Question about boat molds

[Bill]

what is the general rights to boat molds and what is considered to not be "splashing" (copying) a hull..I want to get my hands on a 19ft midland skiff molds.. they went out of business many moons ago..so even if I had to buy a clunker to build the plug I would.. what do you guys think? I dont want to build the plug and have the past owners come after me..I would be altering the bottom of the boat if I actually did it to have a small keel but the cap and say 90% of the hull would be the same..

 

[Pedlyr]

Talkin' in shades of grey man! It all depends. As far as US copyright laws go, you can copy anything you want for yourself, you just can't sell it.

My father owned a 20ft POS "Cruisecraft" in the 70's . Boat was a dead ringer for a Wellcraft V20 steplift. But ChrisCraft sued 'em instead because of the name. So they changed it to "Cruise Boats" but still went out of buisness. Word was, it was a couple of Cuban's in Miami or something makin' plugs.

Shamrock just went out of buisness and the molds were an asset of the corporation. The receiver was trying to peddle them on the Shammie site. Sounded like the good one's were long gone. But by buying, you would still get the rights.

Midland's were made in Coventry, RI. It probably would not be too hard to find out what happened to the corporation. If they went into receivership vs. bankruptcy, then they probably just went away and nobody got hurt. Remember, they were a small company and maybe they may have been bought out by someone else but I don't think so.

BTW....That 1975 Cruisecraft is still around. A guy down the street from me has it now. My Dad was the original owner and he lives 20 miles away.

http://boat-manufacturers.findthebest.c ... Midland-Co

 

[Bill]

Talkin' in shades of grey man! It all depends. As far as US copyright laws go, you can copy anything you want for yourself, you just can't sell it.

My father owned a 20ft POS "Cruisecraft" in the 70's . Boat was a dead ringer for a Wellcraft V20 steplift. But ChrisCraft sued 'em instead because of the name. So they changed it to "Cruise Boats" but still went out of buisness. Word was, it was a couple of Cuban's in Miami or something makin' plugs.

Shamrock just went out of buisness and the molds were an asset of the corporation. The receiver was trying to peddle them on the Shammie site. Sounded like the good one's were long gone. But by buying, you would still get the rights.

Midland's were made in Coventry, RI. It probably would not be too hard to find out what happened to the corporation. If they went into receivership vs. bankruptcy, then they probably just went away and nobody got hurt. Remember, they were a small company and maybe they may have been bought out by someone else but I don't think so.

BTW....That 1975 Cruisecraft is still around. A guy down the street from me has it now. My Dad was the original owner and he lives 20 miles away.

http://boat-manufacturers.findthebest.c ... Midland-Co

Hey glad you knew that.. I have been wondering about that for a while.. I mean you see all of these boats on here that were made by so and so but not the actual company that made the molds..now I know. so you think if I get the molds ill have the rights to them? I had no idea about shamrock.. its like all these POS companies out there are in business and someone actually makes a nice boat and they go under..wow..

 

[Pedlyr]

Probably good idea to get in touch with Mr Wilcox if you want to build more than a couple.

I personally wonder if you could make one with an inboard keel. Easier said then done and it is such a niche market. But would be a cool little pocket downeaster. Maybe it would then be enough of a change so you would have no problems. Just say'in......

 

[MDI45]

hey bill ,i think you must make two major changes to call it your own design....i own barnaget bay sneek box molds for duck hunting...so ad a keel and a chine....mike