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From: meta@harlequin.co.uk (the ideal copy)
Subject: Re: Interactive Fiction Licence Agreement - A Draft
Message-ID: <meta-2811951934220001@dymanic2.cam.harlequin.co.uk>
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Date: Tue, 28 Nov 1995 19:34:22 GMT
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In article <499rju$kpg@dub-news-svc-4.compuserve.com>, Martin Braun
<100106.2673@compuserve.com> wrote:
>    A contract, legally defined as an agreement between author and user, is
>    invalid until properly noticed and assented by the player. Thus, our
>    texts makes the player aware of the licence in the first place.
>    Fearful souls may add a line like "By playing or distributing <GAME>
>    you indicate your acceptance of the licence.", but IMO the aesthetical
>    loss outweighs any legal gaining.

Shrinkwrap contracts have repeatedly been found to have no legal weight in
the UK.  I therefore won't bother commenting on the contract. :-)

However, in the UK you should include a notice like the following:

   <Your name> asserts the right to be indentified as the author of this
   work, in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

This gives you the so-called 'moral right of paternity' -- i.e. people who
quote bits of your game have to identify you as the author. 


mathew
-- 
the ideal copy is the same, the ideal copy has your name
when you can't it makes you can, when you aren't it makes you am

http://www.domino.org/~meta/
