Re: TSR Internet Policy (was Re: [Open_Gaming] A D20STL caution)

[Lizard]

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> 

>   Basing an original work on another is not a violation of copyright. Ideas
> cannot enjoy copyright protection (patents and trademarks are a separate
> issue); only the expression of those ideas can enjoy copyright protection.
> Had D&D included portions of text from Lord of the RIngs or some other such,
> then there may be grounds for copyright infringement. But simply including
> "orcs" and "elves" in a "fantasy setting" does not in itself constitute a
> derivative work.
> 
Likewise, "Hobbits" are clearly trademarked;but "short people with furry
toes who live an agrarian lifestyle and don't like adventure, except a
few who enjoy picking up things that don't really belong to them" is a
CONCEPT, and you can call them 'halflings' because the term predates
JRRT.
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