That might EFF might be useful. Thanks
Some of the weirdest things I have had read or had people engage me with. Silhouettes of vehicles. Claiming they are copyrighted. That if I use a silhouette on any tile with whatever game stats I come up with I am still violating a copyright. City hexes: IN many games a city hex was represented by rectangles at different angles. I have had people claim that nobody can ever again use rectangles at differing angles to make a city hex. I had one claim that a government created report on gunnery was copyrighted by him and that if I used that report in anyway, even if obtained it buy Freedom of Information it couldn't be used in any other publication book or wargame rules.EVER. It just get nuts. I do not blatantly copy a map or materials from a store bought game. I make my artwork on Adobe for the most part. I have my own rules. I use information from books and government reports in those rules. Some of them are downloaded. I sometimes use images from websites. On advice from peers and colleagues I have a list of things I will do and not worry about. I have list of things that I know are obviously a no no and I don't do. If its gray area I do it if I really need it for the project if there's a problem the parties that feel violated can approach me and list grievances'. If I don't buy what they are saying I send it to the lawyer. I will work with people that are level headed and have a clearly legitimate issue if there is room for compromise. If my attorney says..they are right without question then of course I don't fight. So far none of that has ever occurred. If they call up yelling and belligerent I just say talk to my lawyer and hang up. If I am not sure but have a strong feeling it's not legal I will usually just not do it. If I really think there's is problem but one that can be discussed or some license awarded I will pursue it. That's happened once. With Lucas film Ltd. If you ever want to do anything star wars..forget it. They are beyond insane about licensing. I mean just nuts. They don't even practice common courtesy they just start screaming at an inquiry. I know they get allot of inquiries and probably some real dumb ones. Regardless there is no excuse for the conduct that they consistently have displayed to lots of people and companies over the years about Licensing. I have heard stories from Individuals, reps from distributors, WOTC employees, and retail game owners about Lucas it's really a shame they act the way they do. That's why after period of lurking I piped up about this. I am commentating though, on conversations I have read or participated in throughout the internet not so much this specific one. I am all for free speech I never want to come off as trying to censor a topic. I do though feel the need to speak about these because of the one thing that concerns me personally the most about this range of issues I have mentioned. The self appointed crusader of IP rights. The ones that really don't know the laws at all. I have had these types of people come after me and read them go after others in what amounts to a smear campaign against a product they feel violates a law but in truth really doesn't hold the credentials to make that deduction accurately. In some cases it's been potential competitors trying to play cut throat, in most cases it's just a person that feels the need to crusade for the rights of another for whatever reason. It really frustrating and detrimental to a person and/or business and I think to the hobby as a whole, to try to run out a person and his products based on these assumptions. This is a hard enough industry as it is without having your and your companies named deliberately trashed during one of these discussions that can often get out of hand. Its great if you feel strongly about the violation of law. People just need to temper that with some self control and knowledge that if a party feels they have had their IP infringed on they will take the steps they feel are needed and that taking the issue upon yourself can do more harm than good even for those you are trying to defend. People can fight their own battles. From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Joel Uckelman Sent: Friday, November 21, 2008 12:53 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [CBML] Re: Avalanche Games Thus spake sir darklust: > Correct about Disney. In fact, a few years ago the "Mickey Mouse" law was pas > sed, extending copyright protection because Mickey Mouse was about to become > public domain. > This is one of the reasons I recommend making your thoughts known to your government officials. Additionally, the Electronic Frontier Foundation fights for your rights on issues like these, so if you care about things like fair use, you might consider giving them a donation, and including a letter detailing the situation w/r/t board games (becasue they might not know about it). Finally, here's an interesting essay by Lawrence Lessig which appeared in the Wall Street Journal a while back, which addresses a lot of the issues people are discussing here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122367645363324303.html -- J. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
