Reply to Re: Copyright
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What Simeon said is true, but it helps when you create something to send a copy to the Library of Congress (there are instructions for how to so this on one of the US government's website's, I think www.loc.gov) so that you have PROOF that it really is your work, and you came out with it first. Otherwise this is a very difficult thing to establish in court. If someone rips you off, it becomes a your-word-against-theirs sort of thing. Of course, implicit copyrights do exist, but that's just a legal principle and something that most honest people respect. Not everyone is going to be honest about such things, e.g. "The Truman Show" movie was actually a script that Paramount (I think) ripped off from some poor playwright, who wrote a play called "Frank's Life" which they had rejected years earlier and refused to make into a movie.
However, in the case of Dink, anything that we make is technically considered derivative of Seth's work, and he released Dink Smallwood as freeware in 1997. SO, even though there's a case to be made that any story you write is your own, distinguishing your intellectual property rights from his in any such events is going to be a tricky matter at best.
The short version:
1. The copyright you have in any D-mod you create is technically superseded by Seth's copyright.
2. Any attempt made by a 3rd party to profit by/steal 'your' work is actually a matter for the court to decide which would be between Seth, and the other person/group.
3. Since Dink was released as freeware, and your work contains images, trademarks, etc. of RTSoft, and is derivative of Dink, it must also therefore be considered freeware.
4. Any attempt by someone else to profit-by/steal from your work would be legally considered both plagiarism and a violation of the terms of "freeware", which would be a technical violation of Seth's rights, and not yours, since you expand upon the Dink storyline at Seth's sole discretion.
5. The best thing for you to do would be to go ahead and write your story, release it, and not worry about it, since there's technically nothing anyone can do to violate your rights in this matter. Unless, of course, you can draw a legal distinction between your work and Dink Smallwood, which is nigh impossible.
6. In sum, no one else can sell your story, but neither can you, and if someone else tries, it isn't your responsibility.
P.S. Oblique references to the works/characters/creations of others are typically considered "fair use" and will be ignored in most cases, unless used for profit. Also, purely satirical works are always protected by the First Amendment (See O'Reilly v. Franken visa vie 'The O'Franken Factor'.)
-rcbanks
However, in the case of Dink, anything that we make is technically considered derivative of Seth's work, and he released Dink Smallwood as freeware in 1997. SO, even though there's a case to be made that any story you write is your own, distinguishing your intellectual property rights from his in any such events is going to be a tricky matter at best.
The short version:
1. The copyright you have in any D-mod you create is technically superseded by Seth's copyright.
2. Any attempt made by a 3rd party to profit by/steal 'your' work is actually a matter for the court to decide which would be between Seth, and the other person/group.
3. Since Dink was released as freeware, and your work contains images, trademarks, etc. of RTSoft, and is derivative of Dink, it must also therefore be considered freeware.
4. Any attempt by someone else to profit-by/steal from your work would be legally considered both plagiarism and a violation of the terms of "freeware", which would be a technical violation of Seth's rights, and not yours, since you expand upon the Dink storyline at Seth's sole discretion.
5. The best thing for you to do would be to go ahead and write your story, release it, and not worry about it, since there's technically nothing anyone can do to violate your rights in this matter. Unless, of course, you can draw a legal distinction between your work and Dink Smallwood, which is nigh impossible.
6. In sum, no one else can sell your story, but neither can you, and if someone else tries, it isn't your responsibility.
P.S. Oblique references to the works/characters/creations of others are typically considered "fair use" and will be ignored in most cases, unless used for profit. Also, purely satirical works are always protected by the First Amendment (See O'Reilly v. Franken visa vie 'The O'Franken Factor'.)
-rcbanks
