Alexander Zoller wrote: > > I wouldn't be too concerned. Peroxide contacted EA in a proper way, and > received absolutely no response. As by copyright statutes, the rights holder > has to enforce ownership of their intellectual property, or it will become > public domain. They cannot simply stomp on an unlicensed project after they > tolerated it for a long time. If the rights owner fails to respond to a > letter in which the project was brought to their attention, their unspoken > agreement can be assumed. They have to reply, or otherwise they are NOT > properly enforcing their claim of ownership. A legal statement published on, > say, their official website is not sufficient. TSR made that claim when > clashing with a German Baldur's Gate fanpage, and they lost.
The intellectual property owner has a very long period with which to enforce their brand. At least 2 years, although I'm unsure of the exact length of time. So yes, they actually *can* stomp on this once it's completed a couple of years from now. > As for the use of copyrighted material (which cannot become public domain), > this is loosely covered by Title 17, Section 107 of the US Code, the > so-called 'Fair Use' agreement: > http://liiwarwick.warwick.ac.uk/uscode/17/107.html. The nature of the work the fans are doing immediately violates fair use. If they were writing a story, or painting a picture, or showing screenshots, that's one thing -- but they are creating a *game*, something that directly competes with existing works, and that violates fair use, non-profit or otherwise. I am not saying all this to be difficult, or even because I think it's right. What EA is doing is hurtful to their dwindling fan base. But people should not be surprised when EA does stuff like this because they are protecting their intellectual property (remember, Ultima Online still exists) and they have every right to do so. Origin didn't have to sell out to EA in 1990; they had a choice just like everyone else. Being a co-founder of the Abandonware movement, people are always very surprised to hear me talk about copyright issues, fair use, intellectual property, etc. They usually assume I don't give a crap. :-) (Don't ask me about my role in creating Abandonware, that's a topic for another time) -- http://www.MobyGames.com/ The world's most comprehensive gaming database project. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
