Copyright, IP and RP online
Originally published at The Preternatural Post. Please leave any comments there.
Seems we’re in the midst of a virtual crime wave. Phonies are stalking our social networks in ever growing numbers. Plagiarism is running amok. Trademarks and copyrights are being infringed upon all over the place.And everywhere, creators and users struggle with the question of what to do about it.
Facebook is cracking down on “fake” users and recently purged large numbers of role play profiles in an attempt to get control of and reduce the estimated 83 million false or duplicate accounts on the social media behemoth. Electronic Arts (EA) is suing Zynga for alleged copyright violations. Closer to home, several talented role players are password protecting their accounts and blogs after seeing duplicate storylines and characters popping up elsewhere.
Whether these actions are just and reasonable depends on which side of the fence you’re on. The role player who lost contact with hundreds of friends when Facebook disabled their account probably feels far differently about the situation than the role players whose SL was ripped off. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, however, there is a point at which is stops be harmless and fun and becomes painful and theft. Just ask EA.
Is this climate we thought we’d take a look at copyright and intellectual property rights online paying special attention to how they impact role players. Please note, the staff of the Preternatural Post are not lawyers. This information and advice is based on common sense and reading of publicly available information regarding copyright. It reflects our opinion, not legal advice. Also, please bear in mind that copyright, trade mark and intellectual property laws vary by country. The following information is based on U.S. laws.
Online content protected by copyright
Under American copyright laws the work of authors, artists, photographers and musicians is copyrighted as soon as it is created provided that it is, original, tangibly recorded (ie written, developed, painted, etc.) and creative.
You might think original and creative are the same thing but this is not always true. For instance a forger may paint a copy of a famous painting. In doing so they create an original work but not a creative one. The bar for deciding if something is creative for the purposes of copyright is minimal. For instance something like the page from a telephone book might not be creative enough to be copyrighted however lists of articles related to a specific topic would.
Creative and original aside, a work must also be recorded in some way so that it can be recalled or viewed again at a future date. Essentially this means content is not recorded until it is saved to a hard drive, server, disc or USB drive, or transmitted via electronic means to another person. In other words, tweets, emails, texts and voicemail are all entitled to the same copyright protections as a book, film, photo or record album. Further, chats, hangouts, forums, newsgroups and even instant messages may also be protected by copyright provided they are saved in a way that can be accessed in the future.
Fair use and public domain
Not every online work carries a copyright notice. This simple fact often leads people to assume a work is not protected by copyright if there is no explicit statement claiming copyright protection. This isn’t true. A copyright notice is not a requirement. It does help, though, as does formally registering works with the Copyright Office, in the event you need to prove you hold the copyright for a specific work
Does that mean that every work online is protected by copyright?
Not exactly. Copyright protection is not perpetual and it doesn’t last forever (it just feels that way sometimes). Works that are no longer copyrighted, or, in some cases never were to begin with, as said to be in the public domain. Although how long copyright protection lasts varies, older works, say those published or created before 1900, ad probably in the public domain. In some cases more modern works may also be in the public domain if the created has dedicated them to the public domain.
Being in the public domain means that a work is available for everyone and anyone to use in any manner they wish.
The fair use limitation is one which many role players rely upon. It essentially states that an individual may create a single copy of a copyrighted work for their own personal use. In additional fair use may also be applied to academic use and journalism. Further, the more transformative a work is, the more likely it is to be considered fair use particularly if it is virtually impossible to identify the original work within the new use. This may also fall under the clause permitting derivative works that significantly change copyrighted works to be created without infringing on the original copyright. You’ll notice role play isn’t mentioned. That’s because role play, like fanfic falls in something of a legal grey area when it comes to copyright.
Copyright protections online
For many role players, copyright can feel like a sword of Damocles hanging over their head. They fail to realize that much of what they produce is, potentially, protected by copyright as well and thus do little to enforce or police the use of their works. This is too bad because they are effectively giving away some important and exclusive rights. Among the exclusive rights copyright owners enjoy are:
- Reproduction - no one else can copy or reproduce protected works
- Distribution - no one else cal sell or otherwise distribute works protected by copyright
- Performance - no one else can perform protected works
- Adaptation - no one else can adapt a protected work to another media or create a work based upon an work that is protected by copyright
Those are the same rights companies like EA are fighting over. And many role players just give them away, not saying a word when other RPers “borrow” our SLs or rename our characters. Seems odd doesn’t it?
The simple fact is role players need to be more aware of copyright laws. Not just to stay out of trouble, but also to protect themselves. It’s only after we respect our own and each others’ work that we can truly respect the work of those from whom we draw our inspiration.
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