Are demons/devils living creatures?

[S'mon]

It's okay to reproduce small excerpts, such as a feat's text, for purposes of discussion.

As a copyright expert*, my opinion FWIW is yes, this would seem likely to be fair use for purposes of criticism/review. If the exact text is necessary to discuss the text, it's fair use to reproduce that text.

*Doctor, no less!

 

[S'mon]

Not quite right. Profit has nothing to do with it.

Actually, commercial use is an important factor in determining whether a use is fair use.

It's interesting to me that people said "It's not OGL! You can't quote it!" - since without including the OGL in your post I can't see how text being in the SRD could have any legal effect. I think there's an interesting 'chilling effect' here - the very liberalism of the OGL making people sterner about jumping on reproduction of non-SRD text.

 

[Deset Gled]

So if it isn't a living creature, you can't Disintegrate it, which means it's made out of wood, so it floats, which means it weighs the same as a duck?

I think we have a new way to detect Demons, folks!

You can Disintegrate non-living creatures. The ambiguity in the Disintegrate spell only applies to living objects, not non-living creatures. Of course, from the tone of your post, I can't tell if this was an intentional or unintentional error.

And I'd like to throw my two bits in with the others to say that it's okay to post rules quotes, even if they're not in the SRD.

EDIT: See my comment in this thread regarding Disintegrate. Saw this post first, didn't realize the same topic popped up in both.

 

[jvdburgt]

Btw, what about deities? Are they considered living creatures?

And on a more general topic, since my Apostle will go to the Abyss soon, any suggestions on what to do with the fiends we'll manage not to kill in battle? (generally I accept my party members to kill out of self defense, but I pride myself to have - so far - always managed to keep at least one adversary alive at the end of a battle)...

The last adventure ended with keeping alive 1 fiend, in Sigil. And though I fancy we should find a nice warm prison for him there, I think that won't be such an easy feat once we're in the Abyss...

 

[Greenfield]

Actually, commercial use is an important factor in determining whether a use is fair use.

No. Whether you're giving away someone else's intellectual property or selling it for profit, you're still violating Copyright law. The law lays down when, where and how you can make copies of someone else's work. As far as I know, it doesn't address the profit aspect at all.

 

[Deset Gled]

No. Whether you're giving away someone else's intellectual property or selling it for profit, you're still violating Copyright law. The law lays down when, where and how you can make copies of someone else's work. As far as I know, it doesn't address the profit aspect at all.

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 17 U.S.C. § 106 and 17 U.S.C. § 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include:

- the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
- the nature of the copyrighted work;
- the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
- the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

Fair use - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Emphasis mine. Whether the work was reprinted for commercial purposes can be a major factor in determining if you can claim Fair Use.

Commercial factors really don't matter in this case, though. Posting a small amount of rules text for purposes of criticism on ENWorld is clearly allowed.

 

[Greenfield]

I stand corrected.

I've seen the argument that it's okay to copy software, CDs and DVDs for your friends, so long as you aren't making any money on it. That rationalization is purest BS. I though that you were making a similar argument. I should have asked for a clarification before condemning.

 

[Steely_Dan]

The living creature question is interesting, are demons/devils and genies etc living creatures like us, or more like corporeal spirits?

 

[S'mon]

I stand corrected.

I've seen the argument that it's okay to copy software, CDs and DVDs for your friends, so long as you aren't making any money on it. That rationalization is purest BS. I though that you were making a similar argument. I should have asked for a clarification before condemning.

Quoting a small piece of rules text for the purpose of discussing its meaning (ok) is clearly not the same as giving a copy of a DVD to your friend so they don't have to buy an authorised copy (not ok).

 

[S'mon]

The living creature question is interesting, are demons/devils and genies etc living creatures like us, or more like corporeal spirits?

I would say both - they are both 'corporeal spirits' and also 'alive'; deities too. They, and dryads, manticores (maybe), gargoyles and many supernatural critters, are different from 'mundane' creatures like humans and dire boars, but both are 'alive'.