Re: [piecepack] Re: More Legal Nonsense!

["Mike Schoessow" <mikeschoessow@...>]

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: cdrodeffer@... 
  To: piecepack@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2004 9:24 AM
  Subject: [piecepack] Re: More Legal Nonsense!


  --- In piecepack@yahoogroups.com, "Tim" <juicy_killa@h...> wrote:
  > Hello all. My name is Tim, and I'm
  > new to the world of Piecepack.

  Welcome, Tim!

  > That being said, there is a certain
  > game that just screams to me to be
  > adapted to Piecepack. [...]

  > Essentially, I'm asking this question:
  > a) Do I pursue this at all?

  Yes! If it's a good game, and if it would be ideally suited for play
  with a piecepack, by all means, make an adaptation so the rest of us
  can enjoy it, too. Many previously published games (such as Evade,
  some others from Sid Sackson's book _A Gamut of Games_, and other
  classic and traditional games like Checkers, Mancala and Four-Field
  Kono) have already been adapted for play using the piecepack.

  > b) Do I strap a new theme on it and
  >    call it my own?
  > c) Do I keep the theme similar and
  >    credit the original author?

  Whether or not you retheme the game is totally up to you, just as
  inventing new game mechanics is totally up to you. But if you borrow
  significantly from someone else's work (whether theme, mechanism or
  other source materials), you have an ethical (and probably legal)
  obligation to credit the original author(s).

  These are just my opinions, so if others have differing opinions,
  please let Tim know. I'd hate for the answer to be a consensus of one.

  Clark

  Hi Tim,

     I agree with what Clark stated. As far as patents go, I don't think a problem comes up unless you attempt to sell something (although I may be wrong--anyone else know?). As Clark mentioned, a number of people, including me, have adapted existing games for piecepack, clearly stating that the game was an adaptation, not an invention. 

     If you make some changes to a game that change the game play in a significant (but not necessarily substantial) way, and re-theme the game, then you can claim it as a new game (many commercial games are born this way), but in the piecepack community (as in spielfrieks, BoardGameDesign, etc.), it would be considered bad form if you didn't acknowledge the influence of the author and game that inspired your design.

  -Mike




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