Copyrights

From: warden@hydra.unm.edu (Scott Micheel)

Date: Fri, 09 Feb 1990 02:58:40 +0000

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 Jeff K: here is more stuff on copyrights.

The first thing to do is send a postcard to get some free flyers on the stuff.
Address is Copyright Office
           LM 455
           Library of Congress
           Washington DC
           20559

Unfortunately, they have close to a hundred different free documents on a
variety of subjects (#93: Highlights of the U.S. Adherence to the Berne
Convention -- details about protecting your stuff abroad.)

I suggest that you ask for copies of Circular #1 (Copyright Basics) and
Circular #2 (Publications on Copyrights).  This will quickly get you the
information you need.

In particular, the new laws make it really easy to copyright stuff.  I quote:
"Copyright is secured /automatically/ when the work is created, and a work is
'created' when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the first time."

That is, if you have written it down, you can probably declare it copyrighted.

If you expect to have to sue somebody over it though, you should go ahead and
register it with the Copyright Office; it makes all the legal stuff much
easier.

And a personal note:  I worked in the game industry for several years, and I
never heard of any problems with game companies stealing ideas that people
brought to them -- it was always the other way around; the big guys (TSR is
still famous for this) are always on the lookout for games that are too
'similar' to theirs.

Anyway, hope this helps.  Good luck.

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|    The sad truth of history has always been that the unreasoning masses     |
|         follow the powerful, not the wise.  --  George R.R. Martin          |
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