Garage Kit - Intellectual Property Issues

Intellectual Property Issues

The legality of amateur garage kits can be questionable as they are not always properly licensed. The model might be of a copyrighted character or design that was produced by fans because no official model exists.

In an effort to legitimize amateur garage kit production and sales in Japan, it is not uncommon for license holder to issue 'single day license' (ja:当日版権システム) where for one day only, license is granted for sale of amateur garage kits. These licensing agreement are typically negotiated between an event organizer (Wonder Festival, Character Hobby, Figure Mania, etc.) and varies licensing entities for license to characters from specific TV shows and movies. Typically the event organizer publishes in advance, a list of licenses available, and sculptors intending to sell their sculptures then submit applications (including photos of sculpture) for approval. It is not uncommon for applications to be rejected.

The relatively low initial investment and ease of resin casting means that it's also easy to create recast copies of existing original kits. Recasts are produced by making molds of parts from original model kits and then doing recasts from the new molds. This can be done for personal use, such as modification of an existing kit, but unlicensed recast copies are sometimes sold unlawfully. In some cases the original kit is no longer available, but in others they are still in active production. The recasts can be of officially licensed model kits, but when they are of unlicensed kits the sculptor usually has a hard time pursuing litigation. The recasts are usually of inferior quality and offered at a price that undercuts the original. Recast kits can be found on online auction sites, where they can be difficult to control due to cumbersome site policies and seller pseudonymity. Many recasters are in East Asia but can be found all over the globe.