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Re: Conlang legal protection (WAS: Conlang music)

From:Chris Wright <dhasenan@...>
Date:Thursday, January 8, 2009, 18:02
2009/1/8 Sai Emrys <saizai@...>:
> As I said earlier, this is not the same as the OED. In the case of > dictionaries, maps, phone books, etc., courts have ruled that - even > if the company publishing the information did all the research to > discover it - only the particular form of the compendium is copyright, > not the information itself. But this is only true because of the > presumption that that information (i.e. actual geography, phone > numbers, vocabulary used, etc) is floating out there preëxistingly.
A very palpable hit!
> However, a conlang vocabulary is necessarily the *creation* of its > author, rather than a mere *discovery*. As such, it would be protected > by copyright. In order to use even a portion of it without permission, > you'd have to claim fair use exclusion. > > The tests for 'fair use' are (quoting the USPTO): > * the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is > of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
We're assuming that it's for profit.
> * the nature of the copyrighted work;
Which probably does not apply here.
> * amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the > copyrighted work as a whole; and
This bears more discussion.
> * the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the > copyrighted work.
Which is probably none.
> In this case you're discussing point 3. > > I think that most judges would agree that something that is nearly > 100% sourced from copyrighted work (i.e. other than neologisms) would > count as protected.
No, you have it backwards. If you wrote a 500 page novel, and I rearranged the chapters and sold that as my own work, that would run afoul of copyright. If I sent someone a paragraph out of that novel, it would likely be fair use. Likewise, if I took your lexicon, reordered it, and sold it, then I'm producing a new work that constitutes 100% of your work. That would run afoul of copyright. If I sent someone one word from your lexicon, that would be a tiny portion of your work. That would likely be fair use.

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Paul Kershaw <ptkershaw@...>
<deinx nxtxr> <deinx.nxtxr@...>