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

[Paul Zastoupil <paul@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, Aug 22, 2003 at 03:46:54PM -0500, Arturo Espinosa-Aldama wrote:
> >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. 

To "Grubs"?  /me likes this better than snails.

> 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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-- 
Paul Zastoupil