 40, 000: Damnation Crusade, due later this year)
November 7th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
That really is disgraceful. Especially considering that they’ve yet to exploit any of their properties on film. Dopes.
November 7th, 2007 at 5:05 pm
It is a shame – I don’t recall a big fuss over the recent Slaine fan film, but from what I understand here it is the particulars of German copyright law which are screwing things up for both sides. Be nice if they can find a way round it (and surely there must be?)
January 12th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
There should be an easy way:
Mr Vu (director etc) gets all participants of the film to give away their rights to him.
He closes the film project.
He gets a job with Games Workshop (DE or UK)
He opens the film project.
He works for GW so all he makes is their IP
GW end up owning the Film Project.
Released
SIMPLE
December 29th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
That doesn’t work.
German copyright law forbids it explicitly (first point).
Alas… we will just wait for the rights to fade away.
One day…