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Sploggle1
2014-11-23, 03:10 PM
I am about to work on a series which combines the old west with fantasy not to give away to many clues. The main character runs into an elven village through a portal, which he accidentally found on running for his life. Now, where I run into issues here is I don't want to describe the elves as the elves with silver hair, or the high elves as the blonde elves. Now the character will think that because he doesn't know what an elf is. When the elves say something along the lines of "We are of the gray." I don't want to break any copyright laws. I know sylvan elves are copyrighted through Tolken, but with 3.5e being open source would it be breaking copyright laws to call the elves (Gray elves, wood elves, High elves, or wild elves.)

Lord Torath
2014-11-23, 08:38 PM
I am about to work on a series which combines the old west with fantasy not to give away to many clues. The main character runs into an elven village through a portal, which he accidentally found on running for his life. Now, where I run into issues here is I don't want to describe the elves as the elves with silver hair, or the high elves as the blonde elves. Now the character will think that because he doesn't know what an elf is. When the elves say something along the lines of "We are of the gray." I don't want to break any copyright laws. I know sylvan elves are copyrighted through Tolken, but with 3.5e being open source would it be breaking copyright laws to call the elves (Gray elves, wood elves, High elves, or wild elves.)On this board we're forbidden from giving legal advice other than "consult a lawyer," which is what I suggest you do.

Xuc Xac
2014-11-23, 11:07 PM
I would suggest looking up what copyright actually is before worrying about it. "Sylvan elves" are not "copyrighted through Tolkien". The text of "The Lord of the Rings" and his other books are copyrighted because copyright is about text, not individual words or names.

Sploggle1
2014-11-24, 06:33 AM
I know that it is copyrighted through Lord of the rights which was written by no other than (Tolken) Believe me I know what copyright is. The thing that was confusing me was the OGL stamp that 3.5 slapped on the front page lol

Jay R
2014-11-24, 09:25 AM
We're gamers. We can give you the clever pseudo-answer that will slip by a DM in a distracted moment when he doesn't want to bother looking up the rule.

Consult a lawyer. She'll give you the answer that will stand up in court.

veti
2014-11-24, 02:26 PM
Talk to a lawyer. You should be able to find one who'll give you at least a 15-to-30-minute chat for free. If they offer to go away and spend time researching international copyright laws, say no thanks - all copyright law is highly internationalised already, so anything they tell you in the first 15 minutes is unlikely to change just because someone in Australia reads your work.

If you ever get into talks with a commercial publisher it'll become more of an issue, but in that case they'll pay for the lawyer.

LibraryOgre
2014-11-25, 11:38 AM
The Mod Wonder: As mentioned, we cannot give legal advice, including copyright. If you want to develop the concept in another thread, feel free, but do not discuss the real-world legal implications.