----- Original Message ----- From: "Weldon Dodd" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > Am I the only one who sees the immense humor in all of > > this? Am I the only > > one who has read the information presented by the Library of > > Congress/Copyright Office regarding art? <smacks forehead> > > And what do they say? Among other things: from http://www.loc.gov/copyright/faq.html#q1 "45. How do I protect my idea? Copyright does not protect ideas, concepts, systems, or methods of doing something. You may express your ideas in writing or drawings and claim copyright in your description, but be aware that copyright will not protect the idea itself as revealed in your written or artistic work." and from http://www.loc.gov/copyright/circs/circ1.html#wwp "WHAT WORKS ARE PROTECTED? Copyright protects "original works of authorship" that are fixed in a tangible form of expression. The fixation need not be directly perceptible so long as it may be communicated with the aid of a machine or device. Copyrightable works include the following categories: (1) literary works; (2) musical works, including any accompanying words (3) dramatic works, including any accompanying music (4) pantomimes and choreographic works (5) pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works (6) motion pictures and other audiovisual works (7) sound recordings (8) architectural works ..." "WHAT IS NOT PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT? Several categories of material are generally not eligible for federal copyright protection. These include among others: -Works that have not been fixed in a tangible form of expression (for example, choreographic works that have not been notated or recorded, or improvisational speeches or performances that have not been written or recorded) -Titles, names, short phrases, and slogans; familiar symbols or designs; mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, or coloring; mere listings of ingredients or contents -Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles, discoveries, or devices, as distinguished from a description, explanation, or illustration. ..." and from http://www.loc.gov/copyright/title17/92chap1.html "� 102. Subject matter of copyright: In general26 (a) Copyright protection subsists, in accordance with this title, in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. Works of authorship include the following categories: (1) literary works; (2) musical works, including any accompanying words; (3) dramatic works, including any accompanying music; (4) pantomimes and choreographic works; (5) pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works; (6) motion pictures and other audiovisual works; (7) sound recordings; and (8) architectural works. (b) In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work." I personally think that the only thing that WotC owns in regards to Mind Flayers is the specific artistic representations (that being X pieces of art),the specific text of write-ups of the Mind Flayer/Illithid (that being Y occurrences in Z number of books), plus any relevant trademarks(Probably Illithid, possibly Mind Flayer), not the idea of "octopus headed humanoid with mental powers." At the very least there is sufficient prior art for them not to be the owners. If anyone does it's the people who own the rights to Cthulhu and I don't think they do either because it's an idea, not a tangible representation. However IANAL (though I am seriously debating becoming one) and all that :-P Ryan Fisk - woed at earthlink dot net - home.earthlink.net/~woed _______________________________________________ Ogf-l mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.opengamingfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ogf-l
