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

On 8/17/05, Steve Walmsley <stevewalmsley[_at_]btinternet.com> wrote:
>
> 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?

The rules themselves are not copyrightable. But, the expressions of the rules can be copyrightable if they are creative. Sometimes, the expressions are not separable from the rules and in this case, these expressions are not copyrightable.

I am giving an example on one rule.

Expression #1: Only two players can play the chess at a time.

Expression #2: Joseph, from the planet of Earth, walks slowly around the ancient, square table that is at least 1,000 years old. On it, there is a square board that has 64 squares that alternate between white and black color. He continues circling the table recalling many battles he had won and lost. Finally, he stops at the chair that is reserved for white and is also at least 1,000 years old. He puts his right hand on the chair and pauses for a moment, wondering if he can stand other battle. He breathes in deeply and exhales until there is no more air in his lungs. He sits down on the chair. Behold, David, also from the planet of Earth, approaches the chair that is reserved for black in somewhat hurried fashion. His hands are noticeably shaking, for Joseph is the strongest player ever in the history of chess. He sits on the chair. Joseph bows his head slightly toward David and David returns the same, for this is the tradition that lasts for more than 500 years. Now, all the spectators become very still and none dares to make any noise. This signifies that the game now starts.

In the first expression, it is not possible to separate the expression from the rule itself and therefore, the whole expression is not copyrightable.

However, in the second expression, all statements are highly creative. So, they are copyrightable. The rule (the rule is that only two players can play chess game at a time) that the statements greatly exaggerate is still uncopyrightable. It is your job to dig through the expression to find the rule.

You can't simply copy the rulebook without examining it very carefully. It is common that the rulebook has many copyrightable expressions. You will have to read it to find the rules and express the rules in your own words.

> 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?

That seems fine to me.

> If that is the case, could I display the tables providing the values to use
> and the chance of each result occuring?

Now, this is a new wrinkle that needs to be ironed out. Do you mean that the tables are copied from the game owner's original works or do you mean that you create tables according to the rules or do you mean that you create tables with your own values that have nothing to do with rules?

Again, I am speaking of the U.S. copyright law. UK copyright law may be different.

Joseph Pietro Riolo
<josephpietrojeungriolo[_at_]gmail.com>
<riolo[_at_]voicenet.com>

Number of days left until 1-1-2019 when all knowledge of 1923 in the land of the U.S.A. will be freed from their copyright owners' prisons: 4,884

Public domain notice: I put all of my expressions in this post in the public domain. Received on Thu Aug 18 2005 - 23:29:15 GMT