Games Workshop Sues 3D Printer Enthusiast In Attempt To Stifle Fan-Made Warhammer 40K Content

by Tebow (Minimal Effort Gaming)

It is no secret among the Warhammer community that Games Workshop, the owner and publisher of the Warhammer and Warhammer 40k franchises, has become a soulless, corrupted shell of its former self. Similarly to the once respected Wizards of the Coast, Games Workshop began as a passion project among three game enthusiasts selling their handmade wooden games out of their homes in London. Now, 30 years later, Games Workshop has become nothing more than another faceless global conglomerate with a market cap of almost $4.5B.

We have seen examples in the recent past of Games Workshop’s anti-consumer practices, from the gaslighting of their fanbase over the retconning of the Adeptus Custodes to the insane price hikes of their models that came on the heels of their own CFO selling the majority of her shares in the company. This, as well as an increased push by activists and ideologues to infect the Warhammer lore with gender identity nonsense and political propaganda, has put the fanbase of Warhammer into a quasi-Mexican standoff with Games Workshop. 

Many of the franchise’s best customers, some with armies exceeding tens of thousands of dollars in value, have taken to 3D printing their own models to boycott Games Workshop for their animus against the player base. This has now led to Games Workshop launching a copyright infringement lawsuit against a specific creator who has provided dozens of 3D prints to the public over the years. 

EmanGameplay, as he is known on YouTube, has a following of tens of thousands of gamers and 3D model enthusiasts. He claims that he has released his prints to the public for free over the last several years. Unfortunately for Eman, Games Workshop seems all too eager to make an example of him, forcing him to pay exorbitant legal fees despite the fact that he is currently unemployed. 

In a statement posted to his GoFundMe, EmanGameplay explained the situation and asked for help from anyone in the 3D modeling community who wanted to support him. The GoFundMe reads, “My name is Eamann Ghasemy, but I am more widely known as EmanG. I design models for 3D printing and publish them via my page on Cults3D.”

“On October 24, 2023 I was personally served with a number of copyright infringement complaints. Due to the lengthy proceedings, I have incurred significant legal fees and related costs that I am currently trying to pay off. Unfortunately, negotiations have taken much longer than expected and my legal fees and settlement costs are substantial.”

“As I am currently unemployed and do not have a viable source of income, I cannot afford to pay these fees myself, and so I am kindly asking for donations to help me make these remaining payments. Every donation, no matter how small, will help in this time of struggle. Your support is greatly appreciated.”

This was brought to light by several large accounts on Twitter/X, one of them being the well-known and respected Warhammer enthusiast Archcast, who personally donated $500 towards Eman’s legal fees. The GoFundMe has raised almost $11,000 of its goal of $45,000. While many might feel that this falls into a “gray area” of morality or copyright infringement, I think most of us can agree that a company like Games Workshop has shown itself to be far from holding any moral high ground.

What do you think of Games Workshop suing Warhammer 40,000 fans? leave a comment and let us know.  And make sure to give our contributor Tebow a YouTube follow!