That was a very well-written article. And reminded me of how, as a 5 or six-year-old, I would be "Woman Woman" (it took me years to figure out that her name was WONDER Woman), while my half-brother was Superman and his half-brother alternated between Spiderman and Batman. In this new digital world in which we now live, it is truly saddening to think that this and future generations might now be forbidden to engage in such guile-less fun as pretending to be heroic and instead are forced to turn to make-believe villainy. IF, that is, that it is original villainy and not "stolen," copywritten villainy.
Mark Evanier has long been a voice of sanity and reason in the crazy world of comic books. I first heard of him as the editor on the early Groo the Wanderer series. Even though I'm not a CoH player -- are you kidding? I have enough online addiction with LJ! -- the lawsuit sounds absolutely chilling.
To quote Bill Shatner in "The Restaurant Enterprise" sketch from his SNL appearance, "Never underestimate the power of human greed, Mr. Spock."
I'd heard about that lawsuit. Example #4,863,921,017 of a company willing to sacrifice long-term customer good will for the sake of a little short-term profit. As if superhero games were suddenly brand-new; as if no one who ever played Champions, Villains & Vigilantes, and Superworld, to go back to the beginning, ever ever ever created Marvel & DC heroes in those systems. As if players of the Marvel RPG never created DC heroes, or vice versa.
It also reminded me of TSR's ill-fated Indiana Jones RPG -- the one where they trademarked "Nazi". Not the same, I know, but the same philosophy of Protect The License At All Cost.
"Protect The License At All Cost". I get the idea that this is at the root of a lot of this nonsense. Companies have lost trademarks when the trdemarked name for an item became the default noun--"Zipper" was once the name of only one brand of hook-and-slider fastener--so the corporate paranoia over this sort of thing is understandable, if still infuriating.
It strikes me that the best way to handle this would be to change the trademark and copyright laws to allow "fair use" without danger to the trademark holder.
Of course, that would probably put some lawyers out of work.
As a player of "City of Heroes" this the Beta test I have to say the "MARVEL HAS LOST ITS FREAKING MIND!"
Basically they are sueing NSOFT because people could POSSIBLE use the (REALLY COOL) "City of Heroes" character creation program to violate the Marvel Copyright. As one excellent online comic put it, "Marvel then annouced it will be suing makers of "PENCILS" and "PAPERs", also seen to have great potential to steal their characters."
Diana's in the art biz and we are both quite aware of trademark and copyright vigilance. But this is insane!
"it will be suing makers of 'PENCILS' and 'PAPERs'"
Just what I was going to say. Think of all the nasty things you can do with a piece of paper -- draw a picture of a trademarked character, duplicate copyrighted material onto it, even copy state secrets! Let's make sure no one gets access to paper without a license!
Our whole intellectual property system has gotten completely out of hand. Somehow, we have to get our leaders to take a step back and realize that the reason that copyrights, patents, and trademarks exist is to encourage creativity, not to stifle it. Limited protection is supposed to guarantee that it's worth it to a creator to create something, but it's not supposed to guarantee that that creation is a cash cow for all eternity. If a creator wants to continue to reap rewards with the aid of a government sanctioned monopoly, he owes it to society to be producing new works, not to spend all his time and treasure making sure that no one ever sees a 50 year old image without having paid a license fee.
The benefits to society, the real purpose of copyright, and the actual law aside, I've thought for years that companies that aggressively "defeneded" their intellectual property against people who enjoyed it so much that they would "infringe" by making their own works that let them and their friends get more out of the original work were shooting themselves in the foot. A studio should dance with glee when a fan is willing to write a filk song about their show; it naturally suggests that (a) that fan will be a loyal fan, continuing to consume new stuff from the studio, and (b) that fan's friends will be more likely to see the show and future shows thanks to the free advertising. Instead, if they catch him, they sic their lawyers on him, so he has to be careful not to use anything that's actually actionable, especially if he want to "publish" it (if a market where total sales of 500 copies is a resounding success really constitutes publication). Marvel yelling at City of Heroes is pretty much the same stupidity.
I'm only aware of one case where the owners of the subject matter (not the song being parodied) threatened legal action with regard to a filk. The performers who wanted to record the "Jelly-Belly Song" (I'll refrain from mentioning names) asked permission from the company that makes the product, and got back a very nasty letter in response, so they didn't record it.
Have there been other cases? I'm asking here about actual legal threats, not just reticence because of fear of potential legal action.
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Thank you very much for posting this thought-provoking link. We're living in a world where our only limitations sometimes revolve around greed.
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To quote Bill Shatner in "The Restaurant Enterprise" sketch from his SNL appearance, "Never underestimate the power of human greed, Mr. Spock."
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It also reminded me of TSR's ill-fated Indiana Jones RPG -- the one where they trademarked "Nazi". Not the same, I know, but the same philosophy of Protect The License At All Cost.
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(Anonymous) 2004-12-19 12:52 pm (UTC)(link)It strikes me that the best way to handle this would be to change the trademark and copyright laws to allow "fair use" without danger to the trademark holder.
Of course, that would probably put some lawyers out of work.
Sam Winolj
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Basically they are sueing NSOFT because people could POSSIBLE use the (REALLY COOL) "City of Heroes" character creation program to violate the Marvel Copyright. As one excellent online comic put it, "Marvel then annouced it will be suing makers of "PENCILS" and "PAPERs", also seen to have great potential to steal their characters."
Diana's in the art biz and we are both quite aware of trademark and copyright vigilance. But this is insane!
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Just what I was going to say. Think of all the nasty things you can do with a piece of paper -- draw a picture of a trademarked character, duplicate copyrighted material onto it, even copy state secrets! Let's make sure no one gets access to paper without a license!
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The benefits to society, the real purpose of copyright, and the actual law aside, I've thought for years that companies that aggressively "defeneded" their intellectual property against people who enjoyed it so much that they would "infringe" by making their own works that let them and their friends get more out of the original work were shooting themselves in the foot. A studio should dance with glee when a fan is willing to write a filk song about their show; it naturally suggests that (a) that fan will be a loyal fan, continuing to consume new stuff from the studio, and (b) that fan's friends will be more likely to see the show and future shows thanks to the free advertising. Instead, if they catch him, they sic their lawyers on him, so he has to be careful not to use anything that's actually actionable, especially if he want to "publish" it (if a market where total sales of 500 copies is a resounding success really constitutes publication). Marvel yelling at City of Heroes is pretty much the same stupidity.
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Have there been other cases? I'm asking here about actual legal threats, not just reticence because of fear of potential legal action.