Re: Opinion on avoiding Copyright and Trademark infringement.
James Damour <JDAMOUR@nycap.rr.com> wrote: [...]
> I'm fairly confident that my project does not infringe on the copyrights
> of the boardgame authors, given my reading of the US code[4], [...]
I agree with you. I think others might not ("mise en scene" and all
that), so I leave it for them to suggest ways around the problems.
By the way, be careful relying on US codes when trying to enter an
international distribution.
> The *real* problem is the use of registered trademarks from the game.
> The most common unit type in the game is called a "BattleMech" (often
> shortened to "'Mech" or "Mech"), which is a registered trademark.
The scope of US trademark registration number 1479757 is "IC
028. US 022. G & S: PLAYING PIECES, RULES, AND GUIDES FOR USE
IN PLAYING BOARD GAMES." Anyone know if that applies to computer
software and how?
Assuming it does, I'd suggest being careful not to use the
exact spelling or styling of the trademark.
> This
> term is used throughout the project's code. Similarly, we have classes
> named "MechWarrior" and "Protomech" which are also registered
> trademarks. I would be surprised indeed if this code can be distributed
> by Debian.
MechWarrior at least is registered to Microsoft for computer software
(registration number 2508485). I think you shouldn't use that one!
I can't find a registration for Protomech.
I hope descriptive things like acronyms of simple weapon names
are OK, but I don't know the law on that. Do you?
Hope that helps,
--
MJR/slef
My Opinion Only: see http://people.debian.org/~mjr/
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