>For starters, in the United States, you cannot be penalized for any copyright >violations if you do not benefit (make money) from using the material. That is >why muds have mostly escaped the recent policing on the net. Look at the fire >usenet is under, usenet is full of copyright violations, hell you can download >the entire playboy issue if you want. This is only partially true. You will not be required to compensate the copyright holder for their losses due to your copyright infringement. Their losses are nothing when you don't make money from them. You can be liable for punative damages, however. And punative damages are usually the big money in any lawsuit. On the plus side, they have to order you to "Cease and Desist" before they can sue you. If you do stop, you probably won't be sued. >There are a good many muds out there using TSR/Forgotten Realms/Dragonlance >ideas >and copyrighted materials. Hell, probably the most popular mud on the net, I >won't >say the name, reads like an RA Salvatore book. (title, city, areas) That's mostly because the people with the lawyers don't know about these muds. If they don't try to protect their copyright from infringement, they will lose their copyright. This means that they will have to sue anyone who is using their copyrighted material without their approval. Many companies will approve your use of their material if you ask, because any publicity is good publicity. >than what I have to do, as I am making no money running a mud (it is >actually costing me). As indicated above, your revinue is only relevant in showing how much money the copyright holder lost. Punitive damaged are determined by the court. -Jeff +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | Ensure that you have read the CircleMUD Mailing List FAQ: | | http://cspo.queensu.ca/~fletcher/Circle/list_faq.html | +-----------------------------------------------------------+
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