i was planning to use some ships seen in a paramount production in an upcomming plug of mine. Should i ask them if it's ok? i know ive seen copyright ships in things like Star Wars plugin, but i didnt know if i should ask or just give them credit in the read-me
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"The only reason for time is to stop everything from happening at once!"
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Originally posted by Temporal:
**i was planning to use some ships seen in a paramount production in an upcomming plug of mine. Should i ask them if it's ok? i know ive seen copyright ships in things like Star Wars plugin, but i didnt know if i should ask or just give them credit in the read-me
**
You'd be making the ships yourself, right? In that case, go right ahead. Since it's a free plug in, it falls under the "they probably won't even notice it, much less care" category. I do recall some Star Wars or Star Trek plug being shut down a veeerry long time ago, but I wouldn't worry about it. Just have fun and do the movie homage.
-david-
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often, language in a read-me along the lines of 'no claim to original paramount (or whoever holds the copyright) work' suffices. just make sure you try to identify who owns the copyright. other than that, a plug-in most likely qualifies as fair use.
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The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain
rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage
others retained by the people.
actually, a few people will be working on it, and i will not personally make them, but one of us will. I assume this is still ok. I know it may seem like a trivial matter, but it did bother me after hearing about that plug that was shut down. I think it was star trek, now that you mention it.
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"The only reason for time is to stop everything from happening at once!"
I don't want to dampen the fires, but Paramount do retain copyright on their graphics, and plugins don't count as 'fair usage'.
The bigger question is - will they bother to enforce it, and are you willing to take the risk? Someone in the UK was forced to stop selling hand-knitted teletubbies at jumble-sales (I think she made about 3 a week) because Ragdoll productions decided to enforce their rights.
On the other hand, if you're not selling it, and if you put some disclaimers in, as above, they may take no action. If they do take action, the best thing to do is to withdraw it graciously and immediately.
Regards
Martin
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M A R T I N T U R N E R
I also have a question about copywrites: What if the work (using a song for the intro music) is taken directly from the company? It is not my creation; it is theres. Would a note in the ReadMe go far enough? (Note: I don't think so, but I would like to use the music for my intro music)
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Approving someone else's work is not the same as creating it yourself- Bill Watterson, Author of Calvin and Hobbes
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Because the plugin is not being sold for a profit, and because it would do little more than gain publicity for that movie/tv show/whatever, it is probably legal. Besides, most people here are under 18 (well, some of us, at least) and copyright laws are very lenient on kids. And even if somehow it is illegal, there is about a .01% chance that you will get in trouble. If you do, just withdrawl it graciously and quickly, like Martin said, and you will be fine.
As for taking the music directly, well.. That is different, but most likely will be fine. I suggest emailing or snail-mailing the company/composer/whatever to make sure it is okay, first, if you can.
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--ares
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Remember that you are a unique individual - just like everybody else.
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Originally posted by ares1:
Because the plugin is not being sold for a profit, and because it would do little more than gain publicity for that movie/tv show/whatever, it is probably legal.
Wrong... you really shouldn't give out legal advice if you don't know the law. Whether you charge for something or not has absolutely no bearing on whether it is copyright infringement. None. Ditto with the "gaining publicity" schpeel.
It is most definitely not legal -- but it is also unlikely that they will even see the plugin, so the odds of you hearing from their lawyers are slim.
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Andrew Welch / el Presidente / Ambrosia Software, Inc.
Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.
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Originally posted by ares1:
Besides, most people here are under 18 (well, some of us, at least) and copyright laws are very lenient on kids.
Copyright law makes no distinction whatsoever based on age. The only possibility is that the copyright owner may be reluctant to sue a child. However, as Andrew said, no use of copyrighted material in your plug-in will be considered fair use if the copyright holder actually does learn of it and decides to sue.
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David Arthur
(url="http://"http://members.aol.com/darthur1/talon-ev/")Talon Plugin for the original Escape Velocity(/url)
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Mr. Turner, you are absolutely right, and i apologize for suggesting that plugins qualify as fair use. i was thinking of the copyrights i have violated in the plugins i have made for myself and my small set of friends.
the precursor to a copyright lawsuit is a cease and desist letter. i'm sure Andrew has seen a number of these. it's also a good reason to make a readme file, and identify yourself in it. the better chance someone has of delivering that letter to you, and you act accordingly, the less chance of worse things happening to you later. the same goes for identifying the copyright holder.
this all assumes you did not get pemission, but that almost never happens anyway.
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The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain
rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage
others retained by the people.
Quote
Originally posted by ares1:
**Besides, most people here are under 18 (well, some of us, at least) and copyright laws are very lenient on kids.
**
If you are under the age of 18, your parents are legally responsible for you. That means that you produce a plugin that violated someone else's copyright, and that company could sue your parents for the copyright infringement damages.
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Andrew Welch / el Presidente / Ambrosia Software, Inc.
Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.
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Originally posted by andrew:
**That means that you produce a plugin that violated someone else's copyright, and that company could sue your parents for the copyright infringement damages.
**
...and the last thing you want to do to your parents is to give your mother one more opportunity to tell you how long she was in labor... 
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While I respect copyrights, as any law-abiding citizen, they are not somthing I can say I'm happy with. Sadly, the current human thinking makes them an evil we'll just have to live with.
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Originally posted by Bryce:
**While I respect copyrights, as any law-abiding citizen, they are not somthing I can say I'm happy with. Sadly, the current human thinking makes them an evil we'll just have to live with.
**
I think they serve a very good purpose and am thankful for them. Even through the small inconviences they can cause. They support artists and their work. An interesting fact is that the Soviet Union was not a member of the international copyright organization and so we regularly copied each other's work without giving the creators a cent. If that was the case everywhere, the entire system would break down. Creators wouldn't be payed enough to eat from creating all the wonderful movies, books, graphics, etc. Just imagine, there might be no Foundation, Dune, and any other of your favorite reading material if the author wasn't payed for it. Even if the creators just did it because they liked to, the publishers wouldn't have enough money to distribute it.
I have experience the copyright thing first hand. I wrote something and because I didn't type "copyrighted by me," on it, someone changed it around and into what I think was a very sloppy version. It was a small and petty matter, however.
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Get a life, a cyberspace life.
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Originally posted by Colours:
I have experience the copyright thing first hand. I wrote something and because I didn't type "copyrighted by me," on it, someone changed it around and into what I think was a very sloppy version. It was a small and petty matter, however.
You know, even if you didn't say anywhere that it was copyright, it would still be copyright to you under the laws of most countries. Copyright is automatic unless you actually say "this is not copyright."
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David Arthur
(url="http://"http://davidarthur.evula.net/")davidarthur.evula.net(/url): MissionComputer and the Talon plug-in for the original Escape Velocity
Quote
Originally posted by David Arthur:
You know, even if you didn't say anywhere that it was copyright, it would still be copyright to you under the laws of most countries. Copyright is automatic unless you actually say "this is not copyright."
Indeed, under intellectual copyright law, as the creator, you own the copyright. For example, I own everything on (url="http://"http://www.evula.com/")the Lair(/url) and it is copyrighted, even if I didn't have the (url="http://"http://www.evula.com/copyrights/")Copyrights(/url) page. I recently ran into trouble with some kid that thought it would be just fine to completely emulate not only the layout of my site, but it's CSS as well (looking at his source code, it was the exact same as mine; he hadn't even deleted the stuff that he didn't use).
However, the copyright does run out 40 years after the creator's death (which is why Shakespeare can be performed without paying any royalties). Michael Jackson will only be able to pimp Beatles songs for so long...
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The problem with copyrights is that they are rather unfair - consider:
If you invent a idea, and tell about it to others, and one of them blatantly rips the idea off, you can sue them. Seems fair enough. But let's say that you are the 'starving artist' type, and the person who ripped off your idea is a rich guy, who is a movie producer, who has turned your idea into a movie. Do you think you really have a chance of wining a lawsuit against the studio?
Of course, if there were no copyrights, it wouldn't help the above situation at all - I suppose that better copyrights, not no copyrights, would be preferable.
- Bryce
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I'll just put a random number at 0008EC and see what happens.
(Famous Last Words #-32767)
Where do you want to teleport today?
Quote
Originally posted by Bryce:
But let's say that you are the 'starving artist' type, and the person who ripped off your idea is a rich guy, who is a movie producer, who has turned your idea into a movie. Do you think you really have a chance of wining a lawsuit against the studio?
Stupid ass, don't tell your idea to a rich movie producer. 
Seriously though, that is just one of the "disadvantages" to living in a capitalistic nation. Try China, I'm sure you won't have any problems with rich movie execs over there.
Even more seriously, if you have enough proof, yes, you can win the lawsuit. If you just have the basic plot of the movie (which was "the idea") written on a bar napkin, you'll lose. But if you have a basic screenplay, dated well before pre-production, and there are other people who can vouch for you, you'll win.
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Quote
Originally posted by EVula:
However, the copyright does run out 40 years after the creator's death (which is why Shakespeare can be performed without paying any royalties).
I believe it is fifty years after the author's death, at least under the laws of most countries and in the Berne Convention. Also, it is fifty years after publication for works where the author's identity cannot be determined, which might apply to much of what goes on in the EV community.
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David Arthur
(url="http://"http://davidarthur.evula.net/")davidarthur.evula.net(/url): MissionComputer and the Talon plug-in for the original Escape Velocity
I wonder if plugins count as personal, domestic use. Probably not because they're distributed. That's a quirk of NZ law which technically makes software piracy legal - copyright law is not applicable for personal domestic use. However, if you make a cent or even give it away, then it does apply
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