From [l--a--d] at [husc.harvard.edu] Sat Oct 8 12:41:04 1994 Received: from fas by husc.harvard.edu with SMTP; Sat, 8 Oct 1994 15:40:48 -0400 Received: by fas (5.0/16.2) id AA08243; Sat, 8 Oct 1994 15:38:49 +0500 From: [l--a--d] at [husc.harvard.edu] Subject: FASAs copywrite position To: jerry Date: Sat, 8 Oct 1994 15:38:44 -0400 (EDT) X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL23] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Length: 7181 ::::THIS IS FASA'S RESPONSE-to a message from Robert Hayden about ::::FASA stance on copywrite and ftp access inlight of TSRs recent ::::draconian stance on the issue. Dear Robert: Thank you very much for your e-mail of Monday, August 1, 1994. We are aware of TSR's requests regarding Internet files pertaining to their copyright and trademark materials. While we understand TSR's position in this matter, we at this time have no plans to make a similar request. The problem is a difficult one as it addresses the unanswered (at this time) question of what, with regard to publishing, distribution, and access, networks such as Internet, are. United States and International courts (to the best of our knowledge) have been either hesitant or unwilling to categorize electronic files on a network such as Internet with regard to whether or not their existence and manner of distribution does in fact constitute copyright/trademark infringement, or is in fact simple "fair use" of said copyrights/trademarks. The way current United States and International copyright/trademark law is written is that if a challenger to said rights and marks can prove that at any time in the past the holder of those rights/marks a) knew of a existing rights/marks violation, and b) failed to pursue said rights/marks violation, ownership of those rights/marks can be questioned. This means that, in order to maintain ones rights/marks, a holder must actively pursue any and all potential violations, no matter how questionable or non-offensive that violation may appear. This often forces companies, such as FASA, to take actions we rather not take. The consequence is, unfortunately, that if we do not we could loose our copyrights/trademarks. The consequence of that would be the dissolution of FASA as a company and employer, as the virtue and strengths of those rights/marks is what we live and profit by. This does not mean that we do not have our concerns about the possibility that the presence and distribution of Internet files containing FASA's copyrighted and trademarked material are in fact a violation of those copyrights/trademarks. We are, however, awaiting a more definitive legal ruling on that matter before we our selves reach any decisions. This does mean that we have for all intents and purposes elected to reserve the right to request at some time in the future that any and all material containing or pertaining to our copyrights/trademarks be withdrawn from distribution. In the meantime, there are a couple of points which if followed can and will make life easier for everyone involved. 1) Inclusion of verbatim text from any copyrighted product or novel is strictly forbidden under US and International Copyright law, without the copyright holder's permission. Except if otherwise noted, by written agreement, this right is withheld by FASA Corporation in all instances. (What this means, simply, is that you can't copy portions of any of our products or novels into an electronic document and then distribute it. This primarily pertains to large blocks of text, such as rules, stories, fiction, and so on, rather than game statistics or individual proper nouns or slang,) 2) Any electronic material that includes or reference any of FASA copyrights or trademarks must include the statement (in all copies): Shadowrun is a Registered Trademark of FASA Corporation. Original Shadowrun material Copyright 1994 by FASA Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Used without permission. Any use of FASA Corporation';s copyrighted material or trademarks in this file should not be viewed as a challenged to those copyrights or trademarks. (In the above, Shadowrun is used as an example. The relevant game line should be referenced instead. Also, the current year, or year of creation of the electronic file should be used as well. Ideally, this statement should be positioned as close to either the beginning of the document/file or immediately following the title/credits.) 3) Any use of artwork or graphics without written permission is expressly forbidden. This includes use of the trademarked line-identifying logo. 4) Under no circumstances, for any reason, can any money at all exchange hands with regard to the duplication, transmission, forwarding, handling, shipping, packaging, or transfer of material containing or pertaining to FASA copyrights and trademarks. This includes shareware and fees/costs for duplicating online material for non-online distribution. (This is because the courts have been very vague about defining what is meant by "profiting" from the use of a copyright or trademark. It is generally taken that the exchange or payment of any money for any reason could be viewed as "profiting" and thereby violate the copyrights or trademarks. This is usually the area that most copyright/trademark violation occurs that we have to deal with whether we want to or not. Specifically, as a result of all this, we have learned that fees are being charged for duplication and shipping of the Shadowlore book from the NERPS mailing list available at [N--R--S] at [HEARN.BITNET.] We must request that this practice cease immediately. The book may continue to be distributed via the Internet, or on paper, as long as the above noted trademark and copyright notices are included, but money cannot change hands regarding it. We regret having to make these forms of demands, but feel that current law requires us to.) We believe that this, at this time, addresses all of our concerns regarding online files and net.publication. The law, however, will undoubtedly change in the near future, and when it does FASA may need to change its position as well. Many future problems with regard to online files and net.publications could be avoided if network users remained vigilant of the potential violation of copyrights and trademarks of all kinds. It appears obvious to me that if the net is able to police itself, others will not feel the need to. The last thing that we want to do is stifle anyone's enjoyment of the material we create. That is, after all, one of the primary reasons we do it. We are also aware that the discussion of the material and the creation and elaboration of new or existing material is part of that enjoyment, and we encourage it. There are, however, valid copyright and trademark considerations that have to be addressed within those contexts. Again, thank you very much for your letter. We are very pleased that you and others on Internet (and other locales) are concerned about our trademarks and copyrights to inquire as to our stand on the matter. If you have any further questions, or need any additional clarification, please feel free to reach me at either [FASA SUPPORT] at [GENIE.GEIS.COM] or [F--A--m] at [AOL.COM.] Please, however, do not subscribe me to any mailing lists or user groups as I, unfortunately, do not have the time to read, let alone respond, to that volume of mail (though I wish I had.) We can also be reached at our archaic address of 1100 West Cermak, Suite B305, Chicago, IL, 60608. Sincerely yours, Tom Dowd Director of Product Development FASA Corporation TD/FASA