Small Scale Military Headquarters

Any one ever heard or delt with majormidnite? Well any how I got an email from him today saying that my 21st C 1/6th pak 40s were an ilegal copy of his and that it violated his intelectical property rights. And sure enough he had ebay remove them from the auction. He also stated that the kittenkrad and scoutcar were his ideals also. And that 21st C was eligally producing them in china. I dont believe a word He said and I sent 21st C a copy of the email. I dont think a pak 40 could be any ones inelectcal property being that it is a historical piece and that there are hundreds of models in differnt scales.

woh!

Did you tell ebay your side?

He sounds like a nut... do you have anyone out there that doesn't like you?

Did you ever have an interaction with audie murphy or anyone of that nature?

I'm sure he is crazy because there is no way 21st would produce all that and find out later that there was a problem.

And... it can't be intelectual property... people think that they can just put "intelectual property" on anything that they want now-a-days.

I hold 3 patents (biotech stuff... one is a milaria vac. that the army might start using soon) and that sounds like a load of crap to me. I can't even imagine how that would be I.P.

Had he invented the actual pak and patented it... i still don't think he would have a very good case against someone making a toy of it... maybe.

I mean... if he invented some mechenism for the toy that ejected the cartidges or something and 21st stole it from him or something... maybe then... but that sounds very unlikely. I would call 21st about it and get a straight answer if i were you and report the guy to ebay.

-mike-

I'm very sure he is (or was) a pretty prolific customizer in 1/6th.

I'm much more into 1/6th than 1/18th and frequent those boards much more than this one.

However, I never heard him claiming this before, and the Kettentkrad came out 5 years ago, and the Pak-40 certainly a couple years ago.

Either he has suddenly decided to raise this claim, or he is an imposter claiming to be MM.

I cant reply to ebay, I have to straighten it out with him 1st. Also suposedly ebay makes people that are making the complaint file forms to prove there case. So I contacted 21st C, Im a dealer for them and Im sure they want to protect there dealers, But i sent them the copy of the email this guy sent me. All I know is Ive been on this guys site several times and never seen a Pak 40 or kittenkrad or scout car. Also ebay gives personal info to the patent holders filing the complaint about the persons
that was selling. Such as real name address and phone number. I looked it up in ebays rules. Now this guy has my personal Info to boot!!

also: You have to be an sick a****** to do what he did to you.

Even if he is totally right and 21st in in the wrong, that has almost nothing to do with you. He should deal with 21st directly... and tell you that the current auctions are fine, but don't do anymore please until this is all figured out.

I don't think he has the right to do what he did by law, and i think it was just ebay being oversensative and trying to protect themselves.

man... you just wish people weren't all so insane...

I still get the feeling that this may be a crazy imposter though.

Perhaps someone that doesn't like you, doesn't like majormidnite, or both.

Let us know what happens

-mike-

If I remember correctly, there were rumors that 21C and majormidnite were at odds over "their" designs. You might want to post this over on the Sixth Division website to see if any real old timers recollect what the issues were. This was discussed shortly after 21C made their first vehicle, but I don't recall any legal action ever taking place. Sounded like sour grapes to me then and sour grapes now.

MM is a 1/6 customizer who used to (still does?) sell really beautiful, high quality 1/6 pieces. He used to have a nice website showing his work. Try doing a google search for him.


Why he would be making this claim now after all this time is beyond me. Maybe he just discovered 21c's pieces, but you'd think he would be better tuned in to the 1/6 market than that. Maybe he just discovered he can do something about it (his claim). It is very possible 21c has copied his work (or someone elses) as this has been fairly common practice for them in the past with armour and aircraft.

Whether or not he has a ligitimate claim i have no idea as i'm not an international lawyer. But ebay seems to think his claim is ligitimate. I should think 21c will take this matter very seriously...

If people can get away with the intellectual property argument then I invented the wheel and call all rights to them!

Hope this mess all works. It really is strange!

Well, I've been to a lot of JOE SHOWS in Burbank CA. and Major Midnight and 21st Cent. had tables 2 feet from each other, actually facing each other at some shows and I never saw them snubbing one another, or brawling in the hallway. Some of their stuff looked very alike, but the last time I looked 21st wasn't making 1/6th scale Tigers or Panzers, or wrecked buildings in that scale. He was a customizer trying to mass produce some items...but who knows where that ever went. My 2 cents.

I just ot off the phone with Mike Corder at 21st C and he said that thet majormidnight has made a stink in the past but that there has never been no legal action Taken. So it seams to me that major nut case is just blowing smoke up my a@@ with no legal basis.

Well, now you might have him.

He just did some borderline fraud. Claimming that you have a patent infringement and getting someones things taken off auction when in reality you don't have a leg to stand on and you're lying... well... in my book thats fraud... and it is certainly bad faith.

call ebay

-mike-

Correct me if I'm wrong, but unless 'Majormidnight' has a judgement against 21st Century Toys, he doesn't have jack squat.

MajorMidnight, "you are a legend in your own mind!"

Mark

This was posted over on the Sixth Division.

It is the official legal statement from 21st Century Toys on this matter:

**** OFFICIAL LEGAL STATEMENT ****

21st Century Toys website announcement re: Tim Hamilton/Major Midnite Collectibles

If you are a vendor or seller of 21st Century Toys, Inc. products, you may have recently been contacted by Tim Hamilton of Major Midnite Collectibles claiming copyright infringement on our part. We would like to take this opportunity to apologize for any harassment and inconveniences you may have experienced as a result. We also assure you that until the matter has been formally litigated, Mr. Hamilton’s alleged claims are unfounded and have no merit. Mr. Hamilton also lacks proper claim to be contacting eBay, Inc. or individual eBay sellers requesting that they remove certain 21st Century Toys, Inc. products from auction, especially since the situation should be addressed only between the two relevant parties and until a proper determination has been made.

You, our vendors or sellers, are currently NOT in violation of any copyright laws related to this matter.

We are working diligently on this situation and are examining our legal rights with our attorneys and through eBay, Inc. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Mr. Hamilton, who has taken matters into his own hands instead of through proper legal avenues. Our attorneys have already sent Mr. Hamilton a cease and desist letter while providing him notice of the gravity behind his allegations. Should Mr. Hamilton fail to comply, we will immediately seek an injunction barring him from any further activity and will take all legal steps necessary against him to prevent any further detriment to our company.

We request, that should you receive or have received any correspondences from Mr. Hamilton in the form of a letter, fax, email, etc. regarding allegedly infringing product, we kindly ask that you fax a copy to (510) 483-2141 or forward the email to us at info@21stcenturytoys.com. We will be sure to analyze the correspondence and decide the next course of action to take on the matter. We thank you for your cooperation with this request.

Again, our sincerest apologies for your troubles and our deepest gratitude for your continued support of our company.

------------------------------

Alan
Tiger I Information Center

There's a thread on this already:
viewtopic.php?t=1433&sid=37b29c6c2ae1cc ... f98cc3e972