On Thu, 28 Sep 2000, Brad Thompson wrote:
> Those are not 'original' works as that term is used in copyright law. They
> are derivative works that also contain original content. (The first one is
> pretty gray, since rules don't enjoy copyright protection, but the second is
> black-letter law).
>
> The online policy encourages the creation of 'original' works, not
> 'derivative works that have original content in them'.
This is something else I'm fuzzy on. Reading the actual laws, it looks
like derivative works require that they include some portion of content
from the copywritten work in question. Add-ons and alternative rules
wouldn't seem to apply, since they contain no copywritten material.
However, I'm fairly certain that this has not been how it has been
interpreted in courts. There is a frustratingly large amount of 'this
issue is too complicated to have clear rules about' in everything on the
matter. I despite arbitrary law.
--
Eric Christian Berg
System Administrator, Comptek Amherst Systems
(716) 631-0088 ext. 199
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