On Tue, 20 Aug 1996, Linebacker wrote: > >> 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... > > 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. > > 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. Ok, well this is completely wrong. Could you tell me your source on this information? Copyright laws are just that -- laws. Once a person or corporation records a sufficiently creative work in any form (even RAM has been upheld as a recording medium for copyright reasons), THEY CONTROL ANY AND ALL DISTRIBUTION AND USE RIGHTS TO THAT WORK. Period. If you distribute Playboy for free and make no money off it, you bet your ass that the courts will find every downloaded copy was a potential sale for the copyright owner. Thus it is counted as lost income and you are liable for all the revenue the holder would have collected if those magazines were sold at a newsstand. Ok, so you can argue that use of a book's characters and situations in a MUD area causes no lost income. Fine, so you owe nothing in revenue compensation. Big whoop. Besides the possible punitive damages, the first thing the copyright holder will do is issue a cease and desist order. Then you have the choice of scrapping your work on the area or being held in contempt of court. Now you've escalated from a civil dispute to being criminally liable. At minimum you owe a fine; at most you could serve time in jail. I'd go out on a limb and guess that you won't be sued. I would even go so far as to say that the original copyright holder will never know about your area or derivative work. So you'll get away with it. That doesn't make it legal or ethical. -- Mandy, Coding Director of The Multiplex -- telnet:pccs.cs.pomona.edu -- http://www.tmarts.com/Multiplex +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | Ensure that you have read the CircleMUD Mailing List FAQ: | | http://cspo.queensu.ca/~fletcher/Circle/list_faq.html | +-----------------------------------------------------------+
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