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

> 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.

That is what happens at the moment. There is no text from the rules in the program except for the names of ship systems such as Laser or Missile Launcher.

> 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?

The tables in the rules are in a table format on paper. I use the same values in a database table so that calculation of combat results can be carried out by the program. If necessary I could alter those values or remove them and instead allow the user to enter their own values. The program will also display the combat tables to the user if they desire.

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

Thanks. I appreciate the information.

Steve Received on Mon Aug 22 2005 - 21:00:00 GMT