: My concern is whether that's the laws opinion too.
: I always thought that fan-fiction (this includes "interactive fan-fiction")
: was something that inevitably comes into being when a bunch of fans of a
: particular show get together (and the net is ideal for this).
: What's gotten me concerned recently are several claims from people who
: say that writing any kind of script/story about a copyrighted character
: is illegal. Personally, I always thought of it as no more than a fun
: little activity for fans of the show.
: Is there anyone out there (a real-life copyright lawyer, perhaps) who
: can answer the question of whether this is legal? (You'd this this sort
: of thing would have come up many times before.)
Well, I'm not a copyright lawyer, but I had to research this over recent
years (a number of times. What was legal last year may have new precedents
this year)
Copyright:
Copyright protects the 'expression' of ideas, but not of names. Assume Star
Wars was only copyright. I could then write a book (or make a movie) called
Star Wars. Or I could do either with a character called Luke Skywalker. So
long as the actual result was obviously not drawn from the ideas and
concepts of the original. (Example: Luke Skywalker, a shipwreck survivor
adopted into a tribal Australian culture, and given the name Skywalker, as
he is believed to be the spirit of a tribal member returned from the spirit
world. This is clearly no relation to the Luke Skywalker of Lucas and
Foster.)
In order to legally overlap this 'protection of expression', you must obtain
_written_ (which does not mean emailed, or faxed. Neither has sufficient
legal standing) permission to do so from the copyright holder, or their
legal representative. This is then subject to the same conditions as
trademark permission, below.
Trademark:
Trademarks bind names to owners as property. In reality, 'Luke Skywalker' is
trademarked. In order to use that name, I would have to write to Lucasfilm
and ask for permission, even if my character (example above) was obviously
unconnected except for the coincidence of names.
A trademark is exactly that. It is a name, or symbol that is considered to
be a unique identifying mark or logo representing one company, or concern. A
_unique_ identifier, and the sole _property_ of the trademark holder. Even
if they let you use it (ie: give written permission. No other form is
legally binding) the trademark owner may withdraw that permission at any
time, for any (or no) reason regardless of the terms of the written
permission. (if they changee their minds after promising (on paper) that you
can use the names for, say, 5 years, they are not in breach of contract,
verbal, written or otherwise). If they promised you that you could use their
trademarks for an IF game, _and_ that you could charge for it (a shareware
fee, or distribution by shareware libraries that charge even a copying fee
may be considered an infringement of this, if they didn't) and you wind up
selling heaps of them, and making lots of money; they may feel that people
will more readily associate you with the trademark, and not them, and may
simply insist that (a) You cease to use the name immediately. (b) You
recover every copy of the software (you are legally required to keep track
of it if it is a trademark, but not for a copyright).
Shakespeare was right about the lawyers.
Dancer