Re: Illwinter's next project
I would like to answer thejeffs argument but I seem to have misplaced my article.
Anyway, i am not a lawyer but this is how I understand copyright law.
You can not copyright a fictional monster or a race. After all, a monster or race is when you boil it down just a list of attributes. And lists, facts and descriptions are excepted from copyright. If you could i'm sure the Tolkien estate would be even more wealthy than they already are.
You can patent certain facts or lists in some jurisdictions. Mainly the american. (Business method patents for example.) But even then it has the limitation, (i think), that it must be a method to achieve something.
Nor can you copyright a name. You can trademark a name however. But that is something quite different. Not only must you pay for a trademark. It will not prevent anyone from using it unless they use it in ways were a person could be led to believe that it is a wizards of the coast product.
A character can, however, be copyrighted. So Bob the beholder is copyrightable but the beholder race as such is not.
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