There are several knock off companies that produce models copying Games Workshop and Forgeworld models. These companies are in places, like China where copyright laws are less enforced or non-existent. There seems to be some movement on these companies, as a couple are closed temporarily.
This is interesting on the heels of a Game Workshop vs Chapterhouse out of court settlement, that finally closed another chapter in the history of our hobby. It does appear that Chapterhouse will be up and running again towards the end of this month, as a behind the closed doors agreement was reached.
While I do not like to report on legal proceedings, if you missed it the best place I had found to read up on the Chapterhouse news was on Spikey Bits. You can read some indepth articles by following the link to Rob's site (instead of digging through endless rants on forums). http://spikeybitsblog.com/2014/11/final-settlement-gw-vs-chapterhouse.html
So when it comes to making knock off versions of models, here is the latest information on what a reader here on Feait 212 discovered and sent in.
via an anonymous reader on Faeit 212
I'm not entirely sure how much this matters, but a number of cheap chinese copiers, of both GW & FW figures, seem to have shut. Specifically some on the Alibaba site. Note I said 'some', not all.
Having received notification from a contact, here is a direct quote:
'Aliexpress Warhammer store information.
Because the GW intellectual property inspection, aliexpressshops closed temporarily, such as the need to buy products, through e-mail contact, pay using paypal, the shop product species in the album view.
Due to the stricter GW supervision, we are forced to use this way to do the trade for a safer & more stable environment. Thank you for your understanding.'
Hot on the heels of a new GW appointed CEO, the final out of court settlement between GW & Chapterhouse, a released interview with outgoing CEO Kirby including talk of chinese copiers and I'm wondering if this is related at all. Or am I like others and just a bit paranoid?