Re: [ADMIN] Copyright issues

From: Steve Reeves (dormammu@voicenet.com)
Date: 10/17/96


>  No, you have no more protection if you put a notice on it.  Or rather,
>  you have the same amount of protection if you don't.  It's still
>  copyright, it's still treated legally the exact same.  But since many
>  people are ignorant of the copyright laws, the notice serves as a
>  reminder to all those idiots that think, "It doesn't have a copyright
>  notice on it, so I can stomp all over it and it's creators."
  hmm.. I guess the document I read that off of was wrong then.  :>  Or maybe,
what the document meant was that it's easier to prove a copyright via notice?
[No, you could just change the notice I guess... can't really change the
postmark
on an envelope.]  Oh, I dunno... :>

>  I don't think TSR wins much.  They try to sue over very petty things.
>  Trying to sue over using the word "Drow" as a fictious creature with a
>  specific description and home-place (underground) is a BIG stretch of
>  the laws.  Especially considering the word "Drow" relating to mythical
>  creatures has been around for hundreds (thousands?) of years.  Can't
>  remember where they originated from, though.
  hmm.. I didn't know Drow existed prior to TSR.  :>  I know Elves, Dwarves,
etc.
did.  As for Drow, assuming they historically occupy a position similar to
that of
TSR Drow, I'd guess they originated in either Norse or Celtic mythology.
The Celts
has beings called 'Sidhe' which were similar to Elves, and I think Norse [or
is it Danish?] mythology actually had beings called Elves.  Oh well.  I
don't know much
about Mythology aside from Greek mythology.  [And bits of Norse mythology that
I picked up from the 'Thor' comic book.. however, comic being comics, a lot
of it
is probably wrong.]

>  Actually, if you go into a bank with a loaded musket and say you have a
>  right to all the money in the bank; I think there might be a small
>  penalty... :)  Not that, that has anything to do with copyrights,
>  though.
  Yes, I believe that'd land you in a bit of hot water.  :>

>  BTW, did you know that four lines, one on top of another, each less than
>  an inch long (half an inch?), all of them solid, is trademarked?!  I
>  mean, you can't draw four lines atop each other without risking imposing
>  on some companies' trademark.
  That is totally ridiculous, really.  Is there space between the lines, or
is it a solid box?

>  measured about what they do.  Right now, most of what we perceive to
>  be TSR's aces are just bluffs and not trumps at all -- but a few bad
>  mistakes can make you wish you never broke the suit afterall (wow,
>  I managed to stick with the card game metaphor :)).
  heh.. TSR does Bluff a lot.  I mean, I can understand them trademarking terms
like "Planescape" and "Dark Sun" but trying to get a stranglehold on Elf,
Drow, Dwarf,
etc is just pathetic of them.  heh... I know they went after the Net-Book
people and
managed to win against some of them.   [I think the early Net Books copied a
lot of
text from TSR manuals directly.. that may have had something to do with it.]
I dunno..
I'm not too up on TSR's inane legal actions.  :>

heh.. oh well.  Back to coding.  :>  [And to change this CD.. I've listened
to a total of 6 times tonight.  It's getting really boring.]  :>

Steve

+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| Ensure that you have read the CircleMUD Mailing List FAQ: |
|   http://cspo.queensu.ca/~fletcher/Circle/list_faq.html   |
+-----------------------------------------------------------+



This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : 12/18/00 PST