http://www.rhetorical.com/cgi-bin/demo. ... voice=M001
Written by =DD=Wolf Kahler
quote:
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Public domain - not! When visiting a web site, it is so easy to click and save with a mouse button when one sees a graphic image that one likes, or to view the source code and copy part of or all of the HTML coding because one "likes the way this or that was done" or one "wants a similar layout", or to copy original writings because "that person expresses this or that so well". The general (and incorrect) notion is that anything that is on the internet is public domain and may be taken without permission from the creator/owner. Some people actually think (incorrectly) that just because bits of web pages may be stored in one's cache, or because certain browsers allow one to do "file save as" moves or anything similar one may use such material as one wishes. This is false.
Just because your driveway is not inside of your house, is it in the public domain? Does that give anybody off the street the right to stay on your driveway without your permission, even if they can see it from the street, or easily access it? The same basic principle applies to material published on the internet. Material found on the web may be copied freely only if the information is created by the (i) federal government, (ii) if the copyright has expired or (iii) the copyright has been abandoned by the holder. Therefore, "internet" and "public domain" are not synonymous. Any work published on the internet is not automatically placed it in the public domain, unless the material in question complies with one or more of the characteristics mentioned.
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In a nutshell, that means copyrights only need legal registration if there's money involved. For custom DoD models, there is no money, but it's still intellectual property in the guise of art.
Mind you, I'm in violation of that guy's copyrights by pasting that in a non-printed medium, though it is for research and education.
It is also a legal concern to convert any property to be used in DoD, whether it be from a paid dev team or someone's free custom work. If you can see it, hear it, smell it or touch it, it's probably copyrighted.
The term, "copyright," is derived from the fact that the person who owns the copyright has the "right" to "duplicate" ["copy"] the intelectual property covered by said legal right. That was the original intention of that particular right. You own it, you can sell or otherwise distribute it however you want. To do that, you probably have to make copies.
The law is quite clear [and this isn't the first time I've seen it] in that you do NOT need to pay a registration fee in order to own intelectual property. However, that registration fee allows you to seek monetary remuneration for violations of the copyright you own should you so desire [and are able to build a convincing enough case that the violations damaged you and your rights to such a degree that monetary remuneration is the only possible comfort you can attain].
05-24-2003, 11:48 PM
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