Recently there's been some discussion concerning copyright infringements and laws that regard copyright, so I am hoping to clear up a few common questions that are raised time and time again.
im 10 an wat is copirite? (Thanks HSB)
Copyright is the right the original creator has over their work to control who can distribute the content and create derived works based from the original. It applies to tangible creative works: for PMC these are the original skins, projects, mods etc you've uploaded on here. The key word being tangible.
Tangible means the thing can be touched, seen, is something that is REAL; not just flitting around in your mind. As such, ideas and concepts that aren't written down in a tangible form aren't covered under copyright. Hint: Write down your ideas instead of just babbling them to your "best friend".
But it doesn't have a copyright notice!!
In the old golden days copyright had to have a notice, prior to 1989. However, under the Berne copyright convention, creative works have an automatic copyright associated with them; and while having a notice strengthens your copyright, you still have basic rights over your work. This has been debated a lot over PMC, and is the main thing that needs to be understood.
You do not have to register for copyright to have a basic copyright.
If you DO wish to have a copyright notice, the correct format is
" "Copyright [dates] by [author/owner]" ".
(c) (exactly what I've done, not the little symbol) isn't grounds for a copyright notice, you must either have the word "Copyright" or the symbol © in your copyright notice for it to be valid.
What about fair use? They claimed they used my stuff under fair use! (or visa versa)
Fair use can get a little tricky. Legally, Fair Use applies when you want to use a small excerpt from copyrighted material to research it, teach about it, poke fun at or discuss it in a formal manner. May I reiterate the point "small". Other sites uploading submissions from PMC claiming it's under "Fair Use" don't really understand the "small" concept, and if they are doing anything apart from the reasons listed above, they require your permission to upload any content.
They uploaded my stuff to their site, but only used a referral link redirecting back to PMC!
This is where it gets fun. Many of you have heard of sites who are "sharing their favorite PMC projects and skins" by using referral links redirecting the audience back to PMC. Sad news: there's currently no law directly related to this that prevents the person from using referral links. People are currently allowed to post links redirecting back to PMC on public sites. Good news: the current law is being reviewed in relation to this. The original creator (you guys) are allowed to express your authority over your work by stating you want no external sites referring back to the original submission. Without such a notice, there is a fair argument that the authors of certain sites have implicit permission to post links back to the submission. It's a case of "I didn't say no, so it's yes".
So what do I do when I want my stuff removed?
First of all, check out this site if you are concerned about a violation of copyright.
http://www.marketingdock.com/copyrights ... gement.php
That link will run you through the steps on attaining enough information about your particular case to be able to send a Cease & Desist to the offending site. This tends to be a rather high level of action; sending an email requesting the removal of your content as there was no expressed tangible permission given is usually enough. However, if they refuse to do so, you can send an email stating you will send a DMCA takedown notice.
If you want to learn more about this, I recommend this page.
http://www.sfwa.org/2013/03/the-dmca-ta ... mystified/
This source is also very reliable and useful, short of going straight to the law drafts themselves. If you want to learn more about how to deal with a copyright infringement, read this.
http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2006/04/10 ... r-content/
Last but not least, prevention is better than action. If you are very worried about the level of copyright you automatically gain, it is a good idea for you to put a copyright notice on your individual pieces of work. The layout is ^up there^.
If there's anything you think this thread doesn't cover, feel free to add it in a reply.
im 10 an wat is copirite? (Thanks HSB)
Copyright is the right the original creator has over their work to control who can distribute the content and create derived works based from the original. It applies to tangible creative works: for PMC these are the original skins, projects, mods etc you've uploaded on here. The key word being tangible.
Tangible means the thing can be touched, seen, is something that is REAL; not just flitting around in your mind. As such, ideas and concepts that aren't written down in a tangible form aren't covered under copyright. Hint: Write down your ideas instead of just babbling them to your "best friend".
But it doesn't have a copyright notice!!
In the old golden days copyright had to have a notice, prior to 1989. However, under the Berne copyright convention, creative works have an automatic copyright associated with them; and while having a notice strengthens your copyright, you still have basic rights over your work. This has been debated a lot over PMC, and is the main thing that needs to be understood.
You do not have to register for copyright to have a basic copyright.
If you DO wish to have a copyright notice, the correct format is
" "Copyright [dates] by [author/owner]" ".
(c) (exactly what I've done, not the little symbol) isn't grounds for a copyright notice, you must either have the word "Copyright" or the symbol © in your copyright notice for it to be valid.
What about fair use? They claimed they used my stuff under fair use! (or visa versa)
Fair use can get a little tricky. Legally, Fair Use applies when you want to use a small excerpt from copyrighted material to research it, teach about it, poke fun at or discuss it in a formal manner. May I reiterate the point "small". Other sites uploading submissions from PMC claiming it's under "Fair Use" don't really understand the "small" concept, and if they are doing anything apart from the reasons listed above, they require your permission to upload any content.
They uploaded my stuff to their site, but only used a referral link redirecting back to PMC!
This is where it gets fun. Many of you have heard of sites who are "sharing their favorite PMC projects and skins" by using referral links redirecting the audience back to PMC. Sad news: there's currently no law directly related to this that prevents the person from using referral links. People are currently allowed to post links redirecting back to PMC on public sites. Good news: the current law is being reviewed in relation to this. The original creator (you guys) are allowed to express your authority over your work by stating you want no external sites referring back to the original submission. Without such a notice, there is a fair argument that the authors of certain sites have implicit permission to post links back to the submission. It's a case of "I didn't say no, so it's yes".
So what do I do when I want my stuff removed?
First of all, check out this site if you are concerned about a violation of copyright.
http://www.marketingdock.com/copyrights ... gement.php
That link will run you through the steps on attaining enough information about your particular case to be able to send a Cease & Desist to the offending site. This tends to be a rather high level of action; sending an email requesting the removal of your content as there was no expressed tangible permission given is usually enough. However, if they refuse to do so, you can send an email stating you will send a DMCA takedown notice.
If you want to learn more about this, I recommend this page.
http://www.sfwa.org/2013/03/the-dmca-ta ... mystified/
This source is also very reliable and useful, short of going straight to the law drafts themselves. If you want to learn more about how to deal with a copyright infringement, read this.
http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2006/04/10 ... r-content/
Last but not least, prevention is better than action. If you are very worried about the level of copyright you automatically gain, it is a good idea for you to put a copyright notice on your individual pieces of work. The layout is ^up there^.
If there's anything you think this thread doesn't cover, feel free to add it in a reply.
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13
2nd best explaination of legal matters I've seen, just behind Notch's blog about plagiarism and copyright infringement.
Good work Lips!
Good work Lips!
Great work with this piece of text. If you want, it would be a good idea to make it a tiny bit more PMC related and post in a blog, so you can earn XP. But a thumbs up and imaginary diamond from me.
-Who
-Who
Ahha thanks, but this doesn't really suit being a blog. It's just informative, and not creative in anyway so I didn't want it as a blog
Ok, it's entirely up to you what you want to be a blog, well, I guess, you can post this stuff on the forums if it is not much of a blog. Great work anyway
-Who
-Who
Thanks for the proper copyright notice. I hadn't really been thinking about it till you brought it up, but it never hurt to add it.
With the current discussion around copyright, and the limited word count in chat; this forum post clears up any discussion and means I can link this to anyone who mentions copyright in chat with a swift 'BAM LINK!'
Thanks for the sources, much appreciated
Thanks for the sources, much appreciated
I must say that this is a light to PMC and is a very noble and informative thread that is much needed in these times.
Better to get stuff protected in the first place than fight to get it taken down, learnt this one the hard way.
However, what if your skin/mod uses aspects of something that is copyrighted (say you made a batman mod, and 9minecraft put it on there site with an unauthrised mirrored download with the intention of making money), can you then put a copyright on that?
You can also claim it as your intellectual property, which generally discourages theft, but you really want a copyright too.
However, what if your skin/mod uses aspects of something that is copyrighted (say you made a batman mod, and 9minecraft put it on there site with an unauthrised mirrored download with the intention of making money), can you then put a copyright on that?
You can also claim it as your intellectual property, which generally discourages theft, but you really want a copyright too.
sum uf the wurdz hurt mai branes bt yol0 lolol
Very nice guide Snowy
dat first question
Thanks for the post. but I didnt noticed any of these problems though (probably because i only make mods)
Really informative!
Great work, Snowylips
Great work, Snowylips
