[OT?] Copyright infringement, Scrabulous, and the GPL

[Marc Lanctot]

On 20/04/09 05:56 PM, Richard Weait wrote:
> On Mon, 2009-04-20 at 17:24 -0400, Marc Lanctot wrote:
>> I figure this the place to ask about my question concerning copyright.
>
>> So my question is this: is it legal to implement a (say GPL'd) online
>> game which allows users to play a game whose original rules etc. are
>> under copyrights /as long as you don't use their names and art/?
>
> If you really plan to do this, with real money and real risk, it is
> insane to ask anybody except your own well-paid lawyer to help you judge
> the risks that you will truly own.  I can recommend excellent lawyers in
> this area.

Haha.. true, I planed on doing that once I've got more than just the 
foundation... I just wanted to see if I'd be wasting my time developing 
the rest of it. I'll have to take you up on the recommendations, though 
I may only contact them in a month or two. Should I deal exclusively 
with copyright infringement experts, in the software contect in 
particular ? So that I'm prepared for it.. how much will this set me back?

> If you ask only to chit chat, I think your idea sounds risky as
> demonstrated by Scrabulous.  Copyright is one issue, trade mark is
> another.  There are probably other issues involved as well.  I think
> wilful infringement makes it more expensive, though that may relate only
> to patents.

It's not just to chit chat; it actually could be a lot worse than it 
sounds because it might be more than one copyrighted game. I am of 
course still interested in doing this.. I have been for some time. As 
long as what I'm doing and/or the way I go about it is legal.

Marc

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