exactly its all bs and bluff. if it was deemed worth while by these people theywould be producing them their selves. and then you would have the other threat is just another bloke doing what you are doing saying he has the rights when he doesn't, hoping you frea kout to much and stop

Actually no, it isn't all bluff and bs. I have seen firsthand where sets of unauthorised Scared Stiff cabinet artwork was reproduced, Queen B productions (Elvira's production company) was notified, and the person was required to surrender all the artwork for destruction and pay damages.

Just to add:

There seems to be a bit of confusion in this thread between the "rights holder", a "licensee" and a "3rd party rights holder".

Rights holder - WMS (Williams Industries Inc)
Licensee - IPB and Planetary Pinball
3rd party rights holder - varies depending on the title/artwork involved. (BBC, Lucasfilm, FIFA, Universal Studios et al)

A licensee needs approval from the rights holder to reproduce cabinet artwork of a satisfactory standard in order to protect the brand of a business which is still in operation (Williams).

Any artwork that contains 3rd party imagery, needs approval from both the pinball rights holder and a royalty or license fee made payable to the 3rd party rights holder. (Dr Who - BBC television, World Cup Soccer - FIFA, Dracula - the estate of the late Bram Stoker, Terminator - Carolco Studios, Indiana Jones - Lucasfilm etc.)

To get Dr Who cabinet art reproduced legally you would need to do the following:

1. Approach the licensees IPB or PlanetaryPinball to be granted a sub license to reproduce specific artwork (e.g. similar to a PhoenixArcade, TreasureCove scenario).

2. Submit completed artwork for approval by WMS -Williams Industries (the rights holder to Bally/Williams pinball artwork/designs).

3. Approach BBC television (3rd party rights holder) asking for permission to reproduce Dr Who logo in a material form (rights holders to the Dr Who brand name, imagery and associated logos)

4. Pay royalty fee (either lump sum or percentage per cabinet set produced) to BBC for use of Dr Who logo/brand. (Greg from RTBB indicated in an earlier post this fee was 3 years ago in the vicinity of $100,000.)

5. Pay "sub license" fee to PlanetaryPinball or IPB (either as lump sum or percentage of sales).