>> I want to write several areas, actually an entire mudworld based on an >> already existing novel set, and am curious as to what others have run >> into. >I'd suggest letting the author know at the *very* least... > About copyright: 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. 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) My mud is based entirely on the Forgotten Realms, the cities, races, classes, are all straight from adventure books. I have areas written to exact specs of existing AD&D modules, and a drow city right from the boxed set. I am going to have a 'bibliography' file in my mud listing my sources, sorta like a research paper. I feel this is more than what I have to do, as I am making no money running a mud (it is actually costing me). This will clearly show that we are not taking credit for any of the ideas, and it will show who the author is, and who published it. If I am breaking the law, oh well, I have done much worse in my time. For any matter, you can only be sued for amounts up to the maximum revenue gained from the use of the copyighted material. I'd be happy to turn over my 'gain' to Forgotten Realms. My gain starts out with a fat negative sign. At any rate, I believe the authors of this material would be flattered to have their material used. It promotes them and their books. (I never read the Drizzt books until I heard about them on Sojourn), I myself used to write modules and submit them to TSR for little or no pay, (although I got 400 bucks for one module) and I would not care the least if anyone used my ideas for something such as muds. my 2 bits, Chuck btw: another side note, those of you that use school equipment to run muds (as I do) that is probably a more serious offense than a copyright infringement of this sort. =) +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | Ensure that you have read the CircleMUD Mailing List FAQ: | | http://cspo.queensu.ca/~fletcher/Circle/list_faq.html | +-----------------------------------------------------------+
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