So, whose it is anyway?

[stealthkat]

I wasn't sure where to post this, but it is a general question that may arise in many Skotos games.

Several places in the Marrach forums, the question of repeating copyrighted material has been raised. In thinking about copyright issues in general, not only did I get a nice warm, fuzzy reassurance that I chose right in not pursuing a career in law, but I came up with a couple of questions that I felt I should ask.

First, will Skotos create a guideline for players to follow in game and out of game, like on a web page, for repeating copyrighted material? I possibly see IC and OOC being slightly different guidelines, but maybe they aren't.

Second, for original material created by the players, whose creative property does that become? Currently I write tech doc and web content for my company. All material I write for them is their property, and is copyrighted to the company. That's simple. Now looking at this enviroment I'll give the following example. I wrote a sonnet for Marrach entitled "The Depths of All I've Seen." In it I use the names Castle Marrach, and Queen Vivienne, and I mention many keywords taken from the players handbook. Can I copyright the sonnet as my own? Does the sonnet become property of Skotos because it is under the scope of the game? Or, does the story owner/builder/person have some right to it because I use names and places they have created? I hope the answer isn't as complicated as I've made the question seem, but I'd like to know before I start on the copyright process.

I know, I worry too much. But better safe than sorry. Besides, I assume that there will be a need for bardic-chronicling-type characters in the forthcoming games as well, so better sooner than later.

Thanks!
Kathy

"Would you like to shoot me now, or wait till we get home?"
- Daffy Duck to Elmer Fudd http://www.skotos.net/ubb/smile.gif

[Atama]

Well, since "Arcana" is going to be about Gypsy werewolves, there's probably going to be a need for bardic characters there, as well. http://www.skotos.net/ubb/smile.gif

[SamW]

Originally posted by stealthkat:
I wrote a sonnet for Marrach entitled "The Depths of All I've Seen." In it I use the names Castle Marrach, and Queen Vivienne, and I mention many keywords taken from the players handbook. Can I copyright the sonnet as my own? Does the sonnet become property of Skotos because it is under the scope of the game?

I'm not a lawyer, and I don't play one on TV, but I did get embroiled in a particularly ugly bit of business involving very similar circumstances. To answer your questions:

If you used any Marrach material in your composition, you can't copyright it. You've created a derivative work, using Skotos property and have essentially no legal basis to protect such a work.

There are exceptions, such as parodies or review material, but my rule of thumb is as follows:

Anything I, as a player, write for or about a game such as Castle Marrach belongs as much to the creators of that game as to me.

Now, I could be wrong, and if I am, I hope someone points out my error.

My $.02,

SamW

[JeffCrook]

Originally posted by SamW:
If you used any Marrach material in your composition, you can't copyright it. You've created a derivative work, using Skotos property and have essentially no legal basis to protect such a work.


I believe this is true. There is, of course, fan fic, but you can't sell fan fic, and the critical element here is whether or not you use a derivative work in any kind of forum where a profit is made either directly or indirectly.

I write fiction in a shared world - Dragonlance. Because the setting belongs to Wizards, everything I write in that setting belongs to Wizards, even though I am not an employee of Wizards. I think the same applies here. If the poem is based on characters or events or the setting itself, then it is a derivative work, just as Sam stated.

Copyright law is such a muddle. I hate it. It is good and useful, but really, it is most often noticed only when it is taken too far. I'd like to see copyright laws reeled back a bit, for the sake of scholarship and art. What a poorer world this would be if we still had to pay Beethoven's family to record his work, or if Wilfred Owen had been sued by Keats' family for making such obvious references to Keats' poems in those of his own.

[stealthkat]

Okay. Those answers make sense for that example.

Another question regarding that sonnet example...I can still legally use the sonnet in my 'portfolio' of work, right? After all I penned it. Just like Jeff can say he wrote such-and-such Dragonlance novel, I would list that I wrote such-and-such piece for Skotos' game, blah-blah-blah. Also I don't want ever want to give any players reason to come back and claim they weren't given proper credit for chronicling an event or penning a song, etc. No, it's not an issue now, and I don't want to blow things out of proportion. However, it's a big thing at my company, so it's kind of been preached into me. I'd rather address all this stuff now, up front.

Next example, I wrote a poem that has a medieval setting, but has no mention of anything regarding Marrach. Just because Katherine performed it in Marrach doesn't make it Skotos property, right? Is this where I should just use my best judgement?

Aw heck, maybe I should have gone to law school after all. So many questions, too many laws, rules, regulations, statutes, precendences, precepts...

[SamW]

Originally posted by stealthkat:

Next example, I wrote a poem that has a medieval setting, but has no mention of anything regarding Marrach. Just because Katherine performed it in Marrach doesn't make it Skotos property, right? Is this where I should just use my best judgement?


This can get sticky, and I've heard varying 'legal' arguments about who owns the content of an online roleplaying game. As far as I know, it's never seen the inside of an actual courtroom, but I could be wrong.

On the one hand, anything you do in Marrach reflects on the responsibilities of the owners of that property. One would think that this gives them ownership, or at least controlling interest, over anything that goes on in Marrach. On the other hand, I don't see Skotos actively going after someone over a case like this . ..

I've heard from various game companies that they OWN everything that goes on in their games - character names, events, dialogue, the whole ball of wax.

But I don't know how it would stand up in court, and I would think that individuals should have their creative works protected regardless of the venue in which it is created.

I suppose, though, that it depends on what the EULA says once Marrach and the other Skotos games go to the pay-to-play model.

For now, I wouldn't be too concerned about losing control over material you create or use within the context of Marrach, but I'm an optimist.

SamW

[JeffCrook]

I am reminded of something said by a publisher at a conference I attended. An aspiring writer asked if it is wise to copyright ones work before sending it to a publisher. The answer was threefold.

1. If it is original, it is already copyrighted the moment you put your name on it.

2. If it isn't original, your copyright is meaningless anyway.

3. Publishers receive far more good material than they can ever use, so why would they risk their reputation by stealing something?

[Sariel]

Our intention here at Skotos is to create a shared community, where everyone can take part in a virtual world and each person can expand upon that virtual world as they see fit. To try and reach this goal we've created the idea of "Participatory Content".

You can find the whole (sadly legalistic) description in our Terms of Service, over on our Help page. Basically, Participatory Content is anything that you contribute to a shared, cooperative environment. Right now that means anything you put into a game or that you post to the forums.

The copyright remains with its original owner. (As Jeff notes, this means that if it's something you wrote, it's copyrighted to you, which is according to the Berne Convention that numerous countries are signatories too.) However, by agreeing to the Skotos Terms of Service, you agree to license us the right to use your copyrighted content (the Participatory Content, that is).

So, why do we want this license? There's two reasons, equally important. First, it allows us to maintain the integrity of our games. If you leave the game, we don't have to retroactively cut your character out of our
ongoing storyline. Second, it allows us to maintain the integrity of our community. Not only can we use participatory content (say, when Shannon writes about the goings on in the Castle in his column), but you can too (if Retribution wants to rant about someone or if Punzel wants to include Martel in a poem).

So that's the basic status: your copyright, licensed to us if it appears in the game. We'll make this more explicit some time soon, to make it clear what you can do with the shared Participatory Content (I think the bottom line is that, as a member of our community, you'll be able to use the shared Participatory Content in a non-commercial way.)

Hope that helps http://www.skotos.net/ubb/smile.gif

Sariel