Blueprints = Intellectual Property?

[War Dog]

Since I'm horrible at ship aesthetics, I've found a new hobby of taking abandoned wrecks back to SP and recreating them.

The problem is, I've got some concerns about blueprint sharing. As much as I change the ship, the "credit" for making them remains the creator's. I have no interest in "claiming" that credit, but some other players have asked me for blueprints; which I've always refused (And made unavailable).

My changes have been: replacing hardened hull with regular, hollow it out and rebuild the weapon array, generators, batteries/shields etc, adding turrets and docks; Maybe making some minor changes to the exterior.

For example, the two latest I've been "Converting": http://i.imgur.com/6p2wah7.png

The black/purple one was originally made by "B95" whom I met on the Homesector server (Good Design, Terrible Internals 22k shields???). Got permission to BP and modify it, haven't seem him/her since.

The gray one was a wreck I found on the islandgames.com server. Named "Freedom"; no noticeable identification aside from a tattered "2" on the side in white hardened hull. It's still hollow in the photo, aside from power generators.

Please give your opinion on at what point does it become "converted" enough for me to give blueprints to players who ask.

 

[AxNinjaX]

I\'m not entirely sure where to draw this line myself, but then again, I\'m typically producing original builds. However, I did refit a hull that a friend built by reshaping it, installing internal systems, re-working the cabin/core housing, repainting it, and installing new turrets. The modifications were to such an extent that I considered it an entirely new model.

I would recommend naming your ships something along the lines of [Shipname] - Retrofit or [Shipname] - Mk. (#) - Mod (#) if you do some minor modifications to internals, etc.

Example: Eagle -> Eagle Mk II - Mod 1

I would say that enough internal and external improvements so as to clearly differentiate the ship in combat and/or while flying and walking within it, whether in performance or aesthetics, would be enough to make it your own. Perhaps you might completely change the cabin or engine design, or completely revamp internal systems.

However, a simple swap of a weapon system or a repainting/streamlining of hull probably wouldn\'t be enough to designate a new model/build.

If you\'re not feeling sure, just designate the build as a retrofit and give as much credit as possible. Then again, if you aren\'t feeling sure, you probably haven\'t quite made the design truly your own.

 

[Qweesdy]

Hi,

I\'m not a lawyer. However, as far as I know (based on typical/generic copyright law - it is different in different countries)...

If your ship design was \"published\" (e.g. uploaded to a server) without any copyright notice, then that ship design is effectively under your (implied) copyright. If anyone copies it (e.g. using the catalogue), but not if they don\'t copy it (e.g. if they just fly around in your ship and modify it), then you have the right to sue them for violating your (implied) copyright. Damages are mostly worked out on potential lost earnings. If you aren\'t using your ship design to make profit then suing someone for copyright infringement means a lot of court costs for zero damages (or, you\'d have to be extremely silly to bother).

To get around the potential stupidity of copyright law; it would be possible for the server owner to make users accept some sort of \"terms and conditions\" (e.g. EULA) that says something like \"by using this server you agree to relinquish any/all rights to anything made using this server or uploaded to this server\". More effective would be if Schema did it (e.g. \"by using this software you agree to relinquish any/all rights to anything made using this software\").

Of course hopefully all of the above is \"overly cautious\" and nobody is silly enough to really care about any copyrights on their ship/turret designs.

 

[DirtKicker]

I think that if you submit a ship you should be compensated for it. Eg if someone downloads your ship from the catalog you should get the credits paid for it.

 

[MichaelSeph]

It depends on each guy, if they want to keep their stuff private or not.



But if somebody uploaded a ship in public, means he\'s ok with sharing it.. whatever you do with what he shared, is up to you. Unless he posts a notice not to edit/re-release it or such.

 

[HadrasVorshoth]

Ooh. I like the credits paid idea.

I\'ve done a module in Law for Non-Lawyers, so I can pretend I have credentials, and, we really need a disclaimer somewhere like most of the big createy games do, mainly so there aren\'t any weird legal \"well I\'ve created enough content that the majority of the content on the website, by virtue of the sheer amount of my uploads, is my own creations, so now I\'m taking over kthanx\".

That said, there\'s then the issue of \'can Schema take offense if someone uses footage from the game on Youtube\', which although unlikely to occur as he seems pretty cool with it, exercising too much legal controls on this kind of thing could make takedown notices of non-official Starmade content online be a thing that is possible.

Getting into actual legalities is a bit awkward.

Best thing I would suggest is that any uploaded ship as a unique ID, as it does, that remains with that ship, even if someone changes the design. Like how the original trainer ID will remain on a Pokemon even if it\'s traded.

That way, the only way someone could take credit for a ship is if they took out the core, and step by step rebuilt the ship, block for block, around a new core.

and that\'s enough effort to keep design thieves off their thieving.

 

[War Dog]

I stated before that I could care less about claiming credit for the design; just at what point will I be able to freely give blueprints to those who ask.

Or do the two go hand in hand?

 

[AxNinjaX]

@War Dog: did you take a look at my response?

As for the whole issue of credit; I\'ve assumed that by uploading a blueprint, you are releasing it into the public domain, and its use and distribution are free and open. However, I haven\'t taken any courses in law, so I don\'t think I\'ll be getting into the juicy technical bits...

But it would be nice if there were some sort of (meaningless but gratifying) point system for blueprint uploaders.