Re: (TFT) Copyright question.

[Bryant Berggren <voxel@theramp.net>]

At 11:32 AM 7/5/98 -0500, Martin Gallo wrote:
>Is there anything in the copyright law preventing me from creating some
>magic cards and selling them? I would, of course, not use any of their art,
>but I would use the card layout (strength, etc.) and color scheme (as I
>believe they may have a copyright on the mana symbols).

Copyright law, no. The trouble is, Richard Garfield somehow eked out a
*patent* on CCGs. (This is amazing, since (a) M:tG was ineligible for patent
at the time of submission due to a requirement to file within 1 year of any
public announcement of your invention, and (b) his patent application is
written so vaguely that _Pursue The Pennant_ would qualify as "prior art".
Heck, the old card game "War" would qualify as prior art.)

Frankly, I'd like to see someone crazy enough to draw legal fire on these
grounds just for the chance to bring these points out and render the patent
invalid. Unfortunately, insanity just doesn't seem to be too common in the
CCG business; most people just don't challenge lawsuits of any kind, even
when they're spurious.

--
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to 
do nothing." -- Edmund Burke (1729-1797)
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