Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2012/04/25
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]The case described by Peter is different from the garden-variety copying of features you describe. According to Peter, Benro had an agreement for some kind of joint venture with Gitzo. So Gitzo gave them the design, following which Benro broke off the agreement and just copied the design. That is theft, pure and simple (nothing to do with copyright, BTW, the IP right here is design). I assume Gitzo was unable to pursue it in Chinese courts, given the nature of that country's legal system. Cheers, Nathan Nathan Wajsman Alicante, Spain http://www.frozenlight.eu http://www.greatpix.eu http://www.nathanfoto.com PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws Blog: http://nathansmusings.wordpress.com/ YNWA On Apr 25, 2012, at 8:08 PM, Richard Man wrote: > I scrolled past the message where Nathan said something like Benro copies > the plans for the Gitzo. I wasn't aware of that but not surprised. Similar > things happen with electronic boards and appliances etc. Ethically, it's > something that I cannot condone. OTOH, the question to ask is why are Gitzo > and Manfrotto so expensive in the first place? I guess the proof in the > pudding is in whether Benro will start to innovate and come out with their > own design. As small as our market is in my dayjob business, it seems that > whenever we come out with a new feature, one of our competitor would come > out with a similar feature in a few months later. C'est la vie. > > I own a small Benro and a large one (any larger would be too tall for me to > use). The large one I bought to use with the heaver cameras but I found > that most of the time when hiking, it's just as easy to carry it than with > the smaller one, unless I am doing a really strenous hike like up to Half > Dome. > > Carbon Fiber is definitely the way to go though, if weight is a > consideration. > > -- > // richard <http://www.richardmanphoto.com> > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >