It is a very complex area. In the Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks after about book 4 Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone let other people write the books. But Jackson and Livingstone kept the "concept copyright" and the new authors got a "text copyright". [You see these copyrights in the intro pages] There was also the art/drawing copyright. So you had 3 sets of copyrights to three sets of creators.
So I agree that legal advice would be the way to go. Outside of such qualifications I cannot see how a legally unqualified person would have any chance of grasping such issues to reach a conclusion about what is permitted.
Andrew On 25/07/2013 7:14 PM, James Durrant wrote:
No problem.I would suggest you may be on dangerous territory with both of these, so I definitely suggest you consult a lawyer before proceeding.I wish you all the best with the project, James. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Jul 2013 15:02:58 +0800 Subject: Re: [projectaon] The Lone Wolf 'engine' From: madoverlordstudios@xxxxxxxxx To: james.durrant@xxxxxxxxxxxxx CC: projectaon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Thanks a million for the reply.I would not be using the Lone Wolf name, any characters or world or even skill names.. I just like the 'roll a dice consult the combat chart to see how much damage both you and your opponent take' mechanic along with the ' you pick certain skills and as you finish books' you get to add another skill' mechanic.I knew i would be skirting along the edge of this... that is why I wanted to get your advice since I would like to avoid any copyright problems as much as possible.Thanks again for the light shed on this, DaveOn Wed, Jul 24, 2013 at 7:06 PM, James Durrant <james.durrant@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:james.durrant@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:Hi, This is a very complex question, and you really need to talk to an intellectual rights / copyright lawyer directly. Any guidance we provide is based on our own experience only, and should not be considered in any way actual legal advice. Lone Wolf is the property of Joe Dever. Large amounts of his work are copyrighted - including, but not limited to: * The title, as used within context * Any proper nouns, as used within context (i.e. the actual names of characters for those characters) * Written text, when used within context (i.e. complete descriptions, complete paragraphs, used as-is or paraphrased) * Skill names, where they relate to their use in a gaming system * The gaming system as a whole * Specific illustrations, such as the character sheet & random number table * Individual illustrations remain the copyright of each illustrator The general mechanics of a gamebook as a whole are impossible to copyright, except as a whole - for example, the use of a D10 (or the general use of the idea of a random number table) are too common to be individually copyrighted. Specific mechanics, such as the exact way that weaponskill works in Lone Wolf, can be and are copyrighted - including the skill name within context. (i.e. you may be able to use the skill name Weaponskill - but if it bears a close resemblance to the Lone Wolf mechanic, you are likely straying into copyrighted territory - but again, only a lawyer can confirm this.) As with any use of one book as a basis for another, you need to be extremely careful, and you will need to perform your own legal investigation. I hope this information is useful as a starter for ten. Once again, this is not legal advice, but simply recounting similar past conversations from memory. James. > From: pamail.cgi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:pamail.cgi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > To: projectaon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:projectaon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > CC: madoverlordstudios@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:madoverlordstudios@xxxxxxxxx> > Subject: [projectaon] The Lone Wolf 'engine' > Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2013 23:30:27 -0700 > > The following was sent from the Project Aon contact form > From: David Konkol madoverlordstudios@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:madoverlordstudios@xxxxxxxxx> > Date: 06:30:27 on Wednesday, July 24, 2013 > Subject: The Lone Wolf 'engine' > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > Hey there, > > I was interested in trying my hand at writing a gamebook using the LoneWolf 'engine', something similar to as what Greystar did. I would be using my own world, own story own everything... But i really like the simplicity of the LW system. Generate random number, compare your CS to opponents, Do damage. > > Is that available for use.... for profit? > > Thanks for your time, > > David > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > NOTE: Please remember to "Reply to All" recipients. Thank you. > > ~~~~~~ > Manage your subscription at //www.freelists.org/list/projectaon > >
