Archived from groups: alt.games.coh (
More info?)
"Xocyll" <Xocyll@kingston.net> wrote in message
news:a1n431pv276fakabc0nbo2qlcu7uqck9g5@4ax.com...
| Dark Tyger <darktiger@somewhere.net> looked up from reading the entrails
| of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs say:
|
| >On 12 Mar 2005 01:39:53 GMT, Marcel Beaudoin
| ><mbeauINVALID@Sympatic.INVALID.ca> wrote:
| >
| >>Dark Tyger <darktiger@somewhere.net> wrote in
| >>news:mku3319r3r6js8l51a4e64622fuk0ndh2q@4ax.com:
| >>
| >>> Even if the rule
| >>> remains, the nitwits that like to make ripoff characters who see this
| >>> will point to it in their whining about there being no good reason not
| >>> to let them have any name they want. *sigh*
| >>
| >>From my reading, the copyright infingement still exists and is against
the
| >>law if it is found that CRyptic and NCSoft do nothing about it and allow
it
| >>to exist.
| >>
| >>The number of GenericHeroXXXX out there shows that Cryptic/NCSoft is
| >>fighting it...
| >
| >If Marvel had been concerned with coming up with valid research for
| >the case, the would have had one of their people create a ripoff
| >character, then had another report the character and see how long it
| >took to get the problem addressed. Thing is, if they did that, it
| >would've hurt their case.
|
| From the sounds of the decision made by the judge, some of Marvel's
| "evidence" of ripoff characters WERE made by Marvel.
| They just didn't report them - but that too is legitimate since not
| everyone WILL report knockoffs and some people argue extensively against
| it.
|
| "Judge Klausner also agreed with the defendants that some of Marvel's
| allegations and exhibits should be stricken as "false and sham" because
| they were not actually created by users of the game but by Marvel
| itself."
|
| So chances are that Huge body, green skin, purple pants, science
| background invlun/SS tanker got made by Marvel as "evidence".
|
| Stupid on Marvel's part, since there HAVE been plenty of player made
| knockoffs.
|
| Xocyll
| --
Well, there still is the illegal (under Copyright Law) "We Own You"
clause in the generally illegal COH EULA.
If a comic book creator or copyright owner decided to make a replica of
their character in the CITY OF HEROES game, then are they legally yielding
ownership of copyright in a contractual situation which is illegal (wrong
type of contract for a legal COPYRIGHT TRANSFER) for both the copyright
owner and NC-SOFT?
Granted the only sane aspect of the "We Own You" clause in CITY OF
HEROES is in preventing one player from duplicating the costume, powers, and
creating a similar name to another player in-game. Doing so presents a slew
of tricky issues, but that is why I note to players that they MUST PRINT OUT
A SCREENSHOT OF THEIR CHARACTER and get it legally notarized (or mailed to
themselves and left unopened for proof of government postmark and date).
The problem exists not really in-game, but when the character is created
again outside the game, copyrighted, trademarked, and their adventures
packaged for sale. In that the legal aspects are much simpler as legal
proof of "I got there first" is sufficient to declare an interest in
maintaining & defending the copyright and trademark. Whom owns what in the
game of the CITY OF HEROES is a matter for loud yammering, but ultimately
futile until the disputed character is translated into the legal world of
copyrights + trademarks.
The core problem that I see is that the "We Own You" clause in the
generally illegal COH EULA is not one of concept, but distinctly stinky
legal wording.
Replacing that illegal "We Own You" clause with something legally akin
to:
"NC-SOFT is glad to assist in your character creation, but to simplify
legal matters no character created by the player will be considered the
absolute property of the player inside of the CITY OF HEROES game. Doing so
would create the groundwork for players suing players without pause for
character design duplication. That would spoil the game and be unfair to
you, our customers. A reminder, remember that NC-SOFT & CRYPTIC STUDIOS
owns the exclusive legal rights to all non-player characters in the CITY OF
HEROES game as well as the storylines existing inside of the CITY OF HEROES
game. The player has no implicit or explicit rights to utilize these items
for their own creations should the player seek profit with their creations
outside of the CITY OF HEROES game. Copyright & trademark lawsuits
resulting real world utilization of characters created by our customers &
ex-customers are not our legal problem (unless the customers & ex-customers
are attempting to copyright products derived directly from NC-SOFT & CRYPTIC
STUDIOS copyrights & trademarks).
The player has the right to recreate their characters outside of the
CITY OF HEROES game excluding the direct utilization of the 3D models,
backstories, descriptions, and textures contained within the CITY OF HEROES
game files. The player has no exclusive or implicit right to demand a copy
of the files which describe their characters on NC-SOFT's servers during the
subscription period for playing or thereafter if the player chooses to end
their subscription.
We also remind our customers that duplication of the intellectual
property of existing copyrighted character inside of the CITY OF HEROES
game, while legally improper, is a violation of this EULA. Violation of
this rule will result in the character being force-renamed into "GENERIC
HERO####" (#### = a number). Utilizing our servers for copyright and
trademark infringement can result in cancellation of your player account."
The illegal (under Copyright Law) "We Own You" clause in the NC-SOFT
contract will be a sticking point in the MARVEL VERSUS NC-SOFT lawsuit.
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