proditor Posted May 21, 2005 Report Share Posted May 21, 2005 To clarify, I have a bunch of Villains and Vigilantes conversions that so far I just send to people if they ask. I'd love to post/link them though so I can avoid e-mailing 1.5MB of attachments every time someone asks. So, which ones can I post without my rabid paranoia of copyright infringement coming true? Best guesses and informed opinions welcomed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chromatic Posted May 21, 2005 Report Share Posted May 21, 2005 Re: Advice needed: Which conversions are okay to post? Probably any of the ones by Jeff Dees, since he passed away about 10 years ago. I'm no lawyer, even if I do play one in Zornwil's game. But I thought Copywrite ended with death.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superskrull Posted May 21, 2005 Report Share Posted May 21, 2005 Re: Advice needed: Which conversions are okay to post? Probably any of the ones by Jeff Dees, since he passed away about 10 years ago. I'm no lawyer, even if I do play one in Zornwil's game. But I thought Copywrite ended with death.... You sure he's dead? He's got a website that last updated in January. http://www.io.com/unigames/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obatron Posted May 21, 2005 Report Share Posted May 21, 2005 Re: Advice needed: Which conversions are okay to post? Probably any of the ones by Jeff Dees, since he passed away about 10 years ago. I'm no lawyer, even if I do play one in Zornwil's game. But I thought Copywrite ended with death.... In general, copyright lasts for the life of the author + 70 years. For a brief review and links: http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20020612.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted May 21, 2005 Report Share Posted May 21, 2005 Re: Advice needed: Which conversions are okay to post? Since you requested a best-guess response, I'm going to offer one based on the comments I've read from various game company sources. Please note that I have no legal background, so what I say will have no weight in court: Most publishers seem to be satisfied if you post the writeups purely in HERO System stats, with none of the background information or character descriptions from the source where the character first appeared. The exceptions would probably be characters for whom official HERO stats have already been or are going to be published (as in Reality Storm), and of course Palladium, who actively pursue any publically presented conversion of their characters whatsoever. It would probably be considered good form if your writeup includes mention of where the original character is taken from, so that interested parties could seek it out for more information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barton Posted May 21, 2005 Report Share Posted May 21, 2005 Re: Advice needed: Which conversions are okay to post? Non-legal advice: Please mention the owner(s) of the copyrighted material. Please plug the material you are basing the conversion on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowcat1313 Posted May 21, 2005 Report Share Posted May 21, 2005 Re: Advice needed: Which conversions are okay to post? some companies are better about things than others, for example, when we went to Marc Miller to get permission for doing Traveller Hero, I outlined what we had in mind after reading the policy on his website, and asked what we could and couldnt do, I had the permission in a couple of days... along with a couple of requests on what we could and couldnt use. if theres somebody that can be found to ask for permission, asking first is always best, if theres an online or acceptable use policy on the site, then they are generally fairly complete, and have a contact person to address any issues with.I figured getting permission would have been a lot harder than it was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chromatic Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 Re: Advice needed: Which conversions are okay to post? You sure he's dead? He's got a website that last updated in January. http://www.io.com/unigames/index.html Actually it was updated March 16, 2005......I stand corrected, but I'm fairly sure I had heard rumor of his passing a few years ago....might have been mixed up with someone else (obviously). What do I know, I'm no newspaper obit columnist either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted May 24, 2005 Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 Re: Advice needed: Which conversions are okay to post? I've posted a few of my V&V conversions. Thus far the writer, nor Fantasy Flight fames have come after me. But if they requested then I'd pull them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asperion Posted May 24, 2005 Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 Re: Advice needed: Which conversions are okay to post? I am no lawyer so this is not to be taken as hard fact, but I have had some study in college. The copywright laws state that a copywrite lasts for life plus FIFTY (50) yearsHowever there are alot of complicators that makes the life shorter than the life part. Howver the plus fifty years rule of thumb is very solid and needs to be concidered. Unless the character in question has been officially declared with no owner (no exceptions that I know of) it would be best to state the original source and owner if you are going to post any character or the owner has given you permission IN WRITING. You can usually find permission on character sheets written at the bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proditor Posted May 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 Re: Advice needed: Which conversions are okay to post? Thanks for the feedback folks. I dropped Jeff Dee a line to see if he had any thoughts on it. Hopefully I'll have an answer soon. In the meantime, I have to whip up a 2 MB mail to Chad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrayPumpkin Posted May 24, 2005 Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 Re: Advice needed: Which conversions are okay to post? Jeff Dee is not dead. He lives in town and is regular at my FLGS, he’s also just very recently did some work for Goodman Games. http://www.goodman-games.com/5018preview.php Edit: Ok just saw the rest of the thread and I see that the fact he's still alive has been established. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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