You may recall this post from a few years back about fantasy sports in Illinois:
In that post, I talked about why I though Fantasy Sports betting was illegal gambling under the law of the state of Illinois, and pointed out that the Illinois Attorney General’s office agreed with me.
Well, scratch that.
Continue reading Gambling In Illinois: Now We Know (also, Lootboxes!)I love doing media interviews and it’s always a blast talking to the folks at CheckpointXP Radio. I was on the show yesterday (April 2, 2019 for those of you visiting FROM THE FUTURE!) to talk about The Article Formerly Known As Article 13, namely Article 17 of the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market. And while of course everybody was up for a brief legal scholarship session, we did get to the most crucial question of our day:
WHAT ABOUT THE MEMES? ARE OUR MEMES SAFE???
If this issue concerns you – and I literally can’t imagine that it doesn’t – here’s a link!
A brief post to announce that I am no longer of counsel to Crawford Intellectual Property Law. If you were a client of the firm and I worked on your matters, please be advised that your file is with CIPL and your attorney/client relationship with them is in full force and effect. I am sure you will continue to get helpful and competent advice from Brie and Sam if you remain with the firm.
If you are a client of CIPL, please make a note not to copy me on any legal communications that you have with CIPL or otherwise communicate with me regarding them. While of course I would never voluntarily disclose them, since I am no longer associated with the firm it is possible that they would not be subject to the attorney/client privilege.
I enjoyed my time as counsel to the firm and extend my best wishes for future success to all.
(The author of this post is a licensed and experienced intellectual property attorney, but nothing in this post should be construed as specific legal advice. Consult an attorney licensed in your jurisdiction and familiar with the relevant law before making legal decisions.)
“Public domain” is a very slippery term, legally speaking. What it usually refers to is an artistic creation that either predates modern copyright law, or for which the copyright has expired – in other words, there is no applicable legal copyright in the work. Once something is in the public domain, anyone may use it in their own artistic creations. (Though this may create a new, copyrighted work, to the extent that the new creation comprises an original artistic creation beyond the artistic elements of the integrated public domain work.)
There’s no way, under US copyright law, to “release” a copyright before it expires. (This is a conversation I’ve had with other copyright lawyers.) Since neither registration nor notice are now required to create a valid copyright, it’s literally impossible to create a new work and have it NOT be copyrighted. However, one can release an artwork and offer the public an unlimited license to use it. Technically, such an artwork is still under copyright and is not “in the public domain,” in the way lawyers use the phrase, but for practical purposes, it may be thought of as being in the public domain.
That is just a little background for the actual topic of discussion for today, which is a game developed by indie developer Jason Rohrer called “One Hour One Life.” Mr. Rorher has an unusual business model: He “releases” all of his games into the public domain, and makes money from his creations in various ways that don’t involve strict control of the copyright. You can read about his philosophy here: Free Distribution.
Mr. Rohrer makes very good games, and between selling copies of “his” version of the games, donations, and other methods, he makes his living. But of course, you wouldn’t be reading about him on a legal blog if there wasn’t a legal issue.
*ominous music*
Continue reading No One Can Hold The Wind: Control Over Art Released Into The Public DomainThe Space Quest Historian, a gaming commentator and streamer with a particular interest in the famous “Space Quest” game franchise, asked me for some comments related to Activision’s ownership and activities in relation to it. I sent him an email discussing the matter generally and he was nice enough to use it in a video. It’s at the bottom of this post.
A few comments:
Anyway, he’s a funny guy and this is an incredibly well-edited video, including projecting relevant bits of my email at the right times. If you’re interested in that sort of thing, this is the sort of thing that will interest you.
(Note: A little NSFW language.)
