Resell legality?

[brenbear]

Hey guys,

I have a question that I could not find on the forums, but maybe I didn't search well enough but here goes nothing.
 

Is it legal for someone to buy a miniature from Reaper, paint the miniature, and then resell it? I mainly want to know about whether it is illegal for me to do so (I would be selling them on a site like Etsy, etc.) If it is, what would I have to do to go about it being legal? 

If there is a thread already describing this in detail, directing me to that post would be all I need.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Dilvish the Deliverer]

Yes, you can paint and resell the miniature.  You can resell and unpainted miniature.  You can not make a mold of a mini, cast copies of said mini and sell it.  There are several thread with advise for people wanting to sell miniatures.  Also, I not sure how popular Etsy is for selling miniatures.  Most painter's I know tend to use ebay as a sales platform.

 

ETA:  Welcome to the boards!  You will find this to one of the friendliest forums on the internet.  Feel free to ask questions and post pictures of you work.  Just make sure to read the board rules and follow them.  Else the Mod Bat may find you.

Edited October 11, 2014 by Dilvish the Deliverer

[brenbear]

All I needed to know!

THANK YOU!

[Goblyn]

a lot of painters do that

 

i don't think that's illegal

[Dr.Bedlam]

To buy a thing and then resell it is almost always legal... except sports or concert tickets.

[LittleBluberry]

Painting a miniature would probably even fall into the definition of goods that have been "substantially changed".  (Like changing cloth into clothing.) 

 

What?  I worked on NAFTA software for a few months once. 

[aromaticpose]

Brenbear,

First-sale doctrine might be worth reading about for your question if you are within the United States.  In short, as long as the miniature was a legal copy, the copyright holder approved of transferring ownership of the copy to you, you otherwise obtained the copy legally, and you are only intending redistribution of your copy only (not casting more on your own), then you're in the clear.  You can essentially do whatever you want (within other limits of the law) with the copy that you have purchased:  Resell it, give it away, smash it, glue it to your front door, store it in your toilet tank, or whatever.

There's a little more to it than the above, but in general it applies to resale and you should have no reason to be concerned as long as you're not recasting.  The full law in relation to digital production is more complicated, and there's a long history of copyright holders trying to place other restrictions on customer rights.  It's a fascinating topic.

 

[Note: I am not a lawyer and the above is not legal advice. I did a lot of reading about copyright and distribution for past support of the free software movement, so I make little more than claim to being an interested layperson.]

Edited October 11, 2014 by aromaticpose

[Dr.Bedlam]

I know several people who do very good business, painting unpainted figures for people, or buying them, painting them, and selling them. There is no law against this.

Making copies, on the other hand, is extremely bad juju and attracts lawyers.

[Reaperbryan]

You are free to paint and resell our figures.  

 

You are free to purchase one or more figures from us and resell it unpainted.

 

You may not duplicate our figures, in whole or in part, and resell the duplicates, painted or otherwise. We retain exclusive right to reproduce copies of our models, in whole or in part, for any reason.