[Freeciv-Dev] Re: Freeciv Worms tileset report.

["Arturo Espinosa-Aldama" <arturoea@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> From: Jules Bean <jules@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: Freeciv -Dev <freeciv-dev@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: [Freeciv-Dev] Re: Freeciv Worms tileset report.
> Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 12:57:33 +0100
>
> On Thu, Aug 21, 2003 at 06:49:51PM +0100, Martin McMahon wrote:
>
> > having to use another word instead of worms is taking the copyright
> > thing too far imho . I remember I film once that had someone
> > copyright the number 1 and no- one could use the number one without
> > paying money to do so , this is exactly that :)
>
> This list is clearly not the place for a detailed discussion on this
> topic, but I've seen this misapprehension twice:
>
> You cannot copyright a word.  Nor is anyone suggesting that team 17
> have tried to do so.  However a word can be a *Trademark*. Trademarks
> do *not* have to be formally registered.  A trademark is a trademark
> if you sell or market a product or service which has a distinctive
> name. Registering just helps certain legal technicalities. The freeciv
> project could probably successfully argue that freeciv was its
> trademark, if it chose to. (But that would be mostly useless,
> since most of this law is about revenue protection of some kind, and
> freeciv doesn't generate revenue).
>
> Trademarks are valid within fields of endeavour.  Worms is a computer game,
> freeciv is a computer game; therefore it is (a) polite and (b)
> required that we respect their trademarks.  It would be irrelevant if
> we were making a car... but we're not.
>
> Therefore, for goodwill and a pragmatic desire to avoid litigation, I
> strongly recommend we steer clear of trademarks.
OK, these three paragraphs now got me really convinced. I'll change the name 
on the next push I put on the project. Yes, you can't copyright a common 
word, but that doesn't mean you're not stepping into trademark infringement.
Greetings,
Arturo

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