Games Workshop swings the Ban(War)hammer

Over the past weekend I was dismayed to read that GW is once again running roughshod over fans, followers and just about everyone that is invested in their creation.

It is no secret that they have always been very trigger-happy when it comes to litigating against those perceived to have overstepped the exceedingly narrow boundaries of their intellectual property; even when it came to terms that existed long before Games Workshop was even an idea (I am of course referring to the infamous Space Marines lawsuit saga).

The updates to their terms & conditions now forbid any and all fan created animations:

individuals must not create fan films or animations based on our settings and characters. These are only to be created under licence from Games Workshop.

Fan-made games, fan art, fiction and websites are permitted so long as they’re not-for-profit and make it clear they’re not official works.

The incredibly popular Oculus Imperia will be staying online for as long as possible:

Sadly the If the Emperor had Text to Speech Device by Bruva Alfabusa has officially thrown in the towel:

Other amateur animator fans (apart from those hired by GW) will no doubt start falling over the coming days and weeks.

Culture blog BoingBoing has been covering the GW shenanigans here, as has PCGamer and Vice.

The Reddit  Warhammer 40k meme subreddit /r/Grimdank has been flooded by people furious about Games Workshop’s new policy.

I have been a long-time fan of Warhammer 40K although I have not played since I left my job as a school librarian a few years ago, I still borrow and read the novelizations.

GWs moves while legal still leave a bad taste in the mouth, for decades it has been fans that have created a richer tapestry of the universe created by GW, and now on the eve of the release of Warhammer+ they are trying to stamp out any potential threats to their being able to wring out as much money from fans as possible.

It is very poor form!

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