On Thu, 2006-09-07 at 09:02 -0600, Mark Wilkinson wrote: > In my non-lawyer opinion, I would suggest that you > do you own thing rather than try to resurrect these > works.
HAHAHA! That is exactly what my wife said. Her: "Why are you wasting time making stuff for someone else's world? Why not just write your own?" Me: "Um, good question. I like these games?" But since she hit me with that bit of obviousness, I have not been able to really write anything that was part of someone else's "universe"... So, I now have a growing directory of "my own things" and my first for-real OGC game book seriously in production. I have several chapters o' goodness in my organizer. So, I agree with your initial thought, completely. The idea of this particular project was to create an open version of the game that could easily be shared with others, as a way to bring new players to the table for that game. Personally, I don't see this as some project with a marketable end product. I can't legally photocopy my books for others to use, as far as I know, although I assume that is commonly done. Aftermarket suppliers (such as eBay) are hardly an option anymore, since the original out-of-print books rarely show up there anymore, either. Without books, or even the way to get them anymore the game either fades away completely, goes "underground" as a collection of files and such "shared between friends" (illegally), or goes open. And the only way it will go open is if I and others sit down and recreate it. If successful, this idea could breathe new life into my large, expensive (and rare) collection of those game books from that defunct publisher. Else, if no one will ever be able to play the game again, then I might as well sell the stuff I have and get away from it. My initial direction for "opening" this game was to create a one-page distillation of the rules for quick reference, and/or a "lite" or "quickstart" version that could be released openly. Then, there would be *something* to give to new players for use as a game guide rather than the actual rulebooks they can't find anymore. > With that most important thing said, let me > offer some suggestions to you. > Are you sure the author is the original copyright > holder? Oh yeah. The game books are copyright in his name personally, rather than the name of the company that he published them under. > If he created the game as a "work for hire" > then he might not own the game, the original > company would. That probably applies more to the original artwork and some of the included material. > Of course, if that company does not > survive, then the ownership would probably > revert to him/her. Yep. > Personally, I feel that copyright law in our country > has a problem in that an out-of-print book cannot > be printed by anyone but the copyright holder. Makes sense to me. It creates a real problem for people when something is essentially abandonware, but the original creator can't even be bothered to release it to the public domain or under some mostly-free license early. > I personally feel that an out-of-print book should > be reproducible for private use only. But that is not > the law. That is as I understand it too. > I'd suggest that you start from scratch and > create a game with the same flavor but that > does not violate the original author's protected > material. That's what I thought I suggested to the group to rewrite all of the rules in our own words. The tables that the rules reference are a second sticking point, but the core mechanics could be recreated? At no point has anyone interested in this project considered or suggested re-using any of the trademark terms, images, etc. People have volunteered to create new artwork and such to build around. -- Robert "Exile In Paradise" Murphey briefcase, n: A trial where the jury gets together and forms a lynching party. _______________________________________________ Ogf-l mailing list Ogf-l@mail.opengamingfoundation.org http://mail.opengamingfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ogf-l
