Copyright of Activities

parsfan · Post by **parsfan** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 12:25 pm

Just wondering if its advisable to do this. I couldn't care less what people do with any I make and just hope they enjoy them and so haven't copyrighted them. Is their any dnagers in not copyrighting.

richard222 · Post by **richard222** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 12:50 pm

Worth doing purely so people dont upload it to another site saying they made it

Richard

Nvincer · Post by **Nvincer** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 1:58 pm

Yes, releasing anything into the 'public domain' means that anyone can upload it again (with a few alterations or not) and say it is all their work with no regard to the original work.

Just a simple line at the bottom of a readme can solve a lot of problems regarding this sort of conflict, but then if you aren't bothered what people do with it then its a bit pointless...

Ben

parsfan · Post by **parsfan** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 2:12 pm

Nvincer wrote:Yes, releasing anything into the 'public domain' means that anyone can upload it again (with a few alterations or not) and say it is all their work with no regard to the original work.
but then if you aren't bothered what people do with it then its a bit pointless...
Ben

I'm really not bothered if someone did that. Anyone who does is so sad that I almost feel sorry for them.

The reason I didn't want to copyright them is to allow people improve them or add something different, thats why I didn't want to copyright them. Maybe i'll add something to that effect, upload with their name if they have altered and improved them.

Nvincer · Post by **Nvincer** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 2:21 pm

The problem is there are people who do...

But anyway, If it was me I would add a little message at the bottom saying its fine for you (the downloader) to alter and re-upload as long as some credit is given for the original activity set up - that way if something does go wrong in any way you still have control over the base activity.

Ben

Lad491 · Post by **Lad491** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 3:29 pm

I dont add anything to my activities about copyright, but that doesnt alter the fact that they are my copyright and any modification, except for your own purely personal use, cannot be made without my prior permission. Anything you produce that is an original work is yours by right and any usage of that in another work without permission is plagarism, whether you have added a copyright note or not.

ianmacmillan · Post by **ianmacmillan** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 3:29 pm

There are many things that could go wrong with a badly altered activity.

Files could be altered but not renamed thus ruining other activities.
and damaging someones installation.

I have had some of my .wag files included in activities which alter the coupling and brake without renaming them.
This will cause problems with other activities which use the same wagon.

Better that you retain the copywrite so you can have the item removed from the upload site.

It's not a great problem asking for permission.

salopiangrowler · Post by **salopiangrowler** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 4:40 pm

i tell people to do as they wish. aslong as my names still on some of the stuff and that they do it at there own risk

mikesimpson · Post by **mikesimpson** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 11:33 pm

Just a personal opinion, but unless you intend to sue someone who breaches your copyright, then it is really a pointless exercise.

My early models placed on this site about 6 years ago (brakedown crane, J39, K3/K4 etc) all had copyright notices and frankly it was just a waste of time, virtually no one pays any attention (I found the crane on an Argentinian route recently

). And it becomes a nusiance responding to those who actually do request permission.

I also refute Ian's statement that "It's not a great problem asking for permission." - I would think that the vast majority of the models available on this site are by authors who are no longer around, and who have changed their email addresses, so there is no way to get permission in any case.

In the end, I had to give up on my Scottish Borders route simply because many of the models used in it were subsequently withdrawn from this site, or their authors did not respond to emails.

I have said several times that models should not be allowed in the library unless they are free to use by anyone as long as the author's contribution is attributed. Anything else just spoils it for everyone.

Mike.

parsfan · Post by **parsfan** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 7:40 am

Thanks for all the replies. They've given me plenty of advise and I can see the benifits on all sides. I think i'll still leave them without copyright though.

thegoonden · Post by **thegoonden** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:31 pm

As has been mentioned, you do not need to copyright anything you create, copyright exists automatically. What is really being discussed here is licensing terms and rights restrictions.

GPL is a good way to do what you are proposing, though there are other simillar pre-made licenses such as the creative commons. Both essentially grant people the right to modify and reuse your work provided they retain your original accreditation (preferably stating clearly what changes they have made) and most importantly that they do not, in turn, otherwise restrict anyone from using what they have done with your work.

It saves writing a load of nonsense yourself too, you can just included a copy of the GPL or screative commons license.