COPYRIGHT ISSUES, RICHARD/ALL READ PLEASE!!

[Deathstalker]

It had to happen sometime, it just happend to me first. The following are my own opinions, paranoid musings, but I would dearly love comments, especially from Richard and MM to allay my fears. I recieved the following in my hotmail box today:


Quote:""Please remove the pictures:





From your page. I know the artist has NOT given her consent for their use in this way and I have already contacted her. She directly asks on her gallery page that you please not take them for such use and I am asking in her stead that you honor this.

Thank you for your time. "".

The pictures in question were the race portraits I use for the Y'Gathian Free States shipset. They were not taken from the artists site in question (I didn't know it existed) but from an RPG site dealing with Baldurs Gate portrait downloads (free downloads, no copyright notices posted at all.)

I sent a return email/apology, I never intended to violate copyright, hopefully something can be worked out (even monitarily) for the use of the picture, it is the central core of my race.(besides the fact that the picture ROCKS!, and brings a much needed female element to SE4).


The problem I have is not that people got upset, I would to if my AI files were copied/posted without my knowledge and were touted as someone elses. My problem is if this is NOT a friend of the artist but an irate fan instead. I didn't know about the deal not to copy/publish etc, as far as I was concerned I was within my rights (free download and all), I NEVER claimed to have drawn the picture (couldn't draw a stick man if I tried). The problem begins with how the artist in question will respond, this could be anything from just "ask permission first! but we can work something out...." to "my lawyers will be in touch....prepare to be sued!" .

If you think this is being paranoid take a look at a few companies out there, Marvel Comics will (and has) sue anybody trying to use the 'X' in a title, they want to keep their X-men titles open ended. Other companies sue at the drop of a hat if they think their stuff has been improperly used.

Now the big problem arises: What if a 'personal friend' or 'irate fan' of Star Trek dosn't like the way people use the pics and sends an email to Paramount Legal department. (or a bab5 fan, starwars fan etc). I'm sure any of these companies would not be totally happy that a company sells a product that can quickly be converted to a game that looks like thier property, especially if the content in question can be downloaded from the 'infringing' companies website.

MM/Shrapnel is a small company, they are all BIG companies, think of what even the HINT of a lawsuit would do to the game/company we love. There are tonnes of Star Trek/Wars/Bab5 images on the Shrapnel company servers for download. The legal costs alone would probally shut the company down. Are we unknowingly contributing to the demise of the game we love??

Hopefully this is just all a paranoid delusion, hopefully something can be worked out with the artist and she is not too upset (again, I apologise, I did NOT know I was infringing upon copyrighted material). If not, we best be careful what we post, it could come back to haunt us.

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"The Empress took your name away," said Chance.
Owen smiled coldly. "It wasn't hers to take. I'm a Deathstalker until I die. And we never forget a slight or an enemy." -Owen Deathstalker.

[Nitram Draw]

Definately could be a problem. Just ask the ower of the restaurant formerly known as Sony's in NYC, and that was the persons legal name!
Hopefully it is just the case as presented.

[tictoc]

Sad day for you and us my friend, i can only offer my condolences (and an olive branch if i could to the author) if there is an infringement.

tic

[Andr�s]

Sorry to hear this.
I can create a replacement race portrait if necessary.

[Atrocities]

Post a disclaimer. Second, unless they have access to your full real name, chances are they will not take action.

Best thing to do CLEARLY state that it is the work of a FAN, and not MM/Shrapnel.

Past that, don't worry. Change the images in question, and let it go.

Most companies (IE Paramount) want credit if you use there images. THEY want money if you get money for there images. They consider fan work free advertisment, and do not act upon it as long as the person using the images GIVES them credit for it.

This person is just raddling the saber to get some attention. I would not worry about it.

[Taqwus]

That's the problem with creating a derivative work. If it's not authorized in advance and it's not covered by the fair use exemptions (which, for this sort of mod, don't apply methinks -- they mostly allow for research or review, and there's some legislation specifically aimed at libraries -- but I'm not a lawyer), then distributing it is a bad idea... And putting it in a public Online forum is explicitly labelled a public performance for purposes of copyright law according to the US Code, IIRC.

For reference, you might want to look into, say, the various _Doom_ mods. ISTR that Fox went after the makers of the Alien "total conVersion" for Doom because it used their IP, for instance. It didn't matter that it was free -- it was still a violation of their IP protections. It also wouldn't have mattered if credit had been given.

So I would highly recommend that people looking to create derivative works ask in advance -- possibly in writing, to get a response you can file, if particularly paranoid.


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-- The thing that goes bump in the night

[Richard]

Yes the best way to stay out of trouble is to grant credit where credit is due.

But to be honest I wouldn't be too concerned though about any trouble we may get in for fan work...

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Sarge is coming...

Richard Arnesen
Director of Covert Ops
Shrapnel Games
http://www.shrapnelgames.com

[Andr�s]

Yes I have always added a discalimer note whre I specificaly say my shipsets are a work of fan art, non-profit and named the copyright owner.
I didn't know the pictured used as y'gath portrait was copyrighted material. I will add the note now.

[Deathstalker]

Update:

I have not heard directly from the artist in question, only her friend (who is indeed her friend). But it seems alot of sites have been using her artwork without her permission. Including the Baldurs Gate site, she is understandably upset. My condolences go out to her, and my sincere wishes that she continue with her artwork, it is indeed incredible. Don't let the actions of a few get you down.

I have comissioned a replacement picture, done by Andres as per his offer. As he made the shipset pictures I have full faith in him for this, his artwork too is amazing.

Hopefully, all will go well, maybe I can even aquire permission to use her picture for the Y'Gath, if not, well a lesson learned. As said before, no harm was intended. Nor was any offense.

Thank you to all those who have responded to my paranoid thoughts.

Steve.

------------------
"The Empress took your name away," said Chance.
Owen smiled coldly. "It wasn't hers to take. I'm a Deathstalker until I die. And we never forget a slight or an enemy." -Owen Deathstalker.

[Hotfoot]

Hm...this sounds oddly familiar. I know a friend of mine has had some problems like this in the past. Copyright is a tricky issue, but when it comes down to amature artists, I can definately sympathize with the need for asking and giving credit where credit is due. Most people who are amateurs want to possibly become professionals, and it's rather difficult to achieve when one's art is taken on the net and shown without any credit given.

(ed. note: while I was writing this, I was in the middle of an ICQ conversation with a friend of mine, who offered some insights into this situation to me)

When I first read this thread, I thought that it sounded somewhat familiar, and in fact, upon further checking, it's actually more familiar than I originally thought. I happen to know the artist in question, and she's had a heck of a time with people taking her art and not giving her proper credit (or any credit in some cases: there's beed a few times when people tried to pass it off as their own).

I love her art, and I sincerly hope she continues to share it with people, as do the rest of her friends, and the best way to do that is to give her a reason to keep producing it. Right now, the best way to do that is give credit where credit is due.

As for the paranoid ramblings, well, yes, if a company wanted to, they could keep people from publishing shipsets and images if it kept them from earning money on the subject of the shipsets and images or if they had a similar game and the mods for SEIV cut into their own sales (like say Lucasarts were to revive Rebellion, they /might/ decide to come down on the Star Wars shipsets).

But in any case, just because it's on the internet doesn't mean that it's free. And when it comes to independent (or amateut) creators of anything, you always want to give them a reason to continue making stuff if you like it. It's like not just handing out the *.exe for SEIV or WAREZing it, because we want to see more.

I'm not certain, but I think that if you asked her and told her your intentions, you might get permission to use her picture, but that's really up to her, not me. In any situation, I look forward to seeing more shipsets to download.

-Hotfoot
"Hey, we can hope."