About Copyrights..

This is mainly for an admin or moderator answer, but can be open for discussion..

The book "Animal Farm" by George Orwell was copyrighted from 1998 to 2002, then again, from 2000 to 2008.
Being that it's now 2009, does that mean I can use parts from that book in my level?

(Cutscene books)

EDIT:
Source: http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-animalfarm/copy.html

Copyright law is extremely confusing. Animal Farm might be public domain in certain countries, but not others. I think the Berne Convention sets 50 years as the standard copyright term, but some countries have longer copyright terms that overrule that.

The book "Animal Farm" by George Orwell was copyrighted from 1998 to 2002, then again, from 2000 to 2008.
[...]
Source: http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-animalfarm/copy.html

All that copyright info from that site applies only to that study guide. Animal Farm would be copyright 1945.

How much exactly do you want to use? You could probably get away with using short quotes as epigraphs as fair use, even if it were still under copyright.

The answer is fairly simple.

No, you can't. The copyright law is only ment for duplicating/distributing without permission. In case of a book, the copyright law prevents you to copy/distribute the book as is to other parties without notifying the author.

The authorsrights do still apply, which means: The author wrote it, and retains full rights of what he/she wrote. That means that you always need permission to ask if you can make a level about a part of the book. Most of the time when something like this happens, the author is feeling honoured though (when its for a book that is) which usually means that you get a yes from the author.

But as long as you don't have permission, its illegal if you just copy the story like that. I do believe that its allowed to base your story on someone, and crediting is part of showing appreciation.

By basing your story on a book, you create a story thats very similar to another, but different enough to see that its not the same. For example, you could change the location, or certain events that happen, and ofcource the characters must be different too.

I checked, and Animal Farm is public domain in Australia, Canada, Japan, etc, but it won't be public domain in the USA or the EU until January 1st, 2021.

Copyrights shouldn't last that long imo, but that's hard to change

I checked, and Animal Farm is public domain in Australia, Canada, Japan, etc, but it won't be public domain in the USA or the EU until January 1st, 2021.

Aww.. Thanks though.

Copyrights shouldn't last that long imo, but that's hard to change

Well, it's a library screen and you press down to reed a book, and it's only two paragraphs. I'm not sure how much of that if any at all I can use..

I checked, and Animal Farm is public domain in Australia, Canada, Japan, etc, but it won't be public domain in the USA or the EU until January 1st, 2021.

I'll be patient and wait.

Quote from: googoogjoob on March 05, 2009, 16:35:04

I checked, and Animal Farm is public domain in Australia, Canada, Japan, etc, but it won't be public domain in the USA or the EU until January 1st, 2021.

I'll be patient and wait.

..Wait 12 years until a copyright expires so you can use it in a level?

Well, the server's in the United States of America, so you'd need to abide by the USA's copyright laws, too, right? They need to create world-wide Internet laws. This is way too confusing.

Quote from: Nifflas on March 06, 2009, 00:03:49

Copyrights shouldn't last that long imo, but that's hard to change

Well, it's a library screen and you press down to reed a book, and it's only two paragraphs. I'm not sure how much of that if any at all I can use..

You could make up your own story.

Well, the server's in the United States of America, so you'd need to abide by the USA's copyright laws, too, right? They need to create world-wide Internet laws. This is way too confusing.

It's impractical to have Internet-wide laws, and they'd be impossible to enforce consistently without making the Internet a police state.

Quote from: Pumpkinbot on March 06, 2009, 16:41:29

Well, the server's in the United States of America, so you'd need to abide by the USA's copyright laws, too, right? They need to create world-wide Internet laws. This is way too confusing.

It's impractical to have Internet-wide laws, and they'd be impossible to enforce consistently without making the Internet a police state.

True. 

You shouldn't care about copyright issues, nobody would ever find out that you have used their stuff in a ks level and its not a big thing, who would care?

Although I think the admins thinks different than me.

Why:

I certainly will delete levels where I find out that they use illegal material. Not to bully you, but to protect this forum and you. If indeed a company goes in pursuit to track you down, it?s my obligation to help them in any way, which results in giving out your IP address. With that, they can contact your ISP, and through them, they'll get your name and address (or that of your parents or whoever pays the internet access at that moment). Eventually they'll reach you and you'll have to pay a big fine for infringement. I just don't want it to go that far, and I therefore will prevent any effort where possible.

Why:

Quote from: LPChip

I certainly will delete levels where I find out that they use illegal material. Not to bully you, but to protect this forum and you. If indeed a company goes in pursuit to track you down, it?s my obligation to help them in any way, which results in giving out your IP address. With that, they can contact your ISP, and through them, they'll get your name and address (or that of your parents or whoever pays the internet access at that moment). Eventually they'll reach you and you'll have to pay a big fine for infringement. I just don't want it to go that far, and I therefore will prevent any effort where possible.

Yep, there you go.. Well thanks guys.