Quote:
Originally Posted by FatJack
Hey, look, I'm not saying I agree with the philosophy, but it is the country we live in. When someone figures out how to charge us for air, they will. As it is, I'm very appreciative to Topps. Unlike a lot of other companies (say the one with the big rat that makes movies and music), Topps seems to have an understanding of the symbiotic relationship they have with their audience/customers (not counting the old "collectors are lint in our pocket" remark). And what I mean by that is this: they would be on solid legal footing if they ever decided to go after all the blogs that picture their trading cards, all the creative types who make their own cards using Topps designs and forums like this one showing Topps Vault pictures (with or without watermark). They don't. They leave it be. They understand the promotion is worth it. We live in an age where every file sharing service is hunted to extinction (even when doing so requires "extra-leagal" methods) and where artists of every stripe have the works THEY created and posted themselves pulled down for supposed copyright infringement.
So if Topps leaves me alone, I'll take whatever they put out whenever they put it out. Sure, I'd love to have access to their entire collection. But its their collection. Those pictures didn't magically appear in their vaults; Topps paid to have them taken. To say they have some kind of obligation to give it up or share it--even with SABR or the Hall of Fame--is, in my mind, no different than demanding Paul McCartney turn over any unreleased Beatles demos and work tapes. Gratis. Hey, its history, afterall.
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Disagree Fat Jack. If any of us were making any money out of any of this, they'd be all over us like white on rice. As it is, not making a nickel out of any of it, what will they sue us for, air?