Copyrighting your work?

[WatchJessieGo]

I was wondering... How does one go about copyrighting their visual novel? How would one write that copyright? My VN is using royalty-free music, so obviously I can't include that in the copyright since it's not mine, but for everything else that I DID create, would I write something along the lines of "[title here] and characters are copyright of [insert name here]"? Or something? XD

[sciencewarrior]

IANAL, but normally the year is included:

Copyright 2012 WatchJessieGo. All rights Reserved.

[PyTom]

Per http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ01.pdf , in the US, copyright is secured when the work is created. So you don't need to actually do anything to make the work Copyrighted.

That being said, best practice is probably to include, in a file like LICENSE.txt, a statement like:

Code: Select all

A Flower Remains
Copyright 2012 Jessie Everyman

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License, which can be found at:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/

It is based on work by:

T. Generous Artist, Jr. (http://www.igiveart.com)
The Rolling Stallmans (http://freegamemusic.edu)

Etc.

You can use the creative commons license chooser to pick a license for your work - the one I use as an example is the most permissive one possible.

While a license isn't strictly necessary, it's a good idea - even if you're giving your game away for free. It means that people can give your game to each other without violating the law.

sciencewarror >>>

If your country is a signatory to the Berne convention (and it is), the phrase "All rights reserved" is meaningless. Also, it's important to think a bit - when you release a game - what license you want to put it under.

I think that most people here who release games for free really want to put it under a license that allows free distribution. The CC-BY-NC-ND license - which allows distribution provide it's noncommercial, credit is given, and the game isn't changed - is probably the most restrictive a free game should get. You might want to consider allowing commercial distribution as well, so file hosting sites can host it.

For our works, I'd even consider adding an exemptions to allow translation files to be included with it, and to allow it to be ported to newer engines, provided the game experience remains the same.

[WatchJessieGo]

Thanks! :3

[Takanashi]

For someone living in Europe, what would be a proper license for a commercial work?

[Takanashi]

Anyone?

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society ... dex_en.htm

I've found this, but I'm still unsure of how much of it is accurate.

[Calissa Leigh]

Most countries agree that the moment you write something, that object you wrote becomes your own persona, copyrighted work. Most people recognize the copyright symbol, including the UK.

The only thing I'm not 100% sure of is what to do if you discover your copyright has been used without your permission in other countries. There's usually initial steps you can take, like demanding to have a website taken down if your game is being redistributed without your permission. To take anything a step further, you have to prove you own the copyright and then prove that the other party has violated the copyright and this has resulted in a loss of income. Each country usually has some form of regulation office, but with the global market, this is much harder to do.

There's also the other half of the picture. If you try to protect your rights far too much, (as in passwording your game 11182 times before you give someone access to the game, allowing only a single download and no chance of a redownload, not letting a person burn the game to a CD if they wish, etc.), then it becomes a problem for you market, and they'll be less likely to pay for another game.

It's a crazy balance. I've had my own written works copied numerous times across the web. The only time I really ever go out of my way is when someone is ranking higher up on Google than I am and/or trying to sell of something I own. I usually manage to get the page taken down or Google to flag the website.

It is a good idea to know, too, that studies are done that the people who download content illegally online 90% of the time wouldn't have purchase the item in the first place. Either they couldn't pay for it, or they were just curious and wanted to see what the deal was. Most items downloaded like this are opened for only five to ten minutes, and the majority aren't opened at all.

I wish I could remember where the study was but there was a set of writers who tracked the novels they wrote across the web and were giving a survey to people who downloaded the files illegally.

[Androol]

I know some french torrent site where you can d/l legally Japanese Anime subtitled in french by fans. Its only anime who are not licensed in Europe and they claim they're doing is legal and I have never seen any controversial post in the forum about this point, maybe by the convenience of the user.

Another example is the tectonic music logo and brand name who are licensed in France but was not in swiss, some smart guy licensed it in swiss and sell tectonic branded product for some years during the period where all teenagers were having the same ugly haircut in Europe.

Maybe it's just my understanding of intellectual propriety who is missing the point but it seems that copyright is not automatic everywhere in the world and certainly not in Europe.

[mugenjohncel]

I have a crazy idea that just might work...

Step 1:
Put your ideas, concepts and everything in an envelope.

Step 2:
Mail it to yourself. Do not open the mail and make sure you don't damage the seals and everything.

Step 3:
Wait for someone to pop up with a similar idea to yours.

Step 4:
Sue him/her and use the time stamp on the sealed envelope as proof of being your idea first or accuse the poor sap of stealing your original content (do not steal) and demand $$$$$

Step 5:
Profit!!!

"POOF" (Disappears)

[AxemRed]

I know some french torrent site where you can d/l legally Japanese Anime subtitled in french by fans. Its only anime who are not licensed in Europe and they claim they're doing is legal and I have never seen any controversial post in the forum about this point, maybe by the convenience of the user.

Maybe it's just my understanding of intellectual propriety who is missing the point but it seems that copyright is not automatic everywhere in the world and certainly not in Europe.

Copyright is automatic in Europe, filesharing is illegal in France...

[Ziassan]

I know some french torrent site where you can d/l legally Japanese Anime subtitled in french by fans. Its only anime who are not licensed in Europe and they claim they're doing is legal and I have never seen any controversial post in the forum about this point, maybe by the convenience of the user.

As a french concerned by this topic, I can say that it's far far, really far from legal. They say that because it's often teenagers team translating from the English translations of the Japanese who don't have a clue about the law.
It's just that it's almost tolerated while the anime itself is not licencied in France. After, it must be removed (and often, it is).

[Androol]

Yes I was prudent enough to say maybe by the convenience of the user.
For the second example who is apparently in contradiction with AxemRed link as swiss is blue in the world map representing the signing member of the Berne convention, it's still true it was one or two documentaries on Swiss tv about this smart guy.

The link to Bern convention ( the capital of my country by the way ) don't look a proof very strong. International agreement is meant to be abused by every side. We don't have a real world government and each country oppose an agreement to another, one translation to another and find their way to do whatever they want. Being a lawyer don't mean to know one law but make them work together to prove your point and make your client happy. As I am no lawyer I don't know what can oppose this treaty but apparently some does as in the second example I used.

Copyright not belonging to the artist but on a firm are plenty, so it's not as simple as you say. No, if you draw something you don't have the 50 year copyright on it automatically everywere in the world.

In Japan for example, the woman who draws hello kitty and was fired by the firm some time after and never get a $ from copyright, she didn't even complain about it.

In science a lot of work is copyrighted by the university, the author credited is generally the project boss, not the writer, etc... apparently this Bern convention is blurry enough to be used as you want.

If you don't work alone on a game this kind of rule can certainly apply to you too.

File sharing is still legal in France, adopi doesn't go this far, only copyrighted product acquired by illegal method are forbidden. I was never saying piracy is legal in France myself.

[Calissa Leigh]

I have a crazy idea that just might work...

Step 1:
Put your ideas, concepts and everything in an envelope.

Step 2:
Mail it to yourself. Do not open the mail and make sure you don't damage the seals and everything.

Step 3:
Wait for someone to pop up with a similar idea to yours.

Step 4:
Sue him/her and use the time stamp on the sealed envelope as proof of being your idea first or accuse the poor sap of stealing your original content (do not steal) and demand $$$$$

Step 5:
Profit!!!

"POOF" (Disappears)

That'd be great! Except ideas aren't copyright-able. :p Written works are. I could totally write a book about a boy wizard going to wizardry school and beating a guy that looks like a snake. I'd have to change enough of the the story to not copy, scene by scene, each detail. But the basic plot is up for grabs.

You'd just have to get it published.... which might be hard considering everyone would be comparing. There's legal and then there's people who will be on your case for having something so similar to something else. (Gaw, like Avatar and Pocahontas, and the Last Samurai or whatever other million movies with the same plot.)

That and the sending yourself an envelop thing is not really an official copyright protection thing.

But write a book and then wait until someone comes along with one too similar to yours and then go after them! That'll work.

[Calissa Leigh]

Copyright not belonging to the artist but on a firm are plenty, so it's not as simple as you say. No, if you draw something you don't have the 50 year copyright on it automatically everywere in the world.

In Japan for example, the woman who draws hello kitty and was fired by the firm some time after and never get a $ from copyright, she didn't even complain about it.

Copyright really depends on the creator, and then the rights belonging to the person or the company yeah.

So someone working for Disney usually automatically gives up copyrights for a drawing the moment they draw it, whether at work or not. It depends on the contract.

For some people, the contract may state they can't draw/write for anyone on a similar project for a competitor even a year beyond when their contract is complete.

Everything depends on how it is worded.

But interestingly enough, copyright has been extended to death of the creator + 75 years or 95 years after creation... I don't remember because they're always extending it. And you can bet your bunions Disney will find a way to extend this when it comes time for Mickey Mouse to (again) go up to public use.

I'm pretty much for going back to at least the original 28 years after the creation of the thing. I believe 28 years is long enough to be able to wring the profits out of any created item.

[Anima]

I believe 28 years is long enough to be able to wring the profits out of any created item

Well, I'm sure Disney disagrees

Joking aside, this is not a matter you should ask random people on a forum about. You will usually get some very well meaning responses, but well meaning doesn't infer correct.
Copyright law is a veritable minefield. While there are international treaties, the national laws are still pretty distinct. So in short, consult a lawyer about this or at least look for information from your government or a reputable law firm. Don't trust the opinion of random posters, even if they claim that they know what they're talking about. In the end you will be liable for the outcome if the information was wrong.