> From: woodelf (lists) [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> i'm > reasonably certain that a non-parody/satire sequel to a novel is a > copyright violation. In an important case decided just this year, a work titled "The Wind Done Gone", a retelling of the Gone with the Wind story from the perspective of a black slave was found to be an infringing derivative work and surpressed by the court, despite the fact that most of GWTW is based on actual historical events (the Civil War), and essentially the entire novel "The Wind Done Gone" was new text (in other words, there were no bits that were copied from the original). This case extends the protection afforded by copyright to include the >story< being told, not just the actual words of the story. "Shakespeare in Love", for example, would not be a legal work if Romeo & Juliet were copyright. Nor, probably, would "Westside Story". The ramifications of this ruling (and the immense increase in value it gives to corporate ownership of copyright) is staggering. Corporations have been acting as though this was the way copyright applied since the late '70s, but they've never had a test case decided by trial until now. With this ruling, copyright holders have vast new and expanded options to use when pursuing works they feel may be infringing. Combined with the extension of "character copyright" that has also been underway during this same timeframe, copyright has become a locked down set of rights that is much more resistent to 3rd party use than it was probably ever envisioned by the framers. When you consider the effects of things like the DMCA, and the recent rulings against DeCSS, it becomes increasingly obvious that copyright is turning IP ownership into something akin to real property. Ryan _______________________________________________ Ogf-l mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.opengamingfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ogf-l
