Tayda Electronics clone PCBs

[Clayford]

Couple of things worth mentioning...

While there isn't anything protecting the schematic or overall design - if you blatantly ripoff the PCB layout (it is "artwork" and therefore can be protected) then you have your arse handed to you in court. if I took a BMP schematic and used Brian's Mudbunny design to lay it out in Eagle and started selling pcb's - I'd fully expect him to show up at my house, Bat AND subpoena in hand.   

Side note - Big Pharma gets drugs approved every so often for what used to be "off label" use so they can extend their exclusiveness. They also "reformulate" by adding inert ingredients and market them as new/improved products that way as well. Time release, capsule vs tablet, all these things can be used to protect the drug, cause there's not exactly any money in the cure.   

[Herostratus]

Hi all, this in my first post on this forum. I have not yet built a pedal, but have been into electronics and RC models most of my life. I am also an aircraft mechanic. I was not aware that tayda has just started making PCB's, or of any of this discusson. I have just ordered  a multiplex off tayda and a pork barrel off madbean, with all the components from tayda. (apart from the BBD...) There were discussions like this a few years ago on the RC forums, mainly RC Groups, about clone and cheap knock off models and electronics. The King of this part of the business is a HK based distributor called Hobbyking. It was started by an Australian, who I assume, Is now filthy rich. There was a lot of backlash at first, and people swearing they would not touch them, but after a few years they seem to be accepted. It is hard to go to a club now and find anything except the largest and most expensive model's which do not contain some kind of HK product. They do things like clone a $250 speed controller called a YGE and sell it for $50 and call it a YEP. Or clone a $300 gyro unit called a Vbar, sell it for $50 and call it a FuBar. In both these cases even the OEM software works. They make complete foam models that are half or a third the price than a similar name brand product brought locally. They also sell a lot of their own brand stuff that is equivalent to items that cost 10x price when brought locally. I guess the point is that there is not much we can do as a group to affect the sales of these super low cost HK suppliers, especially if a lot of customers are like myself and are not as aware of the backstory to how the PCB came to be. I guess Im not wanting to have much of an opinion either way, just trying to say that there is probably not a whole lot that can be done about it, and there are a lot of small niche markets going this way.

[atreidesheir]

The Ruby is now called "mini guitar amp"

[Govmnt_Lacky]

The Ruby is now called "mini guitar amp"

Im surprised they are still using "Box of Rock!" 

[chromesphere]

Prehaps they monitor these forums?  Comes back to the point before that culturejam made "you don't have to know about coolaide to sell it".  I disagree.

PS. Welcome to the forum herostratus. 

[Dexxyy]

Actually cj posted "You don't need to drink the Koolaid to serve it out to others."
Personally I don`t get why people are getting their knickers in a twist about this, if you don`t like it don`t buy it, simples. How many people in the diy community started out by buying a kit, building it, getting more interested and kicking on from there? Quite a few would be my guess. What tayda actually call their kits is irrelevant, if it breaches copyright then it`s up to the copyright owner to take action. I doubt calling their kit box of rock etc is going to lead to many, if any, people, to believe the are buying a genuine zvex product, especially as there is no mention of zvex anywhere in their description.
Yeah, selling pcb`s of circuits from the diy community aint cool, but as CJ already said, if you post it on the internet then for people to use then, unless you patent it, you don`t really have much say in how it is used. After all Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

[micromegas]

Yeah, selling pcb`s of circuits from the diy community aint cool, but as CJ already said, if you post it on the internet then for people to use then, unless you patent it, you don`t really have much say in how it is used. After all Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

You don't have to patent it, you can release it under a  creative commons license, it is a common practice with software and can be done with circuits too (I think the only person I've seen doing this is RobA)

[RobA]

Yeah, selling pcb`s of circuits from the diy community aint cool, but as CJ already said, if you post it on the internet then for people to use then, unless you patent it, you don`t really have much say in how it is used. After all Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

You don't have to patent it, you can release it under a  creative commons license, it is a common practice with software and can be done with circuits too (I think the only person I've seen doing this is RobA)

I'm pretty sure Jon (midwayfair) has released under a CC license too.

[Clayford]

Comparing Software vs Electrical circuits is comparing potatoes to apples. They enjoy entirely different legal protections.

Again - you can't control the circuit. Just the design. Tons of money has been wasted and lost on this in the legal world. Creative commons licensing, just like copyright, only protects the artwork and pcb, even your eagle files could be protected under certain circumstances. It doesn't protect the circuit. I can redraw Jon's Snow Day, layout my own PCB, and called it Hump Day, and sell a million of them without giving Jon a single ounce of credit, or money. There is absolutely NOTHING Jon could do. He could try, but he'd waste money, and I could then hit him up for my own damages and losses. Now if I took Jon's boards, or etching artwork, and made pedals and sold them, THEN Jon's CC license comes into play. If I called it a Snow Day, there's even more he could do.

Derivative works do not (No matter how much you want them to)legally apply to circuits either. What you're suggesting would allow the basic circuits for wiring in your home to protected, and the law was designed to be smarter than that. You can protect the way the switch is designed, and through that design how the switch functions. But you can't protect a power to a switch that turns on a light design. Software protections are entirely different. So you can have a software patent on a progress bar....

But again - You can't protect the circuit. Before anyone gets smart, yes Mask laws apply, and they cover... the design. Processors, IC's etc, are considered devices, not circuits, and are therefore protected under an entirely different set of rules. Just like an actual Snow Day would be.

This isn't meant to discourage anyone from posting their stuff. There's no ill intent towards Jon either. I love his stuff and wouldn't dream of copying it. And on the *odd* chance I could improve on his design. I'd tell Jon.

[midwayfair]

There is absolutely NOTHING Jon could do.

Pfttt, this isn't true at all. I can do all of the following:



And



And



Or bad mouth the copier on the forums, because complaining on the interwebs is at least as effective as the rhythm method.

[Clayford]

There is absolutely NOTHING Jon could do.

Pfttt, this isn't true at all. I can do all of the following:



And



And



Or bad mouth the copier on the forums, because complaining on the interwebs is at least as effective as the rhythm method.

Jon,

I freaking LOVE you.

[Govmnt_Lacky]

KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-pyright! 

Love it!

[Jabulani Jonny]

This thread just took awesome to the final frontier...and beyond!


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[Haberdasher]

lmao

[Jabulani Jonny]

This thread just took awesome to the final frontier...and beyond!


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