Author Topic: IP Law and Fanworks  (Read 1997 times)

Lord J Esq

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Re: IP Law and Fanworks
« Reply #15 on: March 03, 2010, 10:11:36 pm »
Entirely new intellectual property laws are required. I can't even begin to approach fangames in particular without addressing the entire legal framework. One thing's for sure, though: The copyright laws as they are enforced today are far too stringent. The provoke contempt. They incite piracy. While my general opinion is that the counterstroke of illegal use is as unjustified as the illegality itself of many of those uses, the state of affairs today highlights the need for institutional reform.

Truthordeal

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Re: IP Law and Fanworks
« Reply #16 on: April 23, 2010, 12:13:07 am »
http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2010/04/content-id-and-fair-use.html#comments

Earlier today, Youtube announced a change in their content ID system to better handle the issue of fair use.

My initial reaction to this was pretty much positive: No more having to deal with suspended accounts and videos being taken down. Instead, they'd be disabled(which means no copyright strikes against you) and you could easily appeal. This is a system that they have been using for audio material for quite a while now.

However, in that time, I've had conversations with two other Youtubers on the matter. The first said that getting the strike and then having it repealed was a better alternative because it allowed a loophole for the user. I'm not going to get into what that loophole is, simply because. He made a good point either way, that this merely convoluted the DMCA counter claims process.

My second Youtuber friend had a fairly negative reaction to this news though. She makes the claim that this is just a band-aid to keep users on Youtube from leaving for a less stringent competitor site(like Revver, which is very nice about Fair Use), but that it gives the companies too much control and monetization options, and allows them to easily bypass the DMCA to mess with people's videos(like taking them down unfairly, or putting ads on them).

To me, this is all a step in the right direction. The "perfect" scenario for the fan would be that Youtube gets rid of the identification algorithms(henceforth referred to as "bots") and makes all copyright claims on videos manual. The problem with this would be that the production companies of movies, anime, video games would have to hire an army of people to continually check Youtube for illegal uses of their property. Youtube is not a small site; there are millions of videos uploaded every day, and the amount of hours and resources that would need to be put into such a thing would bankrupt one of these companies(plus, it's simply unfair to them). The Viacom lawsuits were what made this system necessary in the first place.

There still needs to be some policy reform to better protect user rights. If something is fair used, it shouldn't be treated like it's only permitted because of the benevolence of a company and their ads. It's nice that things are being allowed to stay up, but they need to be allowed for the right reasons.

But they're starting to change though, and hopefully this is a sign of things to come.

BTW, I'll leave on this note: I don't think you guys should have any problems with the Crimson Echoes playthrough videos on Youtube. The way that the bots work is by "scanning" a video to see if any infringing content is used. Even if Square-Enix put every bit of Chrono Trigger onto video format and put it into these bots, they wouldn't be able to catch you guys because you made a completely new fan work. The only way you would have a copyright problem is if Squeenix manually saw your videos and said "NO FANGAEMS EVAR!" and removed the videos. In which case, a boycott/lawsuit would be not only necessary, but almost required. At that point, Square-Enix would be trampling over your fair use rights, and that can't be allowed to happen.


FaustWolf

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Re: IP Law and Fanworks
« Reply #17 on: April 23, 2010, 01:56:13 am »
I'm at peace with Youtube's copyright policy nowadays. I've had several videos flagged by music companies, but they've allowed me to keep them up with the provision that they reserve the right to attach ads and purchase links to the videos. No skin off my back, since my motivation in using clips from bands is to give those artists more viral exposure in the first place. I also appreciate that each copyright holder is allowed to define its own policy and reaction; I'm hoping they'll find that the more lenient companies actually benefit more from free viral advertising, and the more stringent companies will follow suit.

Dinos

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Re: IP Law and Fanworks
« Reply #18 on: April 23, 2010, 02:31:53 am »
imo they sued you guys because you said right at the beginning of the game (or in the read me my memory isn't 100%) that this game was made without the express permission of square enix, and if at any time they have a problem with this then we will cease all work on the project.  So, they said... Cease.  It's not hard to do when you lay it out for them really :/ 

FaustWolf

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Re: IP Law and Fanworks
« Reply #19 on: May 07, 2010, 06:17:16 pm »
Whoa, whoa, WHOOOOOAAAA

http://jolt.unc.edu/abstracts/volume-11/ncjltech/p103

It's big news that such a subject has been broached academically. Yeah, there's a huge disconnect in IP law between how music is handled and how other types of property are handled; wouldn't it be a dream come true for that gap to disappear one day.
« Last Edit: May 07, 2010, 06:19:53 pm by FaustWolf »

Thought

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Re: IP Law and Fanworks
« Reply #20 on: May 07, 2010, 06:19:30 pm »
Dream or nightmare, depending on how that disconnect gets resolved.

FaustWolf

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Re: IP Law and Fanworks
« Reply #21 on: June 27, 2010, 05:54:09 am »
WHOOOOOOAAAA
http://www.tsl-game.com/

Now, how do we get Square Enix to do that?

tushantin

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Re: IP Law and Fanworks
« Reply #22 on: June 27, 2010, 05:59:40 am »
WHOOOOOOAAAA
http://www.tsl-game.com/

Now, how do we get Square Enix to do that?
O_O What the fork?! LMAO LET'S RAM SE'S OFFICE AND FORCE EM TO GIVE TEH LICENSE!

FaustWolf

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Re: IP Law and Fanworks
« Reply #23 on: October 18, 2010, 05:52:42 am »
Been seeing some news about a Duke Nukem fan license, but haven't had much time to check into the specifics. I'll leave this here for reference for now:

Ars Technica article on noncommercial Duke Nukem fan license.

Lord J Esq

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Re: IP Law and Fanworks
« Reply #24 on: October 18, 2010, 06:41:30 am »
You listening, Squeenix?

Dialga_Palkia

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Re: IP Law and Fanworks
« Reply #25 on: October 18, 2010, 01:18:27 pm »
You listening, Squeenix?
they better be since i find it awesome that capcom is making megaman legends 3 after a decade of leaving a cliffhanger in mml2. perhaps this will be the age where fans get to be the creators and make their own plot devices?

Trebuchet

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Re: IP Law and Fanworks
« Reply #26 on: October 18, 2010, 11:57:40 pm »
I say don't give up on Square Enix recovering from MMO hell and making a new Chrono game. As we can see, old franchises are often brought back years and years later for no apparent reason. Maybe, in a top secret lab in Mount Fuji, Break is being developed as we type...

Dialga_Palkia

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Re: IP Law and Fanworks
« Reply #27 on: October 19, 2010, 12:03:39 am »
I say don't give up on Square Enix recovering from MMO hell and making a new Chrono game. As we can see, old franchises are often brought back years and years later for no apparent reason. Maybe, in a top secret lab in Mount Fuji, Break is being developed as we type...

This holds true due to Sailor Moon getting a worldwide revival (it's becoming popular in Rome I believe) and Kid Icarus getting a 3DS game.

Trebuchet

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Re: IP Law and Fanworks
« Reply #28 on: October 19, 2010, 01:31:07 am »
I was trying to come up with an example of dead series rebirth - there you go, Kid Icarus.