Brian,
Thanks very much.
Robin
On Thu, Oct 27, 2016 at 9:55 AM, Thomas, Brian <bthomas@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi Robin,
Disclamer: I am not a lawyer and I do not provide legal advice
That out of the way, I believe the short answer in fair-use and copyright
is that it depends on if the person who owns the copyright takes you to
court and it depends on what that court decides.
I think fair-use is fuzzy on purpose so that a judge can decide in a range
of situations. The four factors: the purpose and character of your use,
the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount and substantiality of the
portion taken, the effect of the use upon the potential market.
If the author of the story has any interest in selling the story to video
game designers then I think even as transformative you may have an issue.
Honestly though I don’t think your biggest hurdle is fair-use, your
biggest hurdle will be the IOS app store— I think they are more strict
about their content than what fair-use will allow. I’ll be impressed if
your student is even able to get her video game on with The Yellow
Wallpaper for her story. I wouldn’t let that discourage her though— there
are other places she could publish her game than the IOS app store.
Hope that helps.
Brian Thomas
Director of Library Media Services
Saint Mary’s College High School
http://www.saintmaryschs.org/
510-559-6228
“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has
taken place."
― George Bernard Shaw
<http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3565.Oscar_Wilde>
“It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will
be when you can't help it.”
― Oscar Wilde <http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3565.Oscar_Wilde>
From: <baisl-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> on behalf of Robin Gluck <
rgluck@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: "baisl@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <baisl@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thursday, October 27, 2016 at 9:22 AM
To: "baisl@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <baisl@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [baisl] Copyright Question
Hello,
I have a student who is planning to create a video game that will utilize
the plot line of published story with the mechanics of a point and click
adventure game. The game will be published for free on IOS app store. She
is considering *The Yellow Wallpaper *for her story. The work appears to
be in the public domain and the video game is a transformative use of the
work, so it is not a violation of any copyright. She is also thinking
about using a story that is not in the public domain. *My Question:
Given that the video game is transformative, can she use a story that is
copyrighted? *
Thanks so much for lending me your expertise on this topic.
Robin
*Robin Gluck*
Not Your Grandmother's Librarian
Jewish Community High School of the Bay
1835 Ellis Street, San Francisco, CA 94115
rgluck@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mehunt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> | www.jchsofthebay.org
<http://cp.mcafee.com/d/5fHCNASyMe7fLfIcTdTdKc6zBCXbz1JNwQsIToLsSUMqemrIKfCT1P2oVxWVIxcDlnq0GARr4Ws01dQCHoDjw09JN7kQQnD-LObXzWpEVuWZOWb8VfAPhO-DssqeuEyCJtdmWr_axVZicHs3jq9J4TvASmn3hOYMMqem3tPo08hIjFlSpfO6BK00Ur8raxVsxlK5L1jIvY-l9QU02rd7bby9IQJAdBgYQKCy0iGImz8yjCq807r-AVlwrjsdQcyURnKcO0Be>
