Copyright and role-playing games
Just a quick heads-up that I’ve written an article about copyright and table-top games, and the uses for an open content license in role-playing games, on the Biblyon Broadsheet.
Table-top games don’t have the pressing need for an open source license that computer code does. It is interesting that computer code even can even be copyrighted--it is nothing more than a list of steps for computers to follow. But given that computer code can be copyrighted, the method we use to copyright it in the United States completely subverts the purpose of copyright. There is no “progress of science and useful arts” if the copyrighted code is not made public. The entire point of copyright is that it is a trade: a monopoly on the work for a limited time, in exchange for making the work public.
With table-top games, such as pen & paper role-playing games, there is less of a need for open content licenses because, first, the game must be made public in order for people to play it, and, second, game rules can’t be copyrighted anyway. So why do we need open source games? That’s what I try to answer in the series.
- Why do we need open source games?
- If game rules cannot be copyrighted, and if compatible supplements require no permission, what is the point of an open content game book? Over the next three installments, I’ll look at how open content licenses can make for better gaming.
- Article I
- Article One of the U.S. Constitution sets up the Congress, how to elect them, and the duties of the Senate and House of Representatives.
- The Biblyon Broadsheet
- Like adventurers of old you will delve into forgotten tombs where creatures of myth stalk the darkness. You will search uncharted wilderness for lost knowledge and hidden treasure. Where the hand-scrawled sign warns “beyond here lie dragons,” your stories begin.
More copyright
- VidAngel: Here We Go Again
- Is VidAngel breaking the law with their streaming filter service? The answer may hinge on a long-standing misunderstanding of how copyright law applies to copies.
- Copyright reform: Republican principles in action?
- Their initial copyright policy brief was a brilliant example of how Republicans could tie small government and freedom to actual, concrete policy changes that will help the average person—while at the same time cutting the rug from under their traditional anti-freedom enemies. It was far too smart to last.
- Apple’s new Music Store ringtone policy
- I had started to consider purchasing digital downloads instead of CDs, but because download restrictions change too easily CDs remain a far better choice for me.
- How not to convince your reps
- Copyright reform is likely to go the way of medical marijuana unless its supporters are willing to vote for candidates that do something about it.
- A writer’s will
- Neil Gaiman and Miss Snark encourage even unpublished writers to make known their desires with regard to their writings. Mine will be transferred to an open license within five years after I die.
- 10 more pages with the topic copyright, and other related pages