 I think I've found a gross violation of copyright., Who should I contact? |
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 Jun 20 2005, 08:11 AM
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#1
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Horror  Group: Members Posts: 5,322 Joined: 15-June 05 From: BumFuck, New Jersey Member No.: 7,445  |
A brief search of www.shadowrunrpg.com proved fruitless - possibly because my interenet connection is sporadically dieing due to the modem ingesting an unhealthy amount of water.
I think I've found a gross Comercial violation of Shadowrun's copyrights. I bought a game at WalMart, called Restricted Area. In addition to being a so-cheesy-it's-funny knock off, I've noticed that the game uses many terms which I believe to be copyrighted by FanPro. Examples I've found so far include Cyberware, Bone Lacing, Datajacks, Dermal Plating, and a few others. Could someone point me towards the correct party to contact about this possible breach of copyright? |
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Jun 20 2005, 08:40 AM
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#2
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Canon Companion Group: Members Posts: 8,021 Joined: 2-March 03 From: The Morgue, Singapore LTG Member No.: 4,187 |
I believe those terms are not SR copyright.
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Jun 20 2005, 09:01 AM
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#3
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Great, I'm a Dragon... Group: Retired Admins Posts: 6,699 Joined: 8-October 03 From: North Germany Member No.: 5,698 |
rob@srrpg.com maybe?
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Jun 20 2005, 09:30 AM
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#4
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Horror Group: Members Posts: 5,322 Joined: 15-June 05 From: BumFuck, New Jersey Member No.: 7,445 |
Then they oughta be...
When I first played this game, my thoughts were "Oh my god... Some nameless German company created a thoroughly unholy union of Diablo II and Shadowrun... And then made it suck more than it did by default." And yeah. Once my Internet's back in proper working order, I'll try that email. |
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Jun 20 2005, 09:53 AM
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#5
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,156 Joined: 15-March 03 From: Fresno, CalFree Member No.: 4,252 |
I don't think those terms are copyrightable, due to their generic-ness. Then again, I'm no lawyer.
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Jun 20 2005, 10:10 AM
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#6
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 442 Joined: 23-April 04 From: Pennsylvania Member No.: 6,280 |
Heh, if they were copyrighted I'm sure some certain irate authors would have beat down FASA's door two decades ago.
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Jun 20 2005, 10:36 AM
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#7
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Great, I'm a Dragon... Group: Retired Admins Posts: 6,699 Joined: 8-October 03 From: North Germany Member No.: 5,698 |
Mhhhh... Battletech.... :D
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Jun 20 2005, 10:39 AM
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#8
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Decker on the Threshold Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 2,922 Joined: 14-March 04 Member No.: 6,156 |
I'm much more concerned with the Matrix, which I know *is* copyrighted by FASA. :) Did they get a huge chunck of money for that one?
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Jun 20 2005, 10:44 AM
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#9
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King of the Hobos Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 2,117 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 127 |
If you mean the films, then no. They only hold the copyright, or whichever one it is that I can never remember, to the term matrix in relation to RPG's. At least that's how I remember Adam explaining it to me ages back.
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Jun 20 2005, 12:16 PM
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#10
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Shooting Target Group: Retired Admins Posts: 1,784 Joined: 28-July 04 From: Cleveland, OH Member No.: 6,522 |
Actually, the company you'd want to contract on this would be Wizkids, not FanPro.
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Jun 20 2005, 12:26 PM
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#11
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,078 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 67 |
Not sure this would be the right address, but try customerservice@wizkidsgames.com .
WizKids doesn't have many of those terms copyrighted, but if the terms are used in a very similar context, it's possible they may have some kind of case. But they'd need to see a real lawyer about that. :) |
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Jun 20 2005, 12:50 PM
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#12
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Chrome to the Core Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,152 Joined: 14-October 03 From: ::1 Member No.: 5,715 |
I don't believe any of those are copyrighted. A lot of cyberpunk uses stuff like that.
In fact, Cyberpunk 2020 uses most of those a lot. |
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Jun 20 2005, 01:26 PM
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#13
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,070 Joined: 7-February 04 From: NYC Member No.: 6,058 |
Cyberware, a copyright violation? That's like someone trying to copyright "software" or "hardware".
Same thing with the others, they're pretty damn generic. |
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Jun 20 2005, 01:38 PM
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#14
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Running, running, running Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 2,220 Joined: 18-October 04 From: North Carolina Member No.: 6,769 |
You have to remembber though, it's not all about generic-ness, for instance, consider what most of us are working with right now, probably either
Windows™ or maybe a Macintosh:™ So it can be very industry spacific. Now with that said, it is possible for some terms to be universal, within a spacific genre, such as, i'd imagine cyberware would be, since it is more of a descriptor, than an actual item. I would think it is possible, if they had done it, if they were the "first" within the genre to use them, for things such as dermal plating, move by wires to be copyrighted. |
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Jun 20 2005, 02:04 PM
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#15
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 276 Joined: 4-September 04 Member No.: 6,628 |
I wonder if any of the parties involved will look into legal action...
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Jun 20 2005, 02:07 PM
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#16
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Incertum est quo loco te mors expectet; Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 6,546 Joined: 24-October 03 From: DeeCee, U.S. Member No.: 5,760 |
Firstly, yes, Restricted Area is a new game that came out. They were actually kind enough to log on here about six months ago and point us to their demo. If you search for "Restricted Area", you'll find the thread. Secondly, cyberware was made up well before shadowrun, and I'm not sure how you can contest that "bone lacing", "datajacks" or "dermal plating" could even be copyrighted, much less by Shadowrun first, since things like datajacks and bone lacing are very old. So no, no copyright infringement involved. I wouldn't bother e-mailing anyone. |
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Jun 20 2005, 02:07 PM
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#17
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Running, running, running Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 2,220 Joined: 18-October 04 From: North Carolina Member No.: 6,769 |
It's possible, but i just checked my SR3, and the only words it specifically copyrights are "Matrix" and "Shadowrun". The best thing is to check whichever book it is that has the majority of cyber in it, and see if theres anynotes in it (in the front, with the dedications and credits and that stuff) While it would still technically be possible to persue if they think they can convince the judges that a term has become synonomous with Shadowrun, it would be highly unlikely for them to try, i would think.
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Jun 20 2005, 02:18 PM
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#18
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Target Group: Members Posts: 91 Joined: 23-January 05 From: Washington, DC Member No.: 7,007 |
I'm absolutely shocked! That you can buy gaming books at Wal-Mart! :twirl:
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Jun 20 2005, 02:32 PM
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#19
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Running, running, running Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 2,220 Joined: 18-October 04 From: North Carolina Member No.: 6,769 |
it's not a book though, it's a CRPG, that has been talked about for a while now over on the general gaming boards.
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Jun 20 2005, 02:37 PM
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#20
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 139 Joined: 6-February 05 Member No.: 7,059 |
I think it is actually a video game of some sort, not a traditional table top rpg.
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Jun 20 2005, 02:41 PM
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#21
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Ain Soph Aur Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,477 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Montreal, Canada Member No.: 600 |
Thread discussing Restricted Area
I seriously doubt they have any copyright infringement with Shadowrun. |
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Jun 20 2005, 02:47 PM
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#22
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Running, running, running Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 2,220 Joined: 18-October 04 From: North Carolina Member No.: 6,769 |
Especially since it's German made, and as i understand it, the SR following over in Deutschlund is fairly strong. the people couldnt even feign a lack of knowledge.
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Jun 20 2005, 03:11 PM
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#23
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Midnight Toker Group: Members Posts: 7,686 Joined: 4-July 04 From: Zombie Drop Bear Santa's Workshop Member No.: 6,456 |
Notice that the letters TM are used there, not C. You can't copyright individual words, terms, or names - period - end of sentence. Those can, however, be trademarked. Trademarks give very limited protection within an industry. If I were to build a house that has windows I wouldn't have to get Microsoft's permission first. If I were to program an OS and call it Windows BP microsoft would have my hoop on a platter - although they would probably just buy the thing from me in the end. Restricted Access can't violate the Wizkids trademark because it is in a different industry. Trademarks are meant to ensure brand identification and prevent customer confusion. If there is no chance of confusion then the trademark doesn't mater much. |
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Jun 20 2005, 03:23 PM
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#24
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Running, running, running Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 2,220 Joined: 18-October 04 From: North Carolina Member No.: 6,769 |
True, but it will often be up to the judges to determine where one industry begins, and another ends. For instance, is shadowrun in the "tabletop Rpg--Diced gaming" industry, or just the "Gaming industry". I would say it should be defined as the gaming industry as a whole. For instance, the term "Microsoft" is both, obviously, the company, but is also used, i beleive, in industries that want to define how soft something is (I'm thinking pillows/bedding, but bear with me) but obviously, there isn't any confusion there. However, if someone were to publish a cyberpunk (or even any genre) of game, called "shadowrun", whether or not it really bore ANY resemblence to the game we play, Wizkids could easily win that trademark/copyright case, because I would think that it would seem to be approved by Wizkids. |
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Jun 20 2005, 05:27 PM
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#25
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Incertum est quo loco te mors expectet; Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 6,546 Joined: 24-October 03 From: DeeCee, U.S. Member No.: 5,760 |
If you're going to argue trademarks, Wizkids certainly doesn't have a case. After all, they don't own the rights to Shadowrun video games, Microsoft does. And do you REALLY want to be taking money from a small time computer game producer that's trying to make a good Shadowrun themed product so you can give it to a giant corporation that hasn't shown the slightest interest in anything having anything to do with Shadowrun?
Let Swishtail or whatever the company is called be. Whether you like the game or not, they're doing a lot better than anyone else on the computer game shelf when it comes to Cyberpunk genre games, and we both need those sorts of games out there. |
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Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 28th April 2024 - 05:11 AM |
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