Folks,
We're seeing more and more of this, and please - it needs to stop.
Short form - the company running MWO has given permission for people to use the 3D models in the game for the purpose of printing 3D minis for their own personal use. This means that people:
- extract the model by themselves
- print the mini on a 3D printer they own
- do not share the minis with anyone else.
Personal use is exactly that - you only. It doesn't mean you can send the 3D models for printing anywhere else, and it doesnt mean you can sell, trade or give away models - physical or electronic.
In these forums, we have rules, including 10. Respect copyright. Any minis based on MWO IP which are not made under the very limiting conditions above are not authorised reproductions.
We know where these minis are coming from. But we of the BattleTech forums are not interested in what people do in their own homes, with their friends, or on other forums. We will not be despatching lawyers to exact retribution. But we won't have unauthorised reproductions posted on our forum.
So please don't.
Where it's likely that this is an innocent mistake, we'll pull the post and provide some friendly advice. If someone kept doing this, or really should have known better (eg. they've been posting minis here for years), we reserve the right to issue formal Warnings under the forum Rules (although this is usually not our preferred action).
We don't believe there's a lot of confusion whether a mini is IWM metal, CGL plastic, or 3D printed in origin. At the moment, one has to go out of one's way to pick up the MWO-derived minis, and it's unlikely that spivs are sidling up to people in game stores hissing "Want to buy a cheap Cataphract for the weekend, guv'ner? Nudge, nudge?". So please respect the Rules here.
Happy to answer reasonable questions. However, defences of the right to post images of unauthorised reproductions or other unlicenced minis, no matter how spirited, will be pulled due to their status re Rule 12.
Worktroll, Administrator
for the BattleTech Forum Management Team.