Model Horse Pedigree Assignment/Breeding
An Explanation for Real Horse owners.
STOP and read this first!
(new addition - December 2011)
If you are a real horse breeder and your horse is listed on ANY website that allows hypothetical mating you need to stop and consider if it bothers you that those sites use your horses in that way. Model horse breeding is hypothetical mating (sometimes even done on the real horse sites) to generate a pedigree/foal. The only difference between us and those real horse websites is we like to use model horses to represent what the foal would look like. If your real horse is listed on any site that allows hypothetical mating you are being RIDICULOUS if you come after model horse owners for using your horse that way. If you allow it on those sites you are essentially granting people permission to use your horse for hypothetical mating. You don't get to pick and choose 'who' can use them if your horse is listed in a public database that allows this. Think about it. Does it make ANY sense to get angry? Websites like allbreedpedigree.com allow people to use all horses in their database for hypo-mating. And those sites are where a lot of us get our information. So maybe if it bothers you so much you need to go remove your horse from those sites so people don't think they have permission.
Who am I and what right do I have to write this article?
I am the owner of a real breeding animal, a purebred registered Arabian stallion whose name is RAWisper N Black. I plan on breeding real Arabian horses as soon as finances allow. I have been in the model horse hobby for 19 years and ‘breeding’ model horses for that long. I am also an author who has a great deal of experience with copyright law and how it can be applied.
Why am I writing this article?
Over the years I have run into a lot of real horse breeders who are either very confused and upset or downright rude and furious about ‘model horse’ breeders and using their horses or their horses’ pedigrees. I am using my knowledge and experience to write this article I hope will clear up the mystery surrounding pedigree assignment/model horse breeding for you real horse owners who are not involved.
What is model horse breeding/pedigree assignment?
From now on I will be referring to model horse breeding by its more accurate title pedigree assignment.
Pedigree Assignment is a Hypothetical Mating done for educational purposes which is then applied to a statue/model/toy of a horse as a visual representation of the outcome of that breeding. The owner of the ‘model’ horse will search through dozens and maybe hundreds of real horses before choosing the suitable parents to use for this mating. Sometimes they use other model horses for this purpose. Sometimes they use real horses. Sometimes they will list the results of their ‘breeding’ for other people to use as parents for their breedings. Again this is all hypothetical breeding done for educational purposes.
I want to make it very clear right now that Pedigree Assignment is done for the purpose of learning about real horse breeding and pedigrees. Or it is an extension of such things to apply to a hobby that real horse breeders are a part of and would like to simulate real life as much as possible. It is an educational process done without profit. It is not something to be angry or afraid of.
Most people involved in pedigree assignment are adults with an interest in real horse breeding and learning what lines and genes produce what. Some of them are heavily involved in breeding real animals or the research done with real animals. Some of them are intending to become real horse breeders and are using this hypo-mating system to learn what to do with ‘fake’ animals before moving on to real animals.
I personally do this to learn about pedigrees and learn what lines produce what so I can in the future when I switch to real horses KNOW what to look for and breed responsibly. My pedigree assignment is research for educational purposes only.
Pedigree Assignment is NOT the same as a SIM Farm:
Pedigree Assignment is VERY different from the ‘fake farm’ pages for some SIM games that will copy real horse information and set it up to look like a ‘real’ farm. Please remember that model horse breeders and SIM game participants are two different things and cannot be approached the same way. SIM gamers are sometimes children who have no knowledge about how things should be done and just see a ‘pretty’ horse they want to pretend they own. The problem comes when they put that pretend page on the internet and it interferes with searches for the real animal. While there are ‘good’ SIM gamers who do not use information in this manner there are ‘bad’ ones who do.
The worst thing a real horse owner can do is find a SIM farm that angers them and go on a rampage through the model horse breeding world. Again the two audiences are usually different. SIM farmers can be children who are able to be bullied or scared. Pedigree Assigners are usually adults and usually involved in real horses. The last thing you want to do is make Pedigree Assigners think you are a completely irrational person they need to stay away from because they could potentially be your customers.
What can you do about model horse breeders?
Now it can be alarming to see your real horse used as a parent on a bunch of lists and you have no idea why or what they are or how these people are claiming to have babies out of your horse. I am writing this in hopes it will calm your fears about the potential ‘danger’ to your real horse.
I want to tell all you real horse owners out there right now that being RUDE and sending a harassing cease and desist letter to anyone using your horse for pedigree assignment is not the way to go about it. These things travel through the hobby like wildfire and a LOT of people in the hobby also breed/buy/train real horses. For all you know you’ve just shot yourself in the foot by being rude to a potential customer for your REAL horse and made yourself out to be someone they don’t want to deal with for REAL horse things by being rude. Nothing will make people avoid you faster than shooting off a threatening letter written in anger and that letter being posted all over the internet for the model horse hobby. You may think this hobby is small but it is NOT. It reaches an alarming number of real horse owners and you just advertised yourself as someone who is to be avoided at all costs.
The rights you think you have but you don’t:
You do not own the copyright on your animal’s name, information (such as age/color/breed gender) OR the pedigree of that animal. This is factual information that cannot be copyrighted. Names cannot be copyrighted. The only thing you can do is trademark that name. Unless you have actually registered your trademark on that name you have no right to tell anyone they cannot use this information.
You have NO rights whatsoever over the pedigree of your horse unless you in fact own every horse in that pedigree. This is a very rare occasion indeed.
The ONLY time you have a right to send a cease and desist or I’ll get the police involved letter is if they have stolen a copyrighted picture of your horse OR they have taken your information word for word with the same exact format and pasted it onto their website and you can prove that was your original format and you didn't get it from somewhere else. If the format or wording has been changed you have no case because they are presenting facts not stealing copyrighted information.
Most real horse owners will word their email in a way that makes it clear that they are not giving permission for people to use their horse OR their pedigree. Don’t do this. This makes you look like an ignorant person who should not be dealt with. You have no rights regarding the pedigree.
And even if your horse’s name/information were able to be copyrighted, Model Horse Pedigree Assignment is an educational process and would most likely fall under the fair use for education clause in the copyright law.
You CAN ask people not to use your horse’s information. You can’t sue them or call the police or do anything about it really if they do (unless it is a copyrighted photo they’ve stolen, photos of your horse can and are copyrighted so if they are using your photo without permission you can pursue them for the photo only). Unless your horse’s name is trademarked there is nothing you can do about a name. And you can’t copyright a real animal’s color, age, markings, breed, gender. People are just going to laugh at you if you say you’re going to sue or threaten to call the police or over react. If you ask them rudely or are a jerk about it they will most likely ignore you.
Model Horse Breeders are doing pedigree assignment as a tool for learning about real horses, their pedigrees, real horse breeding. It is an educational process and none of it is being used for profit or in an effort to ‘hurt’ the real horse. Most model horse sites have (r) or (real) after a real horse’s name. Most people involved and using real horses for parents are genuinely involved in that breed or are looking to be. When I am looking for potential parents for my ‘model’ horses I am choosing horses I would breed from in REAL life and may do so in the future. If you come and email me very angry with a threatening email you just lost me as a customer for your real horses and I will be sure to tell everyone else I know about it.
Now if this really bothers you that model horse people are using your horse for hypothetical breeding and creating ‘foals’ that you think are going to harm your real horse in some manner (which they won’t but some people won’t believe that) this is what you should do:
Email the person politely (remembering they could be a potential customer for your REAL horses or they will tell someone who could be and you will lose business if you treat them as stupid children you are trying to bully). You can ask them politely not to use your horse’s information. Again you cannot threaten them with legal action because there is no law against them using your horse’s name or information. You should include a solid reason why not just a ‘it’s mine you can’t use it!’ knee-jerk reaction. People will generally comply with your wishes and pass the word on that you don’t want it used. Just remember you are losing the free advertising of people using your horse for hypo-mating and showing others that not just YOU think your horse should be bred. You also stand to become ‘one of those’ real horse owners who were completely irrational about having hypo-mating done for educational purposes with their real horse.
You could of course just ask for credit to be given and a link to your real horse stable instead and that would go a lot further than being rude would. You could put a notice on your horse’s webpage that you do not want it used for model horse breeding and most model horse breeders WILL respect that wish as a lot of us are real horse owners ourselves. I have on my stallion’s page I would prefer all ‘model horse’ breedings using my stallion be approved by me but I have no way of enforcing that it is a humble request that most people will abide by. Model horse owners for the most part are very respectful people who do not want to ‘upset’ real horse owners and will respect your wishes. But if you are not civil about it then you will get people who have the reaction of being rude right back and ignoring your wishes because you can’t do anything about it.
Some real horse owners will say “but you require permission to use your real horse why don’t people ask permission from us?”. I will tell you why. Most real horse owners have come across as rude selfish people who do not want to be bothered by people ‘playing pretend’ and proceed to disrespect and/or threaten people who email them. This ‘don’t bother us’ attitude so many have taken has led to most ‘model horse owners’ deciding it would be more of a bother to the real horse owner to ASK for permission than it would for them to find out later and have a fit about not being asked.
I personally would be thrilled if my stallion was used for these hypo-mating foals because it would mean someone besides me thinks he is a great sire and it is free advertising for me to see his name on other people’s websites. I am not currently breeding my stallion and in real life I am very picky what mares he is to breed but hypo-mating and pretend are usually not anything but helpful.
SIM games are different entirely and you need to approach them differently. But please don’t assume everyone who uses your horse’s name is a thief who is out to do something dishonest. That perspective is only going to HURT your real horse business and in these trying times wouldn’t you rather have a boost of free advertising instead?
Obviously no one is going to believe a barbie horse with fake hair and terrible conformation is a real foal of you real horse. Most model horses even at their most realistic are still distinguishable as not real horses. If your horse was picked as a parent for a model horse that means your horse has a fan from someone who either would breed to it if they could afford to or are planning on breeding to it or getting offspring from it (in REAL life) eventually. To be rude and turn these people away is only destroying your own image and turning away potential customers.
I am always happy to explain the process more to real horse owners so feel free to email me at vnvstables@yahoo.com for more information or with your questions or comments.
----
This article is copyrighted. It has a limited permission set for reproduction as long as the author’s name and email are not removed and proper permission is obtained by emailing the author at vnvstables@yahoo.com
This article may not be reproduced in any other manner in whole or part without infringing on copyright law.