Paramount forcing scanned FASA Trek material off Net (Pen&Paper)

[137th Gebirg]

Since I am clearly so lacking in the necessary cognitive skills, why don't you explain it then, that I may bow down and genuflect before your gifted illumination.

 

[SeerSGB]

Since I am clearly so lacking in the necessary cognitive skills, why don't you explain it then, that I may bow down and genuflect before your gifted illumination.

Just the dry facts:

ection 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered fair, such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Section 107 also sets out four factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair.

The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes

The nature of the copyrighted work

The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole

The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work

The distinction between what is fair use and what is infringement in a particular case will not always be clear or easily defined. There is no specific number of words, lines, or notes that may safely be taken without permission. Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining permission.

Basically scanning whole books/character sheets and uploading them online and redistributing wouldn't count as fair use. However scanning a handful of pages and then commenting and criticizing the content would (likely) count as fair use.

More on Fair Use

The less you take, the more likely that your copying will be excused as a fair use. However, even if you take a small portion of a work, your copying will not be a fair use if the portion taken is the “heart” of the work. In other words, you are more likely to run into problems if you take the most memorable aspect of a work. For example, it would probably not be a fair use to copy the opening guitar riff and the words “I can’t get no satisfaction” from the song “Satisfaction.”

...

Some people mistakenly believe it’s permissible to use a work (or portion of it) if an acknowledgment is provided. For example, they believe it’s okay to use a photograph in a magazine as long as the name of the photographer is included. This is not true. Acknowledgment of the source material (such as citing the photographer) may be a consideration in a fair use determination, but it will not protect against a claim of infringement. In some cases, such as advertisements, acknowledgments can backfire and create additional legal claims, such as a violation of the right of publicity. When in doubt as to the right to use or acknowledge a source, the most prudent course may be to seek the permission of the copyright owner.

...

Because the dissemination of facts or information benefits the public, you have more leeway to copy from factual works such as biographies than you do from fictional works such as plays or novels.

COlumbia University Fair Use Check List

 

[Rocketeer]

I was reviewing some of the old material online this weekend. So, it's still there (at least on the sites that I looked at).

If you want legal copies, look on eBay. I bought some stuff for the ST Tactical Combat Simulator for a good price.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Since I am clearly so lacking in the necessary cognitive skills, why don't you explain it then, that I may bow down and genuflect before your gifted illumination.

General rule of thumb: If this was how you made a living, how you were putting bread on your table each day, what would you consider "fair"?

Therefore:

Someone scanning a single page to illustrate a review: "Fair Use".

Someone scanning every page of someone's work and putting it up on the web for everyone to download for free, or you making your own bound copies and selling them or giving them away: not "fair use".

Whether the original work is earning the copyright owner additional money at the moment or not, does not suddenly change the rules of "fair use".

 

[137th Gebirg]

^^^ Too many assumptions are being made.

Are they only shutting down sites that scan every single pixel of every single printed page of a copyrighted work? If so, then that would be understandable for the property owners to take action. What you describe is piracy, flat out, and that's obviously wrong and shouldn't be condoned.

If they're targeting sites that have any kind of FASA material (not complete works), either in text or graphic form, that maybe limited down to a couple of reference snippets, when all such materials' copyrights have been appropriately cited, then that's a different story entirely.

This is not a black and white issue - there are shades of gray in this situation which seem to be getting ignored by a lot of people. Do we know for a fact that Paramount is going after anyone who has ever used FASA-based materials, no matter how miniscule? Is this a series of isolated incidents or more scorch-and-burn? Can we be fact-based, or is that too much to ask? There is simply not enough information to really tell what's going on.

 

[Unicron]

I was reviewing some of the old material online this weekend. So, it's still there (at least on the sites that I looked at).

If you want legal copies, look on eBay. I bought some stuff for the ST Tactical Combat Simulator for a good price.

You can also try Noble Knight Games. I just stumbled on them the other night, but they have a ton of OOP material for a lot of RPGs, and most of the prices are reasonable. I already ordered some of the FASA Trek books.