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Post by George WK Newman on May 27, 2009 12:01:50 GMT -5
There are two seperate issues surrounding copyright we need to address.
One, what can we use that doesn't legally belong to us.
Two, who holds the copyright for the ideas we post here.
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Post by George WK Newman on May 27, 2009 12:09:52 GMT -5
One
We need to respect copyright to the extent that it is practical.
The worst thing a member can do is to steal someone else's ideas from print, internet, fan sites, similar network sites.
Plagarism can happen accidently, such as where you get an idea from, thinking it is original but it is not. We will take corrective action when this happens to minimize the effects.
However, purposeful stealing of ideas or plagarism is not allowed, and if found guilty the offender will be suspended from the site.
You no longer need to register, or even say "copyright" on any documents, paper or electronic. Copyright is now inferred, so all material is automatically copyright protected.
Trademarks are a bit different. For example if you wanted to do a Batman series, we do not have the trademark, but we will assume that this is okay. In the game you will need to pay royalties, but in the real world we will assume this game falls under the parody fair use exemption. However, do not use ideas, characters, etc from someone else's game. For instance do not take someone's show like "Eat at Joe's" and create parallel characters and call it "Eat at Earl's".
Bernie Cheatum and his legal crew will keep an eye out for infringement and warn you but may not catch everything. The onus is still on you to make sure you are following the rules.
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Post by George WK Newman on May 27, 2009 12:15:09 GMT -5
Two
Every idea you post on this board becomes fair use for the game's continued use whether you are present or not.
You might have a hit show here and then decide to leave, on good terms or bad. We reserve the right to continue to use and develop your show. However, to the extent that it is your idea you are free to use it elsewhere as you please. The good news is that since it is probably your passion that created it, likely without you here it will fall apart and be removed from the schedule fairly shortly.
Because of these proprietary rights, and also to make the game not just a rehash of other sites, I ask that only new shows be used on this site. If you have developed a show for another site, if you have posted even one episode at another site, do not use it here. An exception to this new show rule is that we can pick up REAL shows when they are cancelled or not picked up by their networks.
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