Hornby 00 Gauge Trains on Film Titfield Thunderbolt Steam Locomotive Train Model

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as it was last year all this came out, so it appears some how they both knew they were both working on the same if not similar range. I would have thought that the TT connection to Lion would have been so obvious from the start that that’s the first thing Hornby should have sorted out, but there you go: eye off the ball, or too many assumptions not being checked? The only similarity I know for certain was the fact that the other set came with the same engine, but the rights to the film name (which I can't remember right now) may also have been owned by Studiocanal? It all seems a bit of a strange one by Hornby, especially if they’ve wasted time, money and effort on the early stages of development and all they’ve gained from it is reputation damage.

I already have a View concerning the quality of very senior management of this cherished but sadly rather tainted brand, so I'm not as shocked or surprised at this debacle as I suspect one should be. I’m not really affected by this personally but, as a point of interest, will the previous Titfield Thunderbolt sets Hornby has issued in the past be affected in some way by the licensing issues? By the way, the film “Titfield Thunderbolt” was NOT a historical depiction, it was a creative work, and as such is copyrighted. If Rapido have an exclusive license from StudioCanal to use the Titfield Thunderbolt designs I can't see how Hornby think going "inspired by" will be any defense to using the designs, its one step above uploading copyright material to YouTube and saying "I don't own the rights". Our plan was to wait until we had Engineering Prototypes of the various models before we made our big announcement.

I’m not joining any boycott of Hornby for two reasons, there’s plenty of folks relying on their jobs in Hornby and if the Hornby model doesn’t duplicate someone else’s announcement and it’s something I wanted then it’s a nice to have. Do you think Hornby has finally come up against someone and a studio that’s willing to defend their copyright? i’ll believe it when I see evidence of real investment into it… to be fair to Hornby I think a couple of models from a few companies are looking aspirational at the moment… thing is to get money you need results. We’ll probably never know the truth, but: It’s perfectly credible that Hornby independently started developing a Lion model off the back of their Rocket offerings. StudioCanal owns the rights to a lot of older movies, as part of a portfolio they have steadily built up over time.

In terms of trademarks, those extant before 01/01/2021 in Europe still hold value in the UK at the current time. Their rush for the class 91 nearly destroyed Cavalex, and it’s clear today Hornby had nothing but a rushed computer render going, given the time it took for even a prototype, let alone how long it’s taking for release. You can register and bid live while the auction is taking place through our LSKlive portal which becomes available half an hour before the auction is due to start. If I am wrong and it were the case that Hornby invented this range just to crush RAPIDO then that is another matter. Suffice it to say it's a Downing Street-level unnecessary own goal, by what alchemy of incompetence, hubris and lack of standards I cannot say and don't much care!Hornby have missed a trick, but can still go ahead and produce a model of “Lion” as preserved, or in presumed 1830s condition (along with its two sister locos) for sale to modellers of the 1830s, the 1930s (Lion), of preserved railways, or collectors.