RE: Re: Copyright issues regarding fan computer assistant program for board game.

From: Agenbroad, James \(Civ,ARL/CISD\) <jagenbro[_at_]arl.army.mil>
Date: Thu, 18 Aug 2005 15:29:15 -0400

I completely agree with the principle that game mechanics are properly the subject of patents, not copyrights. However, the same could be said of the algorithms of computer programs, and yet copyrights have become the standard method of protecting their content. As a matter of public policy, the courts seem to be reluctant to allow the "stealing" of peoples creative effort if there is any conceivable, creative way to cover it with the blanket of copyright.

-----Original Message-----
From: CNI-COPYRIGHT -- Copyright & Intellectual Property [mailto:CNI-COPYRIGHT[_at_]cni.org] On Behalf Of Steve Walmsley Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2005 6:26 PM To: CNI-COPYRIGHT -- Copyright & Intellectual Property Subject: [CNI-(C)] Re: [CNI-(C)] Copyright issues regarding fan computer assistant program for board game.

> I think that it makes a big difference but I don't know anything about
the copyright law in the UK. For example, in the U.S., the rules for playing a game are uncopyrigihtable.

Thanks for the informative response. I was particularly interested in the above. Does this mean someone can produce copies of a game rulebook or is it that the method of playing a game cannot be copyright but the textual content of the rulebook is copyright? As a simple example, if someone created a rulebook which gave instructions on how to generate a star system in terms of number of planets, habitability, etc., I could create a program which generated systems according to those rules and presented the result to the user but I could not display the text from the rulebook in the program?
If that is the case, could I display the tables providing the values to use and the chance of each result occuring?

Steve

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Visit the CNI-COPYRIGHT e-mail list archive at <https://mail2.cni.org/Lists/CNI-COPYRIGHT/>. Received on Thu Aug 18 2005 - 23:29:15 GMT