So I had this idea after some discussion over the creation of fake cards and in the past wondered if this site ever featured any contests or anything like that.
But then I got to thinking that, we’re all part of this great community, this club, but outside the realm of collecting our own collections and this forum, we have very little else to show for it (not saying that it’s under appreciated or anything, but just there isn’t much outside that realm).
So this is just an idea and I’m more than HOPING that others will play with it and give their feedback and suggestions, or we can all braintstorm and such, but this is what I had in mind:
What if we had like a badge or a card we created purely for the sake of representing the UPCCC? The distribution of it would be towards members who have either been active over a certain period of time or by the number of posts they made.
Interesting concept but too costly I’d imagine for the site admins to run alone. It would be fun however to make a run of cards that we would all pitch in for to have made, it would be neat to have all 3 Legendary bird cards from the Gameboy Pokemon TCG and in the back the UPCCC logo instead of the Pokemon logo.
I’m thinking we could all probably pitch in to a collective sum. We already have some great fake card artists on the forums who we could pay for their time and resources if we all pitched in and then let someone distribute them.
I like the idea of the three legendary birds as they are synonymous with the very beginning of Pokemon. Charizard I feel is over done and if we’re going for the ULTIMATE representation, I think those three work perfectly and also gives off the vibe that, like the three legendary birds, we aren’t simply a set of individuals, but a collective group of individuals who share something in common.
Like have it so that all three birds appear in one photo, that way we aren’t fighting over who gets which card and it’s a shared thing. XD
Who created the website? I think that UPCCC need a modern style (with old glory pokemons), more colorful + a dedicated logo and banners.
Maybe can I create a custom webpage (based on actual template) with photoshop only to show my idea?
We have discussed this before in the past, and have tossed around multiple ideas, but the biggest obstacle is trademark. This is especially true in regards to a logo.
@pokemoncenteritaly I know a few months back there was discussion of revamping the website but I don’t know what ever happened to that.
Hmm, do we have or know of any artists who can do some rendition of Pokemon cards? That could be a part of the collective pool in terms of payment.
Someone to do the art concept on what we decide (currently a few of us want the three legendary birds).
Someone to create the cards with a custom border and the UPCCC logo on the back (we can discuss what shows on the card).
Someone to be in charge of distributing.
@smpratte could you elaborate more? What would allow something like this to not worry about trademark?
Or could we do something unheard of and try to get contact with Nintendo/Game Freak directly about getting something official done? *shrugs* Just ideas.
Copyright is the major dilemma in properly executing these ideas.
More specifically, if we have merchandise we would have to format the site more like a business, which again, would run into the copyright situation.
In regards to the site appearance, we are again fighting the copyright rules of pokemon. I am not sure what skin people use, but the one I use I like (perhaps because I prefer a more conservative appearance).
I don’t really know how to elaborate anymore than the copyright issue is the problem. The realistic answer here is unfortunately not the fun one.
@smpratte if the logo and the Pokemon are handmade and we don’t use the original arworks it can work right? It will be an artist artworks based on the official pokemon character so we don’t violate any copyright infringement.
It’s like my logo, it is similar to the original but it is made for me and the font isn’t like the original; I think that Nintendo/the Pokémon Company never perform any legal action against me to remove my logo because I’m also doing free advertising!
I cannot stress how much effort and time I put into attempting to make this happen this last June/July. I sought out contact for approval, I sought out counsel from others who have tried, and I explored options. All of them ended with these facts:
Pokemon is not going to partner with anyone that doesn’t make them money.
We are not Pokemon’s child-forum, so we aren’t going to see unique support ever.
If merchandise were created, we would risk the kind of exposure that has landed other people cease-and-desist letters.
If we sold it, someone would have record of the legal action against them in the future.
I had so many great ideas. I was excited for it. I was preparing for it. But the one thing I love more than being able to tell people about UPCCC and see them join is HAVING UPCCC, and having it unhindered in its operation by a corporate giant.
It’s logistically just not doable and it’s so very risky to give ourselves that kind of exposure at all. Especially from the top down.
Actually they can, but realistically, they will not. Copyright infringement is using something without permission. Majority of the time it is only enforced when money is involved, but can be enforced however the company desires. I believe pokegym somewhat recently had to change their logo in accordance to the copyright law.
With that said, I am sure we could get away with it for some time, but “getting away with it” is not in my vocabulary.
Pokemon owns the likeness of the characters you’ve used, the word “Pokemon,” the likeness of a Pokeball and more. Our name, UPCCC, literally has the word Pokemon in it. We’ve looked into changing the forum name, and may one day do so in order to facilitate growth or changes, but that would be many years down the line and depend on the events that transpire up until that point.
If we were to receive money for products, even if it was done at cost, for items that said “Ultimate Pokemon Card Collector’s Club” or utilized the likeness of any character or a pokeball, we are in violation of copyright laws in the United States. As Scott stated, we don’t even have to receive money if they’re feeling really angsty.
Do hear me on this, though!
If I think that I have a safe, fair, fun, interesting way to do something that gives people their chance, I will be the first in line to do it and will likely put the elbow grease in on it myself. The most likely options we’ve run into would be keychains or shirts. Shirts give more exposure, keychains are cheaper. And it’s not out of the question forever. But it is out of the question in the short run.
I hear your desire. I love it. I want to give it to you. It’s just a legal headache.
@funmonkey54 yes but there are over 10000 websites/blogs with the word “pokemon” or other characters! the problem can arise only if you use copyrighted images for a profit.
Yes, this is why I mentioned before that realistically you have nothing to worry about. Technically, all of the people using pokemon are “violating” copyright laws, but luckily the people enforcing the law are humans and are most likely going to go after someone making significant profit by using their likeness.
With that said, there are plenty of examples of companies who go after individuals or groups who do not make money. Typically those individuals have a lot of traffic, which would be our concern moving forward.
Also, we cannot emphasize how bad we want to print shirts for members!
