[RQ-Rules] Re: New RQ

[Stephen Perrin]

Actually, the Swedish game Drakar ach Demoner was originally my Magic World 
from Worlds of Wonder. I understand it has undergone a lot of evolution 
since then, but that was its origin.

And I didn't get a penny because it was a work for hire for Chaosium.

Steve Perrin

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peter Brink" <peter.brink at brinkdata.se>
To: "RuneQuest rules discussion." <rq-rules at crashbox.com>
Sent: Saturday, July 09, 2005 12:35 PM
Subject: Re: [RQ-Rules] Re: New RQ


> Peter Maranci skrev:
>>
>> So Greg/Mongoose are using the copyright/trademark loophole (i.e. you 
>> can't copyright a game system, only the specific wording used to describe 
>> it)
>
> That's not a bug it's a feature :-). It's a good and necessary thing that 
> ideas and concepts cannot be copyright protected.
>
>> The implications are also kind of disturbing; if Greg can use the BRP 
>> system without Chaosium's permission, then so can anyone else. *I* could. 
>> And the same applies to any other RPG. Sounds, well, chaotic. In a way, 
>> it's like forcing BRP to become open source, at least until someone with 
>> lawyers gets involved.
>
> Why should it be disturbing? Ideas cannot be owned and therefore there 
> it's no way anyone can own the methods and processes of a game (well 
> perhaps partly in the US, since you can patent games in the US). In Sweden 
> there's a score of RPGs that use game mechanics that are similar to BRP 
> (and each of course other). In fact the rules of most RPGs are more or 
> less similar. That people reword and reuse game rules from other games is 
> nothing to be upset about it something that has been going on as long as 
> mankind has been playing games (which is at least 7000 years...).
>
> In Scandinavia (at least) even the way a game rule is expressed, that is 
> the way it's described, is not normally considered copyrightable. Such 
> expressions are only very rarely original enough to qualify for copyright 
> protection.
>
> /Peter Brink
>
>
>
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