At 6/22/09 12:43 AM, HeavyTank wrote:
At 6/21/09 11:38 PM, chris-marks wrote:
By posting it there is an intrinsic understanding that it is your own original content unless you specify otherwise. That means you absolutely did say it was your own by your omission of crediting other sources.
No that's not true if l watch a movie with my friends and l don't say that l didn't make it it automatically means that l explicitly say that it's mine?
Come on this argument is total crap and please DROP THE FUCKING SUBJECT.
Enough with copyright and shit, this is a medal thread!
The difference between posting something online and showing a movie is that since everyone has access to post online, it's reasonable to believe they would post their own stuff unless they say otherwise. Since very few people make movies, it's reasonable to believe any movie you show is not yours unless you specifically say it is. Even if it weren't that way, there's that whole opening and closing credits thing to deal with, which attaches the names of those who are responsible for it to it in order to establish copyright, exactly like how the username in a post, review or news item attaches that person's name to their content, also to establish copyright.
My final word on the topic: I had an online chat with a lawyer friend of mind about this, so we could get a true conclusion that is absolutely correct. Here is our conversation in full:
Me: I'm in a conversation on newgrounds.com where someone is trying to say copyright isn't intrinsic, you have to pay for it, and there's no reasonable expectation that when you post something online in a journal environment that it's your own original content.
Him: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_law_
copyright
Me: That gets me to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Co pyright_law but there's too much information there for me to sift through to find the appropriate content
Him: common law copyright is copyright that attaches without registration.
Me: Alright, what about whether there's a reasonable expectation that something (such as a game walkthru) posted by you is your own original material?
Him: Well, if you wrote it, it's original material; FAQs aren't just recitations of data. It's fixed in a tangible medium (digital counts). The only kind of data that isn't copyrightable is like the phone book, where there's no actual authorship, it's just a reprint of straight data.
Me: The issue is whether I could take someone else's walkthru, add a few lines to the end, and put it up without citation but without saying explicitly that I wrote it, and be free of copyright infringement.
Him: Of course not. Infringement is based on the amount and substantiality of copying. Taking an entire work and adding a few lines would undoubtedly be copyright infringement, just like adding a page to a book and claiming it as your work would be.
Me: Even if the copied content comes from more than one source?
Him: You're likely guilty of multiple counts of infringement.
Me: And as a final yes or no, is there a reasonable expectation that if I put up content online and don't cite other sources, it is all my own original material?
Him: more or less. the internet is always vague, though. but if someone else posted your stuff, you could send a takedown notice for sure.
Me: Thank you. Cheers.
So there we have it: from a lawyer, there's basically an expectation that unless you say otherwise anything you write online is your own original content, and copying what others have written online without crediting them is copyright infringement, even if you add a little bit to the end. The prosecution rests.
As for the Extra Innings medal in Drop The Bomb, I've gotten it every time I enter the bonus round with 15 or more spins. Is it possible those who are having trouble are using a cached version of the swf and I'm using an updated one having arrived on the game late?
Also, DDD is all working for me. Only problem is I need to clear my game data in order to know whether I should be getting the Master Tactician medal. It would be really nice if the game would check for the in-game achievement at start-up and send in the medal if appropriate.
