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Character Copyright

From Tapestries MUCK

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Revision as of 02:36, 31 March 2007

Contents

Armchair Lawyers and the Copyright Policy

Armchair lawyers have a lot to say about the validity of WhiteWizard's interpretation of how copyright law applies to the MUCK. There are usually threads on the web forums where you can find conversation and analysis of the topic if you are interested in reading it or adding to the discussion. It is most constructive to take your thoughts to the forums rather than trying to pin down a wizard in real-time on the MUCK. It is also in your best interest to take into account the following point:

Encouraging Originality

The rule against using copy protected and trademarked characters isn't just about making the MUCK legal. It is also about encouraging originality on the part of our players. In a certain sense, the fact that a primary drive behind the rule is NOT about legislation makes any argument about copyright law beside the point.

Using Species-Types from Existing Works

Species-types created by others are acceptable species choices. You can be a pikachu, you just can't be 'THE' Pikachu. You can be a red dragon, but you can't be 'THE' Smaug. (No, Tolkien is not public domain. 'The Hobbit' is expected to enter public domain in 2032.) You can be a Care Bear, but you can't be 'THE' Sunshine Bear. You can be a giraffe, but you can't be Geoffrey the Toys-R-Us giraffe. These choices fall under the "inspired by" clause.

Using Names from Existing Works

You can use names of popular trademarked characters, as long as they're not recreations of the trademarked character. You can be 'Zazu' but you can't also be a hornbill, you can be 'Timon' but you can't also be a meerkat, you can be 'Raphael' but you can't then also be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. Zazu, Timon, and Raphael are names in and of themselves, but combined with their species they risk entering the trademarked zone.

Reporting Violations

You may report copyright violations using the request command. The command is 'request #submit text'. Copyright violation reports are usually processed in batches. Your report will probably not be processed immediately. Just report it and forget it. We'll get to it.

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