authors position on fan created material

[kapitan]

i just bought a copy of 2320, since the original game has alway been my very favourite gaming 'verse. now i am planning an a campaign starting in pre-unification hannover and stretching to the 2320s (many time leaps, obviously). to that end, i started on working a little on an "inofficial germany soucebook". stuff about the post wwiii history, culture, politics and the like. now i wonder:
1. would there be any interest in this made available as pdf on this forum?
2. what is the games's authors' position on fan made material?
if there was any interest and the authors deem it okay, i would write it in english (my players wouldnt mind, i hope) and post it here.

 

[hunter]

Take a look at the Fair Use guidelines under the FAQ link (CotI Features link).

It sounds like you'd be ok as long as the vast majority of the work is original, acknowledges the trademark and copyright of the used 2320 material, and is not sold. Please note that I am making this comment without actually having seen the material.

And yes we'd be happy to host a copy here when it's done if it follows the guidelines!

Word of warning however, your material may get overwritten by official publications down the line.

 

[kapitan]

thanx for the quick reply, hunter

Take a look at the Fair Use guidelines under the FAQ link (CotI Features link).

thanx. geeze, it took me an eternaty to find the faqs *grin*

It sounds like you'd be ok as long as the vast majority of the work is original, acknowledges the trademark and copyright of the used 2320 material, and is not sold. Please note that I am making this comment without actually having seen the material.

i certainly do not plan to sell anything, and will of course honour the copyright of 2320. and actually, i havent seen any of my materialy, yet, either ;-) i am just starting to prepare my campaign and consider to write in english from the beginning so i can eventually (as in quite a while from now) post it here.

And yes we'd be happy to host a copy here when it's done if it follows the guidelines!

:-D

Word of warning however, your material may get overwritten by official publications down the line.

i certainly hope so! since this means there's gonna be lots of more 2320 stuff gettin' published, and i am anxious for that
i am just planning on my campaigns view on things, and actually i am going to start already slightly off canon, since, i.e., in the moment i favour 9 german states instead of the original 5. i just plan to create a rich and tree dimensional background for my players, since the entire campaign is gonna be centered around germany's fate.

one last question: there is no subforum for user created material for 2300. i would like to post stuff i write up here in the hope for comments or input should anyone take an interest in this. can such a "development thread" go in this sub-forum, or should i handle this outside this forum?

 

[Colin]

I am happy to see fan-generated material. Just keep in mind what Hunter said. If I write something on the same topic, or someone else acting for the license-holder, then that becomes the official word.

 

[hunter]

one last question: there is no subforum for user created material for 2300. i would like to post stuff i write up here in the hope for comments or input should anyone take an interest in this. can such a "development thread" go in this sub-forum, or should i handle this outside this forum?

This forum should be fine. When it's done you can add it to the File Library where everyone can access it for download if you'd like.

 

[aramis]

One other thing you might want to consider:

Many companies specifically invalidate fan materials so as to establish that they've not used it.

 

[kapitan]

thanx for the advice, guys.

If I write something on the same topic, or someone else acting for the license-holder, then that becomes the official word.

sure. i ain't aiming at producing anything anyone would consider canon. just developing how i am gonna play things and aiming to post it here in case anyone else was interested.

Many companies specifically invalidate fan materials so as to establish that they've not used it.

thanx for the advice, aramis, unfortunately, i do not understand - sorry for my bad english. could you rephrase it, or explain? thanx.

 

[aramis]

You produce something.

In order to show that they didn't borrow from your material, they make certain that your fan-produced material is contradicted by their own, when they decide to finally publish something on the area.

GDW did this with sectors... overriding the JG sectors in Atlas of the Imperium. And those were licensed!

 

[kapitan]

In order to show that they didn't borrow from your material, they make certain that your fan-produced material is contradicted by their own, when they decide to finally publish something on the area.

okay, i anderstand now. mmmmhhh, a little bit childish, ain't it? well, people are people ...
actually i dont care to much about that. i dont want to tell anyone how to play (or write) their game. and, really, i doubt that the company would borrow from me (even though i would be honoured if anyone finds stuff i make good enough to use elsewhere) or feel the need to "prove" they didnt borrow from me, or even take much notice of me ;-)
would it help if i stated that "anyone can use my material commercially or otherwise in any way (regarding only to my original material, of course, and not to portions were i refer to the copyrighted stuff from the book) without having to feel as if they borrowed or plagiated or anything"?

 

[aramis]

you're better granting permission to the original IP owner:

"©2007 Kapitan. All rights reserved. Permission granted for personal use only. Permission explicitly granted to Far Future Enterprises and Quick Link Interactive to reprint commercially at no charge to them, provided authorial credit is maintained."

Or, if you prefer, releasing under the Creative Commons, GNU FDL, or OGL... all of which are reasonably accepted open licenses.

 

[kapitan]

thanx a lot, aramis! especially for providing an example on how to phrase it, since i really aint good at legal stuff in english. thanx a bunch *copyandpaste*

 

[Anthony]

Or, if you prefer, releasing under the Creative Commons, GNU FDL, or OGL... all of which are reasonably accepted open licenses.

Well, doing that more or less guarantees that FFE/QLI would want to not use it.