HERE COMES GAMES WORKSHOP!
What's happening?
Games Workshop just sued 270 vendors for IP infringement. You can read about it here: "GW Freezes Seller Assets Amid Worldwide Warhammer Takedown"
We are not part of this attack
Our repo was not part of this legal lawsuit.
We've received a request from Games Workshop to get access to the repo a couple of months ago.
"Dear Sirs, We have recently had reports of infringing materials being distributed on your website (nerdempire.com). We are formally requesting access to review your website for any content infringing on Games Workshop Ltd's Intellectual Property.[contact info here]. Regards, Games Workshop Legal Team"
What does this mean?
This is the second time GW has contacted us about this issue. They sent us an invalid DMCA takedown last year which we ignored since it didn't follow the requirements of a DMCA takedown notice. Since they clearly don't have access to the repo (or they wouldn't be requesting for access), we aren't under any legal obligation to provide that to them. Someone was probably talking about the repo on a discord or online forum and they got wind of it.
They are aware of our existence but haven't bothered to come after us in any real way - we believe - because we are private and we keep to ourselves.
Some context
Some of you have noticed that the amount of new scans added to the repo has dramatically decreased. A few months ago, Games Workshop attacked many of the scanners we work with and many stopped scanning or went underground. Some new scanner-creators are emerging but it's going to be a while before the volume of scans increases to the old levels.
What should you do?
1) Download all the files you purchased from us to your computer (if you haven't already). We never guarantee that we'll have these available long-term so you should be doing that anyway.
2) Don't talk about the repo online to anyone.
3) If you've been sitting on getting something from the repo, you might want to consider getting it now.
4) We most likely will be purging inactive/non-participating members from the repo soon. So if you've never purchased something from the repo (only from Etsy) then I suggest you get *something* so you have a history in the database of participation so the database won't purge you later.
5) Don't panic. If Games Workshop really wanted to attack our repo, they would've done it by now. This bulk lawsuit would've been the perfect time to come after us. Since they didn't, it shows they aren't really worried about us - or it's more work than it's worth coming after us.
Invitations to the repo
Some of you have been asking for invites for your friends and family into the repo and we've largely ignored those requests because of what's going on. We'll be honoring those requests later once things cool down.
What happens if they successfully serve NerdEmpire with a legitimate DMCA Takedown Notice?
We'll have to comply, of course. They know that it's too costly for anyone to fight back against them.
If that happens, we'll contact you via email to help you with next steps (if any)
Make sure we have your email address up to date If we don't have your current email address, let us know.
Kingdom Death Monster!
KDM has come to NerdEmpire.
Elder Scrolls: Call to Arms!
Rules are found in the files of the models.
What is NerdEmpire?
First: NerdEmpire is NOT a store! This is a shared repository.
Any money collected for access to the files on the repo goes directly back to supporting the creators, producing new scans, or paying for basic site costs.
Where do the files come from?
We always try to purchase files directly from the creator.
Why can't members have full access to all the files for one flat fee?
Let's be honest, most people will just pay one time and download everything and we wouldn't have the ongoing revenue we need to keep the files in the repository growing. Paying per file ensures that members are only downloading files they will actually use, it keeps revenue flowing into the repo so we can use that to support the creators and pay for other costs, and it prevents leaks of files onto the public internet.
Also, paying per file gives us feedback about what you guys actually want so we don't spend the money on files no one cares about. An example of that is oldhammer 40k stuff - it's clear from the stats that you guys aren't really interested in Space Marines from 1994.
What's popular on NerdEmpire - what's not popular?
About 80% of the interest is in 40k. About 15% is directed towards Sigmar. The rest (about 5%) is split between Horus Heresy (2%), Old World(1%), Necromunda(1%), Legion Imperialis(.5%), and Middle-earth(.5%), in that order. There are so many files in that last 5% that have never been downloaded and never re-couped their costs of acquisition. If this was a store, we would've stopped purchasing files for those categories to increase profits, but - as a repository - it's nice to have them available if someone decides to start playing one of those games.
Why keep the number of members low? Why not add more people to drive costs down and generate more revenue?
We purposely keep the total membership small - only to a few trusted like-minded individuals willing to support the repo and the creators we work with. When we add more people, we make more money and that would lower the cost of the files - that's true - but adding new people creates more headaches and introduces potentially bad actors to our community - people who use stolen credit cards for payment, people who want to resell or distribute the files publicly.
What about leaks?
In the early days of the repo - a couple of years ago - we had a few people leak the files publicly - but back then our repo was largely full of public files that had been removed from strikes by GW and were only available through private repositories like NerdEmpire. But that taught us a lot about how to manage the repo to detect and prevent leakers.
Proof of that is obvious - a vast majority of the files on NerdEmpire are not found publicly. The leaks we see of duplicate files we have in our repo are always from another source - not from our achives. We have ways of determining if the files found publicly are from our archives or not. And since our community is small, it's not difficult to figure out who the leaker is when we check the database.
Needless to say, leaking files will get you banned and you'll lose access to the this incredible repo - but you guys already know that.
Can I get a discount if I purchase a bunch of files?
You can contact us if you want to do that but, in general, we don't have a big incentive to discount anything. Less money coming in means less money to acquire new files for the repository. Again: this isn't a store where the goal is to make money - it's a shared repository. Our responsibility is to curate the repo and your job, as a member, is to help support it financially where it benefits you.
We also cap large purchases - single or over time. It looks suspicious if you're trying to purchase more files than someone can reasonably print.