In May 2008 Dan Phelps set out with a "simple" goal, to take one picture featuring a LEGO minifigure every day for a year. Roughly a year ago, he accomplished this goal. He then wanted to publish a book of his photos...that's where he ran into trouble.
The LEGO365 project has been covered on several sites and on Dan's own blog a LEGO a day. On Monday he shared TLG's response to his inquiry about publishing a book. The answer? No.
Like good brand stewards, TLG states they need to have control over how their brand is used. That's fair...however...It doesn't seem like they've been consistent in how they've done this in the past. Even Dan mentions that others sell photos and prints predominantly featuring the fig, they just haven't been caught yet. Similar projects have been published in the past like The Brick Testament which was not done with TLG's blessing, to the best of my knowledge. Now it could be that there is a renewed interest from LEGO to crack down on these projects given investments in the minifigure property like the Collectible Minifigure Series, but it seems only fair to be consistent in these matters.
Only time will tell if Dan will realize his goal of a photo book. He does state in the June 7th blog entry that he may attempt another run of LEGO365 in the near future. In the meantime, you can still check out the first LEGO365 photos on Dan's Flickr stream.
The LEGO365 project has been covered on several sites and on Dan's own blog a LEGO a day. On Monday he shared TLG's response to his inquiry about publishing a book. The answer? No.
Like good brand stewards, TLG states they need to have control over how their brand is used. That's fair...however...It doesn't seem like they've been consistent in how they've done this in the past. Even Dan mentions that others sell photos and prints predominantly featuring the fig, they just haven't been caught yet. Similar projects have been published in the past like The Brick Testament which was not done with TLG's blessing, to the best of my knowledge. Now it could be that there is a renewed interest from LEGO to crack down on these projects given investments in the minifigure property like the Collectible Minifigure Series, but it seems only fair to be consistent in these matters.
Only time will tell if Dan will realize his goal of a photo book. He does state in the June 7th blog entry that he may attempt another run of LEGO365 in the near future. In the meantime, you can still check out the first LEGO365 photos on Dan's Flickr stream.
(Via a LEGO a day blog)
