> From: Todd Landrum [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> what constitues a derivative work? :) Welcome to the quagmire. Here's my opinion: A work of software is derivative of another work to the extent that the software embodies that work directly; that is, the parts of the actual code which are based directly on the other work. Here's the opinion of a number of open source projects: A work of software is derivative in the whole of all materials it incorporates. There is no blackletter law. There's no defintion of how the concept of a "derivative work" applies to software. All these issues have to be settled between the parties or before the court. My opinion is that if your software uses the "rules" from the SRD to process user input and generate otuput, your work is derivative of the SRD. That's a tough case to argue because of the overriding theory that "ideas cannot be copyrighted" and "processes cannot be copyrighted". I think it is possible to differentiate between an original work of software that happens to end up looking like the contents of the SRD, and work that is derivative of the SRD. Ryan PS: My opinion is that a detailed character sheet probably is derivative under the theory that there's an SAP copyright embodied in the SRD itself. Example: A sheet that has things that are obviously descriptive, like a name, or a class or a race is probably generic enough to pass through the merger doctrine. However, the more attributes you add which are not "obvious", like "Face/Reach" or "Special Qualities", the harder it is to make the argument that your work is either original, or passes through the merger doctrine. _______________________________________________ Ogf-l mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.opengamingfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ogf-l
