McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
just curious
The Dread Pharaoh Roberts:
--- Quote from: Starbeam on December 30, 2008, 02:10:03 AM --- There's a mention of something about something that happened with Mercedes Lackey, but dunno what exactly it's referring to. Although googling anything similar, it sounds like she has some very crazy fans.
--- End quote ---
Yes, luckily all of Jim's fans are perfectly sane and rational.
Supremacy:
I can't claim to know the finer points of law. But personally, anytime I am involved in anything that has intellectual property rights attached (Weather it be graphical, website design, writing, etc., etc.). If I intend to claim any portion (if not all) of the rights attached to the product, I make a hard copy of my work/involvement on disk (both External and HDD), sometimes I even add copyright date and explanation of what that copyright encompasses.
As far as ideas are concerned. If you're talking about a general idea like, "A group of Vampires attack a town, but one of the Vampires gets a conscience and fights back". There's not much for IP to attach to, because anyone might come up with that idea on their own. But if you had a product that went into detail of how the world worked, the characters involved, etc. like that. That might be a different story.
Take for instance Never-Never-Land from Peter Pan. Just by the name alone someone might assume that the concept added to JB's inspiration (I'm not claiming it did or inferring anything, just making an example). However, it's completely obvious that JB's Never-Never is completely his own creation. And any ties that anyone might be able to find that resemble Never-Never-Land and the Never-Never would be extremely loose.
And that is essentially what IP is. It protects you from your works/products being regurgitated. You can trademark certain things, etc. And if anyone is inspired by your work, they are allowed to be, but they can't use your base product. They can use the over-all concept, but they have to make every bit of their product as their own work and not tied to yours without permission.
However, if you have an idea that you think is wholly unique, then your best bet is to keep it to yourself or people that have signed DNC agreements. If it's that important to you. But understand that once it is out to the public, people might be inspired by it. Which would be good for you (The whole point is to inspire and entertain, IMHO). What you gain by keeping it to yourself is being the first to use the idea and staking your claim in history as being the creator.
Tribblechomper:
--- Quote from: AverageGuy on December 29, 2008, 06:41:48 PM ---I've heard people say this before. It doesn't necessarily work. For one thing, it isn't backed up by the law so doesn't have any official recognition, for another, it's too easy to insert material into an envelope later.
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But how does one fake the USPS-issued postmark, without a DeLorean and a flux capacitor??
--- Quote from: AverageGuy on December 29, 2008, 06:41:48 PM ---Anyway, if you're worried, don't post anything. Honestly, ideas are very rarely wholly original, so any similarities you'd see could easily be coincidence. And even if someone did steal your idea, it wouldn't keep you from using it later; it's the body of work rather than the idea that counts as IP. Besides, most people wouldn't bother stealing them.
--- End quote ---
Tell that to the family of the late Art Buchwald and ask his heirs about "Coming To America" with Eddie Murphy...
Quoting Wikipedia:
"Buchwald was also known for the Buchwald v. Paramount lawsuit, which he and partner Alain Bernheim filed against Paramount Pictures in 1988 in a controversy over the Eddie Murphy film Coming to America; Buchwald claimed Paramount had stolen his script treatment. He won, was awarded damages, and then accepted a settlement from Paramount. The case was the subject of a 1992 book, Fatal Subtraction: The Inside Story of Buchwald V. Paramount by Pierce O'Donnell and Dennis McDougal."
Starbeam:
--- Quote from: Tribblechomper on January 03, 2009, 03:11:58 AM ---But how does one fake the USPS-issued postmark, without a DeLorean and a flux capacitor??
--- End quote ---
I think it's something like sending yourself an empty envelope, or whatnot, and then later on putting something in it. I think this is the thread dealing with all that stuff.
The Corvidian:
Usually, if I come up with an idea that might not seem wholly original, I also try to find two other uses of it.
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