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<blockquote data-quote="pawsplay" data-source="post: 4174232" data-attributes="member: 15538"><p>It goes back to the concept of "You can't copyright an idea." You can copyright a book, having taken the time to arrange a bunch of words into their final published form and calling it an intellectual work. But you can't sue someone for writing a similar novel, unless you can demonstrate their novel is actually derived from the text of yours. That's what's called a derivative work. I can't make a movie called Space Wars about some schelp named Bo Starkiller fighting the galactic empire with his friends Duchess Florence and Max Lone using his psychic powers with the help of a grizzled old Woodoo Knight, unless I am going to claim I am fairly parodying Star Wars. But I can make Eragon, which uses similar themes, because George Lucas can't claim to own the concept of farmboys destroying tyrannical rulers. Indeed, Star Wars itself owes a lot to Doc Smith's Lensman, Kurosawa's film The Hidden Fortress, and of course Flash Gordon. </p><p></p><p>So going back to D&D, they can copyright this text: </p><p></p><p><em>Strength measures your character’s muscle and physical power. This ability is especially important for fighters, barbarians, paladins, rangers, and monks because it helps them prevail in combat. Strength also limits the amount of equipment your character can carry. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p></p><p>since for all practical purposes, they are the first to put those words together in a final form to express some idea. </p><p></p><p>Compare to:</p><p></p><p><em>Strength represents the character's raw physical power: how much damage he does in HTH Combat; how much he can lift, carry, throw, and so forth.</em></p><p></p><p>an equally copyrightable piece of text from Hero System Fifth Edition Revised.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pawsplay, post: 4174232, member: 15538"] It goes back to the concept of "You can't copyright an idea." You can copyright a book, having taken the time to arrange a bunch of words into their final published form and calling it an intellectual work. But you can't sue someone for writing a similar novel, unless you can demonstrate their novel is actually derived from the text of yours. That's what's called a derivative work. I can't make a movie called Space Wars about some schelp named Bo Starkiller fighting the galactic empire with his friends Duchess Florence and Max Lone using his psychic powers with the help of a grizzled old Woodoo Knight, unless I am going to claim I am fairly parodying Star Wars. But I can make Eragon, which uses similar themes, because George Lucas can't claim to own the concept of farmboys destroying tyrannical rulers. Indeed, Star Wars itself owes a lot to Doc Smith's Lensman, Kurosawa's film The Hidden Fortress, and of course Flash Gordon. So going back to D&D, they can copyright this text: [i]Strength measures your character’s muscle and physical power. This ability is especially important for fighters, barbarians, paladins, rangers, and monks because it helps them prevail in combat. Strength also limits the amount of equipment your character can carry. [/i] since for all practical purposes, they are the first to put those words together in a final form to express some idea. Compare to: [i]Strength represents the character's raw physical power: how much damage he does in HTH Combat; how much he can lift, carry, throw, and so forth.[/i] an equally copyrightable piece of text from Hero System Fifth Edition Revised. [/QUOTE]
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