** Sean Kellog :: > On Saturday 27 August 2005 09:08 am, Ken Arromdee wrote: > > On Fri, 26 Aug 2005, Raul Miller wrote: > > > That said, it looks to me like this license grants you the > > > right to use those game mechanics, including making and > > > distributiong modified versions of them. If you've spotted > > > someplace in this license which prohibits that kind of thing, > > > I'd appreciate it if you could point that out to me. > > > > Since game mechanics are not copyrightable, without a license at > > all you still have the right to use them. Although the license > > does grant you the right to use them, it grants you that with > > conditions. "Granting" you the right to use something under > > some conditions, when previously you could use it without > > conditions, is taking away rights, not granting them. > > Without violating any of my NDA's with Wizards here, I've got to > say that they very much believe that game mechanics are > copyrightable. The mechanics are a work of authorship put in a > tangible form. There are ways around copyright law, like > independent invention, that are not available with patent law... > but aside from that, you would need a license if you intend to > just copy the d20 system (or create a derivative thereof). > > If you still think that game mechanics are not copyrightable, can > you point me to some authority to support your claim. I'd be > interested to see how they are distinguished from things like > cookbooks (which are copyrighted). > > -Sean
Ok, without consulting 17USC, I can tell you that in Brasil, game mechanics are uncopyrightable *and* unpatentable: i.e., unprotected at all. Let's see, translation mine: Author's Rights Act (Lei 9610/98), art 8: ''' It won't be object of author's rights protection, as described by this Law: [...] II - schemes, plans or rules for performing mental acts, games, or businesses; [...] ''' Industrial Property (*) Act (Lei 9279/96), art 10: ''' It's not considered an invention or utility model (**): [...] VII - gaming rules; [...] ''' -- HTH, Massa -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
