Re: [Epic] [Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.

From: Brett Hollindale <agro_at_...>
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1998 23:56:25 +0200

At 01:45 AM 6/9/98 -0500, you wrote:
>>>1) Why? Many of us on the list have it, someone could just scan it in.
>Save
>>>a lot of work anyway.
>>>
>>
>>Smaller file size. And I had nothing else to do.
>
>-----> Fair enough


Surely if you scan it with an Optical Character Recognition program it would
be the same file size as if you had typed it...


>>

<snip>

>
>And do you honestly think that because the battlebible has been out on the
>net for what, a month, that suddenly everyone is free to publish other
>people's material, out of print or not? Please...
>Word 6.0 is out of print also, but if I start making copies and giving them
>away, do you think I'm not breaking the law?
>>
>>>I'd also add "Looking to get a letter from GW's legal department"
>>>
>>
>>Its no different from NetEpic my fine feathered friend. I appreciate the
>>concern but am not holding my breath.
>
>---------> Net Epic isn't a verbatim copy of the Epic rules. Apparently
>yours is. Different thing.



So if you copy Word 6 and alter it a bit Microsoft won't object?



>>
>>>Chris Miller
>>>
>>>(Long-Ago Player of AT & SM1. I can appreciate the sentiment of wanting to
>>>bring it back, but flagrantly posting it on one's site is just
>>>mind-boggling. Don't you think this has come up before? Don't you think
>>>there's a reason this hasn't been done with any companies' game without
>>>their permission?)
>>>
>>
>>
>>Again. BattleBible and NetEpic. Battlebible actually competed with their
>>products. Mine does not. I'm not selling it or anything. And I think Epic
>>needs all the help it can get :)
>
>-------> You don't have to sell it - it isn't yours to sell OR give away.
>You can sell or give away your original product ,if you have one, but you
>can't just make copies yourself for other people's use because you want to.
>As for not competing, that's kind of up to GW, and that "Mine" in there
>kinda pisses me off - since when did the 1st Edition Epic rules become
>"Yours"?
>
>As for helping Epic, yeah, a website with the 1st edition rules is really
>going to help. I can hear the cash registers ringing now...


You see, there is a difference between "helping Epic" and "helping GW".
Making the SM/TL rules available to those who wouldn't otherwise have them
"helps Epic". Removing all trace of SM/TL so that gamers have no choice but
to buy the (grossly inferior - In My Very Well Known And Often Stated
Opinion...) E40K rules "helps GW"...

Without a doubt copying and distributing copyrited material IS illegal.
(But so is speeding and how many of us do that?) However, distributing
superceded war game rules that the author has actually stated that they
refuse to support - and distributing those rules free of charge - is a
fairly defensible possition.

If you can't buy a distributor cap for your 1960's Ford, are you infringing
Ford's patent/copyrite by making one for yourself? Are you expected to sell
the car for scrap because Ford aren't going to sell you the parts?

It seems to me that it would be a fairly defensable position to suggest that
you thought you were doing GW a favour (distasteful, I know) by promoting
one of their games that they no longer promote. This is to GW's benefit
since you cannot play the game without GW's figures which they still do
sell... It seems like GW aught to be paying you, not sueing you... It
certainly seems like you could claim "you were only trying to help" and it
would be reasonable to expect a cease and desist order prior to any law suit.



As always
Agro.
Received on Mon Sep 07 1998 - 21:56:25 UTC