SamuZai
shadbrooks
shadbrooks

patreon


Too spicy for youtube...

Too spicy for youtube...

Comments

people get canceled and dragged in other people's drama so easily these days. Even my small ten membered, amateur writing club got dragged into this by other people. And this club doesn't even have anything to do with swords! I'm the only medieval fantasywriter there! So I'm like: how? It's tiring.

Nox

To be clear there is a difference between standard business practice and ethical business practice. I see this all the time. Though I must say I agree in this instance.

Undead_Raven

Always entertaining to hear two non legal professionals opining on legal niceties. Copyright law always comes down to the question: is that entity making lots of money on something I thought up whereas I'm not making anything, and can I get some of the action? If there is money to be made, someone will muscle in and produce something cheaper, and people who want it will buy it, no matter what it is. The Chinese are notorious for happily stealing your design and mass-producing their own version, cutting you out, and making piles of money. The joke went, we should slap a copyright on the concept of human rights, so maybe they'll steal that. The best part about that is it seems that the Chinese cannot innovate. If it turns out they can innovate, rather than steal others work, then western democracy is finished. The particular issue is that Swordier called their sabre 'The Easton Sabre' and then in a breathtakingly clueless moment asked Mr. Easton to review their version of his own design, which, of course, rankled, as, at the very least, he should be entitled to make money off his own name! If they had called it 'Generic Practice Sabre' he would have noted similarities to the one he designed, which (according to him) was based on at least two 19th C practice sabres, which were based on the multitude of sabre designs of the time. He would have noticed the similarities, noted the differences (and there are differences), and that would be the end of it. Mr. Easton has, himself, made videos in the past comparing various sword designs, some of which are only minutely different and noted that it is not at all uncommon for sword makers of the past to copy each other, with better or worse results. For example, he excoriated Cold Steel for their 1796 British Light Cavalry sabre design. I had one at the time, and felt let down. Until I got a chance to compare my repro against one made in 1811, a German version made in 1866, and a third German one from 1895. We couldn't find any significant differences. Balance, weight, blade size, length, hilt, handling, cutting, everything was virtually identical, except, of course, the grips, mine being made of plastic. Later, he made a video comparing the same sword, made during the Napoleonic wars, by two different British makers, and found more significant differences between them, than I found between four swords made by four different manufacturers across 200 years. Moreover, much of his channel has been devoted to exploring how sword designs have been copied by different makers in different countries. What it comes down to is, you are both right: the key factors are quality, price, and size of profit. Finally, the phrase you turned into word-salad was somewhere between: Dog in the hunt Skin in the game

Bruce G. Hearns

You don't have a dog in the fight is what you meant there at the end

Jacob Zufelt

Joerg Sprave also seems really unbothered about people copying the stuff he's invented, seems like the sort of guy who's happy just to see his stuff out in the world being enjoyed. And nothing seems to give him more happiness that seeing someone has improved on one of his designs.

Tharium

By all means Matt can be annoyed about copying the design. But he also had to throw in stuff about Swordier's blades being really bad quality which just seemed petty and vindictive to me. Especially since as you guys found along with other reviewers I've seen and the Swordier sword I own their blades are actually pretty good.

Tharium

At least for the record, I think it is interesting to know their stance on this matter in general. Since they want to make their own designs, this could also happen to them. So knowing what they plan to do if someone copies their design is good.

Sylphis Farheit

I agree on your points. What Matt needs to do to protect the design of his sword is to patent it, then protect it. But this is very costly, as you have to patent on multiple if not all regions. That costs a lot of money, but it also assumes your patent is valid on all regions. Then you have to defend it, and this may cost a lot too. So you may simply lose money overall defending your patent, even if you win. So, as sad as it is, there is no winning move other than promoting your product as the best one, or have a trademark or an authenticity certificate to try to mitigate the issue. Regarding the affordability as discussed by Tyranth, there are some caveats here. Temu is only a reseller. Like Amazon or Ebay, the product origin could be tricky to pinpoint. I would even suggest you to stop calling the Temu Sword like that, as Temu is a generic reseller. One could buy something similar and have a very different product quality. China is able to produce the highest and the lowest quality for almost everything. So what you get at the end could be on a coin flip if you cannot properly trace back the manufacturer - or at least the reseller that did some control. So, to me it is fine to promote products, but you have to be really careful on which product exactly and from which manufacturer. If you cannot tell that, people may buy the wrong item thinking that was your suggestion.

Sylphis Farheit

Very scummy to copy ME design. I side with ME on this. I do like many of your points

NtvTwin02

My take on this (right or wrong) ME and his M8s Frankenstein a saber from various historical swords and claim it as their own. Sword Science sends photos to Swordier and says "build me this" with these specs. Alex, not knowing the origin of Frankenstein fills SS's order. ME gets his piss flaps in a knot (as Shad well knows, not the first time and won't be the last, Shad, those knife wounds in the back healed yet?) ME throws a hissy-fit and claims that Swordier stole his design and Swordier makes substandard swords and urges people to boycott them. BTW Shad I'm designing my own Shadiversity Plushie Matt Easton Edition. It's basically a standard Shad Plushie but with a rondel between the shoulder blades.

Gazza_of_Skalitz

https://youtu.be/g3sTCym0Gq4?si=0kHgfLw2ZAGQ75IY Here is a video from the commissioner of the Swordier version just for some more context.

John Smith

Glad you guys are uploading the video here and not in YT. I'm not sure if you have but I suggest you reupload/save all your videos on several platforms to not be dependent and screwed by YT (I know you have videos on other platforms similar to youtube, id say to move/have all your content).

msTRON

I think a Tyranth is right allow for the expansion it is a good idea.

Monster

You are absolutely correct. If a design is a trademark, such as the Coca-Cola logo, you can protect it. But at least in the United States, it is impossible to copyright an artistic design; you can only copyright the completed work of art.

Gregory Bennett

It is a blunt training sword, so no, there is no edge.

GRB DevNull

I can understand Matt's frustration, but I spent his whole video reflecting on some of the other intellectual property concepts and cases I know about. My understanding is that, with products, you can really only protect things that you make an effort to keep secret. That makes designs very hard to protect because the design is out there for people to examine once you sell one. Things like materials, processes, ingredients, and treatments are more likely to be protectable, but you would likely have to prove industrial espionage in a case like this. The appropriate steel options and heat treating techniques are just too standard to make much grounds for a valid legal complaint without evidence of outright theft.

GRB DevNull

There’s a famous book author named John Maxwell who said that he doesn’t mind if people copy his stuff, because he’s always coming out with new stuff. He does ask however, that you take his stuff and make it better. He also says that if you make it better, he’ll put your name on it and give you the credit for it! But he won’t pay you royalties! 😂

Devon Romero

Totally agree with you guys on this. It reminds me of how fashion designs aren't protected by US copyright either.

Jaeger

watched Matt's video. does the sword he was holding have an edge? if so, why no blood?

Thomas

going off now to copy Tyranth red.

Thomas

I would personally need to see the two swords side by side in depth to really say if it was a blatant copy.

Penta Deuce

We also have yo keep in mind it was greed and arrogance that drove prices to ridiculous heights while people are paid less and can't afford housing. I don't think we have the moral high ground and quality in western countries that we used to that would justify those prices. And thank you for not being elites like most HEMA people I know. Half the time they are all talk, make history up to suit themselves, but suck when it comes to sparring.

ThickGiant

Well not sure why you felt the need to speak out on this. It is between Matt Easton and Swordier. It may be legal but if true it is sleazy. Matt Eastin’s anger is valid. But it’s between those two. I hope you get back to more usual content. Sorry this is not something that really interests me much. A tempest in a teapot. Still I do like your channel.

Bill Kennedy

I WANT IT TO BREATH FIRE UPON THY ENEMIES!

ThickGiant

Is it scummy? Yeah kinda, but is it illegal? That sounds like a no.

Aaron Kay

Its good that you brought up the game of thrones sword. I've seen countless LoTR sword ripoffs over the years that are all close apoxrimations but are legal because they simply used a generic names for them.

Ryan Newman

But what about dragons?

Micskittles


More Creators