Re: New game added to the wiki: Piecepack Isle

[Ben Finney <ben+yahoogroups@...>]

Ron Hale-Evans <rwhe@...> writes:

> On Thu, Nov 11, 2010 at 8:24 AM, sshum2003 <sshum2003@...> wrote:
> > Game mechanics are moving pieces, rolling dice, etc. which have been
> > around for centuries.  No one can claim any type of IP ownership
> > over these mechanics.  Game mechanics are the equivialent of "words"
> > to the whole game are to "articles".  No one can claim copyright
> > over words; any one can claim copyright over an article they wrote.
> >  Otherwise games are not copyrightable at all.

That is a bunch of nonsense. Rather than refute it point by point here,
I advise the OP to do their own research or consult a trusted legal
expert.

> You're conflating rules and mechanics.

Also suffering under the conflation of vastly disparate areas of law
that have very different rules and different applicability. (Hint:
so-called “intellectual property” isn't property, and isn't even a
usefully coherent thing to talk about.)

[…]

> Moral: know your legal rights.
[…]
> Of course, I am not a lawyer, but then, I'd give odds of 100 to 1 that
> "sshum2003" is not either. Don't succumb to FUD.

Yes. I submit to the OP that no-one in this thread to date is a legal
expert, and no authority should be given to our words about the law.
Take it as information that may or may not be true, and a starting point
for your own research.

Even if any of us were a lawyer (I'm not), we're not *your* lawyer,
which is the important determiner of which lawyer to listen to.

-- 
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Ben Finney