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<blockquote data-quote="Steve Conan Trustrum" data-source="post: 7674394" data-attributes="member: 1620"><p>Not really. "Got permission," "the IP holder doesn't care," and "the IP holder doesn't know" are three distinctly different aspects of how an IP holder can view such a product, each of which has different, very clear, legal meanings. You can't conflate them all into one possible hypothetical you want to keep floating up in the air and say they are all equally ambiguous or speculative, legally speaking.</p><p>Know one of the major reasons why "free" doesn't equal "no copyright infringement?" Because even if one isn't charging for something they've made with someone else's IP, the presence of one's free product on the market can very easily constitute a dilution of that IP's value. For example, it is possible EA's stance on previous pitches for a RPG could actually boil down to them pushing to get more out of such a deal. A free product that uses their IP can reduce their ability to push that sort of deal through. Then there's also the problem of market confusion.</p><p></p><p>No profit is just one of the thresholds for Fair Use, which is the aspect of copyright law "for free" falls under. Unfortunately, fair use doesn't work the same way for the trademarks the product uses without permission.</p><p></p><p>IP (copyright and trademark) is a funny thing, but it most certainly does not work in terms of "it's okay so long as someone doesn't say no." In many cases, the people who own the IP aren't even aware someone is infringing on their IP because it hasn't been brought to their attention.</p><p></p><p>Sure it has the right to run its awards any way it wants.</p><p></p><p>Other publishers also have the right to disagree and reconsider the value they place on the awards when a product using infringing IP is placed against their own or potentially displaced their products in categories they attempted to get nominated for. Which is the opinion that's making the rounds amongst a number of publishers right now.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Steve Conan Trustrum, post: 7674394, member: 1620"] Not really. "Got permission," "the IP holder doesn't care," and "the IP holder doesn't know" are three distinctly different aspects of how an IP holder can view such a product, each of which has different, very clear, legal meanings. You can't conflate them all into one possible hypothetical you want to keep floating up in the air and say they are all equally ambiguous or speculative, legally speaking. Know one of the major reasons why "free" doesn't equal "no copyright infringement?" Because even if one isn't charging for something they've made with someone else's IP, the presence of one's free product on the market can very easily constitute a dilution of that IP's value. For example, it is possible EA's stance on previous pitches for a RPG could actually boil down to them pushing to get more out of such a deal. A free product that uses their IP can reduce their ability to push that sort of deal through. Then there's also the problem of market confusion. No profit is just one of the thresholds for Fair Use, which is the aspect of copyright law "for free" falls under. Unfortunately, fair use doesn't work the same way for the trademarks the product uses without permission. IP (copyright and trademark) is a funny thing, but it most certainly does not work in terms of "it's okay so long as someone doesn't say no." In many cases, the people who own the IP aren't even aware someone is infringing on their IP because it hasn't been brought to their attention. Sure it has the right to run its awards any way it wants. Other publishers also have the right to disagree and reconsider the value they place on the awards when a product using infringing IP is placed against their own or potentially displaced their products in categories they attempted to get nominated for. Which is the opinion that's making the rounds amongst a number of publishers right now. [/QUOTE]
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