RE: Are scenarios copyrighted?
In the case of MS Word, as long as you do not alter the PROGRAM (that belongs to MS) that created your manuscript you are not in violation of the law. It is expected that anything created with a Word Processor (words that is) would be freely distributed, that is just one of the tasks Word Processors are made for and as long as the PROGRAM its self is not altered or sold as your own. If that were actually the case all newpapers, websites or the thousands of legal documents created by lawyers would be in violation of the law, because everything just about and that is typed and posted is created with someones WP. In the case of the CS as long as you do not alter the programs or try to sell the programs that created the scenario, and the scenario consists of the Map program, the OB program and the Scenario program and all of which are owned by MGs, you are not in violation of the law. When you alter or change a Scenario, OB, or Map, you are not altering the program that created the three. In fact the manual and MGs allows you to make these changes with the Editors. What you can not do (in addition to altering the program) is create a scenario using the editors, then copy it to disk and sell it as your own because you are actually selling the programs that made the Scenario, the OB and the Map and which also contains images which are also protected by copyright, or distribute it outside of the intended community. And by distributing it outside the community I mean sending any part of this game to a person or persons who did not accept the licence agreement and or own the game or purchase the game outright. I believe that if you inserted an image which came with MS Word into your manuscript, you would have to get permission from MS to use it. In regards to graphs, spread sheets etc, it is expected that these items created by the person that purchased the licence agreement could distribute them freely, because that is what they were made for. But if you were to insert an image of a spread sheet, graph that came with the program and which you did not create, you would have to get permission from MS to use it. The license agreements that came with all of your software contains most of the DOs and DO NOTs and if in doubt contact the software owner.
Joe
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