What's with /TG/ and copyright?

[Shadowflame909]

So I remember that some things don't get added/merged because of copyright issues.

I think it was something related to half life door sound effects, or the ai's Vox sound effects. Hell, it might have been the jukebox idea in the bar playing custom songs.

But we have Xenomorphs, Jojo References, and (Third thing that I was going to say I can't think of right now).

Is there a design shift going on, or some limit to what can or can't happen?

I'm confused gamers.

[Screemonster]

there's a difference between referencing or creating something based on something else, and directly lifting assets from that thing

if I were to, say, draw a picture of gordon freeman, or make a 32x32 vortigaunt sprite, then I'm in the clear since while it's clearly a referencing / based upon an existing property it's still an original creation and therefore the licensing/use rights of that work belong to the creator (ie. me)
taking textures or sounds or the like directly from the game and slapping them into a PR would not be fair game since I did not create those textures or sounds, therefore I do not have the right to licence those assets for others to use

[D&B]

So I remember that some things don't get added/merged because of copyright issues.

I think it was something related to half life door sound effects, or the ai's Vox sound effects. Hell, it might have been the jukebox idea in the bar playing custom songs.

But we have Xenomorphs, Jojo References, and (Third thing that I was going to say I can't think of right now).

Is there a design shift going on, or some limit to what can or can't happen?

I'm confused gamers.

Jojo References

References

There you go

[PKPenguin321]

basically we dont wanna push it more than we have
xenos are definitely the most iffy thing we've got in the code

[Shadowflame909]

basically we dont wanna push it more than we have
xenos are definitely the most iffy thing we've got in the code

I remember Town of Salem had The Room theme at one point. But they had to remove it because of copyright junk

[Screemonster]

I remember Town of Salem had The Room theme at one point. But they had to remove it because of copyright junk

if they'd got a bunch of musicians in to play a cover of the theme they'd probably have been fine, but they can't just use the original

like that dude on youtube that does metal covers of disney villain songs is totally in the clear, but if he'd straight-up uploaded the lion king soundtrack unaltered he'd get copyright struck faster than you can say "be prepared"

[Not-Dorsidarf]

I remember Town of Salem had The Room theme at one point. But they had to remove it because of copyright junk

if they'd got a bunch of musicians in to play a cover of the theme they'd probably have been fine, but they can't just use the original

like that dude on youtube that does metal covers of disney villain songs is totally in the clear, but if he'd straight-up uploaded the lion king soundtrack unaltered he'd get copyright struck faster than you can say "be prepared"

Oh trust me they try to copyright strike legitimate covers and parody songs constantly too.

[SpaceManiac]

A composition and a recording are both copyrighted separately, covers are not "in the clear", attacking them on e.g. YouTube just has a worse cost/benefit for the copyright holder because they're harder to catch automatically.

The real answer to the question of the thread is "what it is believed we can get away with", with all the weighting that involves of how directly/indirectly the thing is a copy and how likely the copyright holder is to find out about it or care.

[MisterPerson]

A composition and a recording are both copyrighted separately, covers are not "in the clear", attacking them on e.g. YouTube just has a worse cost/benefit for the copyright holder because they're harder to catch automatically.

Fair use clearly covers non-commercial and educational uses, which cover artists aren't, but fair use also covers "transformative" use, which cover artists definitely are. I mean if a vocal + instrumental cover isn't transformative, what is? It uses none of the original song and doesn't replace the original. It's hard to really say the two songs "compete" against each other because that would imply there's some people who would refuse to listen to the original Disney song now that there's a metal cover, which is absolutely ridiculous.

But I'm not a lawyer, what do I know?

[cedarbridge]

A composition and a recording are both copyrighted separately, covers are not "in the clear", attacking them on e.g. YouTube just has a worse cost/benefit for the copyright holder because they're harder to catch automatically.

Fair use clearly covers non-commercial and educational uses, which cover artists aren't, but fair use also covers "transformative" use, which cover artists definitely are. I mean if a vocal + instrumental cover isn't transformative, what is? It uses none of the original song and doesn't replace the original. It's hard to really say the two songs "compete" against each other because that would imply there's some people who would refuse to listen to the original Disney song now that there's a metal cover, which is absolutely ridiculous.

But I'm not a lawyer, what do I know?

He's correct in the sense that compositions and recordings are two separate copywritten works. Each is viewed in its own distinct light. The extent to which a cover is "transformative" is open to dispute. The court will look to what was done to the original work to "transform" that work and a number of other features.

Does the cover hold itself out to be an original creation or hold itself out to be the original work?
Is the cover done for commercial purposes and/or does it capture a portion of the original work's commercial market?
Is the cover done for educational, commentary, or critical purposes?

There are a number of things that the court will look to in determining if a work is actually infringing the original work's copyright and they'll all be treated on case by case basis as each potential copyright claim will be about as different from any other as the two (or more) works are different from any others in a copyright claim.

Replacing the vocal track and the actual performance of the score of a work is transformative to a degree, but the degree to which that work has actually been transformed is still a matter of debate. Hell, the courts struggled to firmly establish that parody like Live2Crew and such were even within the scope of fair use of copyright. 510 U.S. 569 (1994) I imagine Weird Al got away with most of his without incident by just pre-liscencing access to the song's he spoofs since the 2LC decision didn't make parody presumptively fair use but rather made it not presumptively breach copyright for lack of fair use merely because there's a commercial component involved.

tl:dr Copyright is damn complicated stuff and the Internet has made a lot of half-baked experts on the subject. Talking to an attorney isn't a 100% shot that you'll get somebody who understands it perfectly either but its always your best choice when it comes to understanding how the law works.

(I am an attorney but I am not currently in Federal practice. I am not your attorney and nothing I've posted here should be taken as legal advice on a particular case.)

[Screemonster]

maaan now I just remembered that hilarious drama from back in like 2003 when some furry on deviantart tried to claim she owned the concept of anthropomorphic lemurs and led a fucking crusade against anyone who dared draw a lemur because they were "copying" her

there was another one that had a purple husky and made out that the combination of husky + the colour purple was a copyrightable idea

[Blurbo]

copyright is fucking stupid,what business guy is gonna join this game and see US HAVING HIS SOUNDS!!!11111
copyright based and bluepilled

[Shaps-cloud]

copyright is fucking stupid,what business guy is gonna join this game and see US HAVING HIS SOUNDS!!!11111
copyright based and bluepilled

child

[Ayy Lemoh]

copyright is fucking stupid,what business guy is gonna join this game and see US HAVING HIS SOUNDS!!!11111
copyright based and bluepilled

This happened to the Alien Colonial Marines server.

So, yes, there is a chance that some business man will casually stroll in and go WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU ALL DOING WITH MY SHIT