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Messages - RedNeckJiuJitsu

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1
I was wondering if anybody'd ever tried to find out. Thanks, rocky.

2
Wouldn't Marle and Lucca's close attacks go up if you increase their strength? You know how if an enemy is right next to then, they beat the enemy over the head with the crossbow/gun? Does increasing their strength make that attack go up?

3
I haven't started a NG+ yet. I'm still working my way through it on the DS the first time. I'm going through the Lost Sanctum now. I spent a good deal of time building up my characters, though. Chrono had Luminaire in the fight with Magus IIRC.

4
General Discussion / Re: AIM/MSN/Yahoo/IRC Chat
« on: May 14, 2009, 03:00:52 am »
I quit using MSN because the ratio of people I talk to on it vs the number of spam bots that would message me was waaaayy outa whack.

5
Site Updates / Re: C&D: Director's Response
« on: May 14, 2009, 02:56:13 am »
Quote
When you get old enough to go to college, make sure to take some business courses.

I'm quite insulted. I'm 21 and about to be a college senior. I hate when my radical socialist beliefs make me a pariah, but I suppose it can't be helped.

Well, you sound like a kid who's lost in Never Never Land, just like every other advocate for socialism and/or anarchy that I've ever talked to/heard/read... But I don't understand how a socialist (and socialism is pro-government control) can advocate doing away with copyright laws... A communist, I could see having that view, but I guess you don't wanna be stuck under that label. Don't get me wrong, I'm an advocate for as little government as possible, but intellectual property is property just like anything else. If you worked your ass off to buy/make something, and you were proud of the effort you put into it, would you just leave it laying around and be carefree when someone came along and took it because there were no legal punishments for taking your property?
As a songwriter, without the legal protections afforded me by copyright laws to give me the possibility of making money from it, I would never put my music out there to be heard by anyone but my friends and family. I wouldn't be able to. *sarcasm* But let's just take from the people who have and give to those who don't to make 'em feel better. */sarcasm*


Chrono and crew fought for freedom, not for government controlled economies!  Go Chrono!

There's a HELL of a lot of difference between having legal protections for the products of one's mind and a government controlled economy. Look at China, where, although they are opening up to a free market, they still have a semi-government controlled economy, yet IP infringement is rampant.

6
I wasn't referring to Community Games when I said Microsoft, as I don't even know what that is. Moreso their realization that people with Macs may use other MS products (Office for OSX) as well as that open-source stuff (Firefox, for 1) can be a threat to their business and turn out a product that's as good or better than theirs.

7
I had never thought about it before, that no matter when you go through the Black Omen, that it falls in 12,000 BC, even though it may still be there. They probably also felt that it would be better to have it fall then than to have it crash into Melchior's house.

8
Chrono Trigger DS Analysis / Re: Chrono Trigger DS Sprites
« on: May 13, 2009, 03:17:09 pm »
All the new enemies are palate swapped sprites with different stats.

9
Site Updates / Re: C&D: Director's Response
« on: May 13, 2009, 01:49:47 pm »
RySenkari - The reason copyright laws exist is so that the creative people who come up with stuff have the possibility of making financial gain from stuff that they spent time, blood, effort and creativity to make. While it's all idealistic high and mighty sounding to say that people should be making creative works for the sake of making creative works and not for monetary gain, here in the real world, it don't work like that. While there would still be some people who would take the time to do it, do you honestly believe that we would get movies or TV shows like we do now if people had to either take time off from honest work or be creative on their own time to be able to film/edit/distribute? Obviously people can make games in their free time, but think about this, the system that the orginal release of CT was designed to run on was obsolete 10 years ago, and it still took the team 5 years to make the game. As a songwriter, I can tell you that while I would be ecstatic to hear one of my songs on the radio, if nobody came and got permission from me and I wasn't getting paid for, it, I would be quite upset, so I can understand SE's perspective. Corporations are in business to make money for their shareholders. Video game companies do that through their intellectual property. That does not make them evil. When you get old enough to go to college, make sure to take some business courses.

Mav - If you're in Nashville, then we might just have been in the same class. lol. Anyways, good analysis. I can definitely see those points. My brain wasn't back up to 100% when I was going through my analysis last night to remember some of that. While you're right that educational/commentary stuff is far more likely to be okayed as fair use, non-edu stuff has made it through, so there's a chance that CE could pass the muster to a court, but overall, like ya said, the likelihood isn't very high.

10
Site Updates / Re: C&D: Directors' Response
« on: May 13, 2009, 01:33:38 am »
Okay. I'm gonna try to give a full analysis of this situation here, as I see it. I'm not a lawyer, but I just finished up a class on Intellectual Property, the vast majority of which was spent on copyright. I could try to email the professor and see if she'd give me her opinion on it, but I have a feeling it would be about the same as I come up with as I work my way through it here. (Also, I started on this about 4:00 in the afternoon, Central Time in the US, and came back to it about 10:30, and I didn't refresh the page. So, if anyone has said any of what I say in here, I apologize).


Under US law, Section 106 of the Copyright code gives 6 exclusive rights to the creators/owners of IP.

Quote from: www.copyright.gov
§ 106. Exclusive rights in copyrighted works38

Subject to sections 107 through 122, the owner of copyright under this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following:
(1) to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords;
(2) to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work;
(3) to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;
(4) in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works, to perform the copyrighted work publicly;
(5) in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, to display the copyrighted work publicly; and
(6) in the case of sound recordings, to perform the copyrighted work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.

CE would fall under the area of "derivative works", since it would be a "mid-quel". Now, obviously, there's a lot of various fan fictions for different series, whether video games, TV, movies, books, etc. Generally, even though these works are derivatives of the originals, although they make not necessarily be embraced by the copyright owner, they're at least tolerated, as the copyright owners 1) don't want to alienate their fans, and 2) don't think that it'll hurt the market for their own derivative works.

Looking at it from SE's perspective, while they allow other fan fiction, there's 2 main issues here. They probably feel that the release of the CE patch would encourage people to illegally download a CT rom, and that the downloading of the rom would likely discourage many fans from purchasing CTDS. Also, although CE is a patch for the SNES rom, it still makes use of and modifies their original CT game. A similar idea is that of sampling pieces of music to use in the creation of new music. Done with permission from the copyright owners, it's okay, but when done without permission, it has been the cause of many lawsuits. Sometimes the bits taken are so small that they constitute fair use, but that's pretty rare. Think of the CE situation like this: CE takes a couple little snippets of music (some from CT, some from CC) and uses it as part of the creation of a whole new song. It doesn't use much, just enough that it's recognizable. Even though this new song gives credit to the creators of the first 2 songs, it's still using those pieces without the permission of the owners.

Now, I mentioned fair use. There are limitations on the Sec 106 exclusive rights of copyright owners, but exactly what constitutes fair use will vary from case to case. Looking at what the law says,

Quote from: www.copyright.gov
§ 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use40

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include —
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.

Now, fair use isn't so much an allowance as it is a defense to a claim of infringement. You may look at the 4-part analysis for fair use and think something (like CE) falls under it. SE may look at it and say "No way in hell does it fall under fair use." The only way to know for sure is if it goes to court. And even then, with appeals, you may get 3 different answers before it's settled (provided it makes it to the Supreme Court).

My personal take on whether or not CE is fair use... Well, let's see:
1) purpose and character of the use - obviously, it's non-profit, and while that doesn't make it a shoe-in, it does make it a lot easier than if the CE team were charging to download the patch, a patched ROM, or even had ads on the site (well, I'm assuming they don't. Somebody else said their no ads on the compendium, and I'm gonna take their word for it, since I have ad-block on my firefox). As we well know, CE wasn't meant to take the place of a possible future SE Chrono title, just give the fans something to keep them into the series, as well as fuel their own creative desires and see how others liked them. To me, that would help push towards fair use.
2) nature of the work - the work in this case is a patch for a rom of used in the emulation of an obsolete gaming system. There may be something in the DMCA about obsolete tech. I dunno, didn't stay on it much in class besides discussions of YouTube, digital transmissions, and such, but even without it, knowing that the Super Nintendo hasn't been available commercially since like 1998 would again get me leaning towards CE being fair use. On the other hand, the game was just re-released for the DS, which is a new system. Granted, there are some additions and changes in the new release, but it's still the same game. Kinda like how 2 people can record the same song. That being said, the patch is intended for backup copies of the old game, and not the new.
3) amount and substantiality of portion used - obviously I can't completely comment on this, since I wasn't a tester or creator, but from what I remember reading about and seeing screenshots of, this would be a weak point in the fair use defense. Even though CE is a completely new game, it uses stuff from the CT game. It obviously uses the main characters, as well as supporting characters, places, items, etc. Obviously the point of CE was to make a new game with the CT engine that tied together CT and CC. While it's a whole new storyline, the fact that it uses the CT rom and so many things from the Chronoverse would definitely lessen the chances of it being seen as fair use.
4) effect of use upon the market - the release of CTDS not so long ago might make CE seem like it would have an effect on the market, as there would be people who would illegally download the SNES CT rom rather than buy CTDS knowing they could patch it and get a second game out of it. Granted, most of those people would probably illegally download rather than buy anyways, but there's still a chance.

Obviously, I'd like to say that CE falls under fair use, and going through the analysis leads me to lean that way, but really, I dunno about how a pro would see it. There's a chance it would be and a chance it wouldn't be. Even if it wasn't, there's the chance that SE wouldn't actually file suit. Generally if the send a C&D, though, they will.


As far as other ROM hacks that are available for various games (Mario, Zelda, Metroid, etc), the fact that they are out there doesn't mean that it's legal. It may be that the copyright owners either don't know or just don't view it as a threat to their business. As I first stated, the fact that CE was to come out now, when there may be people still considering buying CTDS may be what set SE off, compared to if it came out, say, 3 years ago.

Oh, and just to settle it for anyone who's wondering, making or obtaining backup copies of computer programs is legal, so long as you own and still own the original and destroy the backup if you get rid of the original. That is under this section of the Copyright Code: http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#1-53


In regards to SE waiting until now to send out a C&D, as stated elsewhere, so much stuff dies on the vine that they may not have been worried about it. Or it just got caught in a drag net with the increased publicity. Who knows. However, just because they send out a C&D doesn't mean that something isn't fair use. In IP class the one day we were discussing YouTube and how many videos get deleted and what not because of all the DMCA (Digital Millennial Copyright Act) provisions when they are in fact fair use or not even in a position where it should have been a problem, but these big corporations just drag a net through and send out notices. Because many people don't know copyright law, they just cave to the C&D when, in fact, what they have isn't an infringement or is fair use.


Sorry that got so long. TL/DR version is that CE may be fair use, but the only way to find out would be to call SE's bluff, get taken to court, and see how they interpret CE in view of copyright law and the DMCA.

I hope that all makes sense and ties together well. I'd go back and proofread it more, but I just finished my first beer and since I had my last final this afternoon, I think I'm gonna have a couple more.

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It's easy to misunderstand what I said, because I was thinking of illegal ROMs, too. In reality, though, Nintendo probably doesn't want people coming up with their own software to run on a Nintendo produced machine. IIRC, they aren't too fond of Game Shark, Action Replay, Game Genie, etc. Homebrew stuff was one of the main reasons I got a DS, besides CT, so they're thinking that it's not good for their bottom line is BS. Just like any juggernaut (such as the music and movie/TV industries) that's been able to just shovel out about whatever they want and have people buy it, homebrew games/software gives people more options. The big companies don't like that now, not only do they have to compete with each other, they also have to compete with people making stuff at home. Apple has embraced this with iPhone apps. Microsoft has started to learn. Nintendo still hasn't come around, yet.

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You'd think they don't want people running homebrew software on there or something...

13
General Discussion / Re: Stuff you LOVE, baby
« on: May 10, 2009, 10:42:09 pm »
I read Shogun for World History class back in high school... I don't remember much besides the gai-jin's pecker being referred to by the Japos as his "heavenly spear" and that the one samurai banged a young woman while he had a young-ish boy coming up behind him. Then, when the samurai fell asleep, the girl and boy went at it.

14
General Discussion / Re: The $%*! frustration thread
« on: May 10, 2009, 10:37:32 pm »
My current frustration is that CE got C&Ded.

As well as that far as beards/goatees/sideburns/stubble and attracting women, mine haven't seemed to help me out a whole hell of a lot... Granted, my goatee is fuller now than it was 2 years ago, but stubble and sideburns have been on my face for quite sometime... In high school, guys who could grow facial hair before me were jealous of my sideburns...

15
General Discussion / Re: Star Trek
« on: May 08, 2009, 02:53:55 am »
JJ Abrams is awesome. I haven't gotten into Lost, mainly because I can't get into another show right now, but I regularly go back and chain-smoke through all 5 seasons of Alias. I haven't see the new ST movie yet, budget being a big part of that, but I want to. I remember I used to like watching some of the old ST TV shows and movies. I thought they were entertaining. I can't speak for much on either side of Next Generation, though.

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