"The Right to Defend One's Copyright"

The British Railway Series: "The Ghosts of Engines Past" has now been out for a week - and the views have mounted very quickly, as have the comments. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my regular viewers on Youtube for their support, and interest, it's very much appreciated.

Something that was brought to my attention early this week, was a Youtube user who re-uploaded one of my trailers. Now, aside from the point that this is essentially stealing, and that certain unsavoury comments were being posted on said video - the point the user was trying to get across was "...I bet he thinks its copyrighted...lol".

And he was absolutely right - it IS copyrighted. But unfortunately for him, he missed a slight trick. In fact, many Youtube users miss this very important piece of factual information, so to avoid further mishaps (and to save everyone the trouble of looking it up), I thought I'd explain why my series is copyrighted, and in what way it is.

You see, in the United Kingdom (Great Britain and Northern Ireland), copyright is exactly that - a right. This sentence in particular, from the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office:

"Copyright protection in the UK is automatic, so there is no registration system, there are no forms to fill in, and no fees to pay".

This is exactly the point. As long as you can prove you are the original creator of any said piece of work - you automatically have a copyright on that work. There is no registration process because anything you create can automatically have a © applied to it.

With regards Youtube - which is a global website - bear this statement in mind;

"Copyright material created by UK nationals or residents is protected in each country which is a member of the conventions by the national law of that country. Most countries belong to at least one of the conventions, including all of the Western European countries, the USA and Russia".

Remembering of course, that Youtube (and its parent company, Google) operate out of the United States, so they must comply with British Copyright law when a genuine copyright complaint is made.

So to sum up - if you are a citizen of the United Kingdom (Great Britain and Northern Ireland), and someone re-uploads your work, or a portion of your work, on Youtube, without permission, you can claim using the DMCA form found on Youtube, and quote the above two statements, knowing that anything you create is subject to copyright. It is your right: and it is also your right to enforce the law should it be breached.

But this comes with a word of warning - do not take this lightly. If your work uses anyone else's copyright - such as a re-dub of a favourite program, or music for which you cannot possibly have copyright permissions - then any claim may result in the termination of your own account.

For more information, go to the Intellectual Property office Website, found here.

Until next time!

© Simon A.C. Martin ;)

"We will remember them"

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

"The Ghosts of Engines Past"

The British Railway Series: Episode 17X, "The Ghosts of Engines Past"

Ladies and Gentlemen - we are officially back!

Until next time - these are the stories we tell!

"Hornby's Thompson L1"

It's arrived...just unpacked it now...

I can see a problem straight away, however...

...I'm going to have to get another one!!


The model is just exquisite. The detail on this model is breathtaking, and regardless of the front frames/front pony truck issue highlighted in Model Rail, I will say that it's the best Hornby Steam Locomotive ever produced.

Mine's the split-footplate version, and judging by the pics of the green ones, it captures its prototype every bit as accurately as they do. The difference in front steps, and overall "look" - all spot on. The model is literally romping away with five bachmann Mk1s as I type, and I have no doubt it could take at least six or seven more. This model oozes power, and really looks like an L1.


With apologies to Model Rail - it really IS one "L of a model"!!!

Hornby, if the new B17s are half as good, I'll be a happy man indeed.

Until next time!

"The British Railway Series, Episode 17X - Final Trailer"

This Thursday - we're back!

"This Thursday...The British Railway Series returns"

We are back, this coming Thursday, around 12pm. That's all I can say for now, there may or may not be one last trailer out in due course.

Until next time!

"Crane Crazy"

I dare you to try and say that blog title out loud. It's harder than it looks!

I've wanted to get a crane for the layout and film set for a while now. Adds some form of operational interest in the background for scenes, and if I ever film a crash or similar...good for shots showing the aftermath!

However, at £35 a pop, the standard Hornby crane I favoured was looking too expensive - and I wanted two of them...

So I decided to invest in the bright yellow "Railroad" crane (got for £12, an absolute steal) - and put it in a fictitious livery, that would better suit the overall look of The British Railway Series, and give me something to play around with.

I removed the British Railway double arrows, and a few other bits of printed detail (as I have ordered some generic numbering from Fox Transfers and will give it a fictional identity), using nail varnish remover. Potent stuff, use it sparingly with a cotton bud. I then masked up the wasp stripes - something I wanted to keep - and sprayed the rest of the model "Chaos Black" (from the Gamesworkshops range of Citadel Paints - it's an acrylic paint, and an extremely useful base paint).


I then added the BR cycling lion logo, then varnished it using Ardcoat (a varnish, again from the Citadel Paint range), before turning to my trusty mix of Tamiya weathering powders for a quick going over. The final stage was to add light sprays of "Purity Seal" - a sealant, again from the Citadel range - seal the powders and tone down the black paintwork. What has resulted is, I hope, a well work look that doesn't look destined for the scrapyard.


Overall I am chuffed to bit with how cheap the project was. At £12, I am planning to get another and do the same method all over again. I know it's not accurate in any sense of the word, but when you're strapped for cash, and an alternative presents itself, you go for it. Plus, I happen to think it's a handsome modification that looks tonnes better than the yellow corporate blue alternative!


Until next time.