Re: Credit in a GZG Publication

> I believe this is in the Berne Convention, to which I think every
country of
> every member of this group belongs.
> 
Yes, but most nations have their own interpretation of the convetion, 
which is important...read on...
> 
> Okay, but what if I came up with a really neat way of doing true
vector
> movement in FT and Jon uses it in a supplement. Later, I write an SF
ship
> combat game of my own (this is all hypothetical) and use the same
passage of
> text for the rule. Who's rule is it? Although it's unlikely that I
could
> make any money from suing Jon, I get free legal advice (my wife's a
law
> clerk) and I could make life difficult enough for Jon that he might
have to
> fold his business to pay for legal expenses. It's all very
hypothetical (and
> I'd never think of doing it) but it's possible.
>
Exactly the problem:  when things are going well, no ever thinks that 
they would litigate, but toss enough money, or whatever, into the 
equation, and SOMEONE will.

> 
> The easiest way around it, if everyone wants to, is to SPECIFICALLY
state in
> your posting that you give first publication rights to Jon Tuffley.
You can
> state that your payment for such an act is mention in the credits of
his
> book. Then Jon can either copy freely and include you in the credits,
or do
> as he has been.
> 
> If anyone is interested in this, I can get my wife to come up with a
> suitable legal clause to cover it. It's copyright law, so it's about
as
> universal as laws get (which is to say, not really), but because we're
> Canadian, there are actually cases of Canadian law using British and
> American precidents so we're as close to a legal go-between as you're
likely
> to see.
> 
> Any thoughts on this?

I would be very hestitant about this for two reasons.  (1) as I
mentioned 
above, interpretation of Berne differs from nation to nation, as a 
result a waiver may have applicablity in one jurisdiction, but be ruled 
ineffective in another.  It would be inadvisable for anyone but an 
international copyright attorney (i.e., someone who knows the 
ins-and-outs of the Berne convention and various copyright laws in 
America, Canada, England and all the other countries represented on the 
list) to draft a waiver, bec. (2) a mistake in the drafting could expose

the drafting attorney to malpractice liability.

Unfortunate as it sounds, I think Tuffley is currently pursuing the best

policy, as least from a legal standpoint.

Rukesh