(TFT) Patents, Copyrights, and a weird Halloween connection

["Kirk Woller" <kwoller@satx.rr.com>]

(Read this post completely or miss out on the spooky part :-)  )

Im glad everyone sees these posts as an honest effort to make available the
social fun that can be created with this game with children and adults.  I
think too many people (young people, especially) think all the world of
computer games (which I have programmed and hated) but have lost the social
connection from an across the table game that sparks the imagination without
being gross or generally offensive.

Thanks for your post, Craig, you present material in the way I think, I
guess I shouldnt have canceled my seat in law school in 1988 for computer
science grad school.  This is what I have understood with the research I
have done.  I encountered some of this during my playtesting of Advanced
Squad Leader modules, the demise of Avalon Hill, the rise of Multi Man
Publishing and the work done by a guy in our club who had a knack for
producing ASL game modules and scenario packs.  The interesting thing that
pops up in my mind to keep this post short(er) (and this is my layman
understanding so take it like that) is that the issue the holders of ASL
copyright had, and maybe the only thing the lawyers thought they could
actually win on, seemed to be the look and feel of the artwork on the
counters (3 little men, or 2 little men, or a leader looking just so)!  So
it wasnt the content of the ASL modules that seemed to be the sticking
point, but the artwork on the pieces (the look and feel).  Design 3 new
little soldiers and accompanying stylistic changes (maybe different
uniforms) and problem basically solved!  Weird.  And eventually my friends
little gaming enterprise was bought out by the company and he was officially
sanctioned to keep on putting out the modules.  Everybody happy.

And according to Craig and my understanding as well (my father has 5 patents
and they are for chemical processes/procedures/formulas):

GAME MECHANICS NORMALLY FALL WITHIN THE REALM OF PATENTS.  And I have
never heard anyone claim that there were any TFT mechanics original enough
to
qualify for patent (there probably were some, way back then) or that a
patent
was filed in the proper time frame (12 months from publication back in 1976
and 1977!), and anyway, if there was such a patent, it would've expired in
1994.  For example, Bob Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad Poor Dad" game is patented,
unlike TFT, but that patent will eventually expire.   Patents cannot be
renewed.

    TFT GAME MECHANICS MAY WELL BE AVAILABLE TO ANYONE... but don't call it
"The Fantasy Trip", since DCG owns that name.  Don't use the original
materials in any way shape or form, HT owns that.  (Unless maybe you're the
original copyright owner...)  And see below regarding the written words and
artwork of the TFT materials!


So maybe by putting our heads together we can make available TFT to be used
as a platform for new adventures, either through presenting the material for
download or purchase, or by changing the look and feel of the rules but
keeping all of the game mechanics.  I would be willing to consider either
accumulating what work has already been done by some on this list, or
starting from scratch if need be and write it with one singular voice.  And
we can call it TFTR (The Fantasy Trip Revised) or change the name completely
if we feel so inclined, though I really dont think it is necessary.  A
Mexican restaurant here named Blanco Cafi did get another restaurant to
change its name from Blancos Restaurant, so I am sure this would be open to
debate.  There are plenty of good names to use, the key is to make the
ability to play TFT as it was intended In The Beginning, and add content in
the form of separate adventures to it to keep it interesting and alive.  A
growing consumer base playing TFT should translate into more adventure
module sales and make additional game content more feasible.

I promised you a weird Halloween connectionWell, when I lived in Austin in
a old Victorian housing coop right off of the Drag with 35 other men and
women (in the late 70s early 80s, yeah it was like whatever you imagine, one
day I will write a book about it) I was able to converse with Madalyn Murray
OHair, the well-known Atheist, because her granddaughter Robin was good
friends with another member of the house.  We would eat dinner at 6:30pm and
during and after dinner converse.  Although a bright woman, after several
conversations with her she was never able to convince me that there wasnt a
God, though I have never been convinced there is one.  So being solidly
agnostic, and so I am told any atheist really is because few will claim they
know with absolute certainty there isnt one (even Richard Dawkins admits
this), our discussions ended with no one changing anyone elses mind.  But
sparring with her was an exercise in self-control as she could be quite
caustic.  I also did some camera work for her cable show on a lark when they
needed a substitute cameraman just to learn how to operate a studio camera
and to investigate the American Atheists operation a bit more closely.

Now for the Halloween part and weird connection.  My girlfriend and I were
looking for a small farm to purchase in Central Texas and walked through
some particular ranch areas in 1999.  Two years later Ms. Ohair and Robin
were discovered on the very ranch area we traversed, cut into dozens of
pieces.  Tragic.  My girlfriend freaked knowing we were so close to the
bodies in this murder.  But all of this led me to a Wikipedia article about
Ohair and the following quote:

Howard Thompson (editor of the newsletter The Texas Atheist), in the course
of an article claiming that O'Hair was the biggest problem facing atheists
in the United States and that she was not fit to be called any sort of
"atheist-heroine," writes: - "The stories told to me in Austin by those who
had personal contact with Madalyn make one wonder how anyone could ever look
to her for leadership. She was vulgar, rude and abusive to those around her.
The O'Hairs engaged in frequent screaming matches at AA headquarters. The
most frequently mentioned aspect of Madalyn was her dishonesty." The article
also enumerates other charges against her, including the disappearance of $8
million. [7] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madalyn_Murray_O'Hair>  Her own
son disliked her intensely.

Spooky, huh?  8:O

-Kirk
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