(TFT) READ THIS ONE!

["Craig W. Barber" <craigwbar@comcast.net>]

--You'll like what you see here!  Please read!  It is a bit turgid until you
get to Flier 108, about 3/4 of the way down, but you'll be glad you read this.
Craig B

--Leading Case:

Baker v. Selden, 101 U.S. 99 (1879)  ("US" indicates a US Supreme Court case):
monopolies over systems or processes should be difficult to obtain and the
writer/inventor should have to get a Patent (which is tough) to protect the
method.

--Leading to:

Morrissey v. Proctor & Gamble, 379 F.2d 675 (1st Circuit Court, 1967): this
second tier court allowed word for word  copying of contest instructions,
(word for word?????????) because only a limited number of ways of saying it
("forms of instruction") were possible to express contest rules.

 Guys, I would STRONGLY urge not copying ANYTHING word-for-word, if something
looks too good to be true it usually is.  I bet this case has been modified,
over-ruled, distinguished, etc etc (weakened).

BUT the general principle is that contest instructions are NOT protectable, so
change the words.

--And in staturory law:

' 102. Subject matter of copyright: In general
(a) Copyright protection subsists, in accordance with this title, in original
works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or
later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise
communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. Works of
authorship include the following categories:

... --(omitted list of what IS covered) ...

(b) In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship
extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept,
principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described,
explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work.

--Which leads to Copyright office regulations:

' 202.1   Material not subject to copyright.
The following are examples of works not subject to copyright and applications
for registration of such works cannot be entertained:

(a) Words and short phrases such as names, titles, and slogans; familiar
symbols or designs; mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering or
coloring; mere listing of ingredients or contents;

(b) Ideas, plans, methods, systems, or devices, as distinguished from the
particular manner in which they are expressed or described in a writing;

...--(two more gen categories explained, and I omitted them) ...

--Thus, the EXPRESSION ***IS*** protected, DO NOT copy words from TFT books.
BUT THE SYSTEM is not covered.

-- Remember, George owns the trademark to "The Fantasy Trip" name, so you
cannot use the name, and the art and the words written by Steve Jackson are
owned by Howard Thompson!  But the mechanics really are up for legitimate
improvement or even re-publication in a new expression.

--And leading to Copyright Office Flier 108 (this is good part!):

"The idea for a game is not protected by copyright. The same is true of the
name or title given to the game and of the method or methods for playing it.

Copyright protects only the particular manner of an author's expression in
literary, artistic, or musical form. Copyright protection does not extend to
any idea, system, method, device, or trademark material involved in the
development, merchandising, or playing of a game. Once a game has been made
public, nothing in the copyright law prevents others from developing another
game based on similar principles.

--source:
http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl108.html

--Translation: don't copy the game art, the game books, don't copy the words
used to describe it... but you can copy the "principles" and "systems of
playing it"!  Katy bar the door!

--AND a two minute Google search yields THIS layman's tidbit, which we all
should've known about years ago.  The topic is open source licenses, but the
author, whoever he is, does a good job describing copyright law in English.

(This is where I found Flier 108, the other refs I dug out of my old
"Understanding Copyright Law", Marshall Leaffer, Matthew Bender, 1989, from
law school. I would worry about the age of that book (18 years ago) but I
checked the statutory law, regs and flier 108 independently online, tonight,
October 20th, 2007.)

http://www.godsmonsters.com/?ART=152

--MERRY CHRISTMAS!

--1)       Don't use the name THE FANTASY TRIP for a game, contact George
first.
--2)    Don't copy the artwork, words, texts, stories, or "expression" of the
methods of TFT mechanics.

Does anyone have a personal re-write of the rules they've put together for
some reason?

Craig B.
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