Re: [RCSE] Lawyers are killing the kit business

[Jeff Steifel]

I tend to disagree Tom. It is the lawyers that go chasing some of these 
cases. They claim you can get what is rightfully yours... Look how many 
lawyers are sending clients to doctors that will certify permanent 
injuries that certainly don't exist. There are so many knockdown 
attorneys now. Now back to the other lowyers... (spelling no making a 
point)  They love to sniff a class action lawsuit... the ones where most 
everyone gets nothing and they make a killing. I have been in quite a 
few of these. Even though the company supposedly made hundreds off me 
illegally I get a coupon for $$$ off of future services.... I was no 
longer interested in doing business with the company so I never got paid 
back for the lost money.. but the lowyers made out very well. For a TV 
that was designed to fail.... and cost me $170 to repair each time... 
all it needed was a heat sink but RCA refused to add it to the design 
even after an engineer found that adding the heat sink would prevent the 
overheating a prevent the failure... So 3 times I fixed it... what did I 
get... a coupon for $50 off my next RCA TV... I'll never buy another RCA 
again. They didn't even pay for the repairs... The lowyers got paid 
millions. ATT .... that class action from my cell phone netted me a $20 
coupon for future calls. After I dropped my service to ATT... Of course 
the loss was greater to me... I don't understand class action lawsuits. 
Apparently the companies really don't reimburse you for the full theft, 
or damages... but the lowyers make out great....

No you guys deserve much of the bad feelings many of us harbor against 
you. And no it isn't all of you... but quite truthfully its hard to tell 
the good from the bad. Some of you do so much harm ... Its no wonder why 
so many of our politicians start out as lawyers.... Power hungry... and 
going to feed their pockets at the trough.

Flame shields on... This isn't meant as  a personal attack Tom.
Tom H. Nagel wrote:
Actually, Ed, and fellow flyers,  it is not the evil lawyers doing this.  It
is the evil bean counters and the corporate dilberts who seek to maximize
profit at any expense.
   A certain linguistically challenged President is also currently
attacking lawyers accusing them (us) of junk lawsuits and causing a
malpractice insurance crisis.   Wrong again.   Same real bad guys, the bean
counters and the corporate bandits.
Tom H. Nagel
Columbus, OH
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ed Berris" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <soaring@airage.com>; "Jack Cooper" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2005 3:47 PM
Subject: [RCSE] Lawyers are killing the kit business

 

I found this article on www.instapundit.com.  It tells what lawyers are
doing that can hurt small model makers.
Don Stackhouse already found out first hand what the impact of these
"shakedown lawsuits) are all about but I thought you all might want to
   

read
 

this.  Here it is:
"Lawyers Lay Waste to Military Models Industry
by James Dunnigan
February 3, 2005
Discussion Board on this DLS topic
For over half a century, kits have been sold that enable military history
buffs to assemble scale models of military ships, aircraft and vehicles.
   

But
 

that era is coming to an end, as the manufacturers of the original
equipment, especially aircraft, are demanding high royalties (up to $40
   

per
 

kit) from the kit makers. Since most of these kits sell in small
   

quantities
 

(10-20,000) and are priced at $15-30 (for plastic kits, wooden ones are
about twice as much), tacking on the royalty just prices the kit out of
   

the
 

market. Popular land vehicles, which would sell a lot of kits, are missing
as well. The new U.S. Army Stryker armored vehicles are not available
because of royalty requirements. Even World War II aircraft kits are being
hit with royalty demands.
These royalty demands grew out of the idea that corporations should
   

maximize
 

"intellectual property" income. Models of a companys products are
   

considered
 

the intellectual property of the owner of a vehicle design. Some
intellectual property lawyers have pointed out that many of these demands
are on weak legal ground, but the kit manufacturers are often small
companies that cannot afford years of litigation to settle this
   

contention.
 

In the past, the model kits were considered free advertising, and good
public relations, by the defense firms. The kit manufacturers comprise a
small industry, and the aircraft manufacturers will probably not even
   

notice
 

if they put many of the model vendors out of business. Some model
   

companies
 

will survive by only selling models of older (like World War I), or
otherwise "no royalty" items (Nazi German aircraft) and ships. But the
aircraft were always the bulk of sales, and their loss will cripple many
   

of
 

the kit makers. Some of the vehicle manufacturers have noted the problem,
and have lowered their demands to a more reasonable level (a few percent
   

of
 

the wholesale price of the kits)."
I guess model kit makers will have to rename their models to avoid these
bottom feeding lawyers.
Ed

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--
Jeff Steifel
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