[MC_Kejml]

So, currently, I'm writing the last book of my four-part saga and have no idea what could be my next big project. I thought about Freespace plot, but there comes one thing:

If I put the ship names, plot twists like capella or lucifer into it, is it a copyright violation? Seeing as the Warcraft, Warhammer, and Diablo books did the same, I do not see a problem there, but, well, there may be.

What are your opinions? :/

[Mongoose]

I'd assume that all of those books you mentioned were officially licensed by the developers/producers of the games in question.  Unless you were able to get similar permissions from Volition/Interplay, anything you wrote using the storyline concepts from the games would be a copyright violation.  Now, if you're talking about a not-for-profit novelization posted on a fan site, I don't think there's any chance you'd run into any difficulties without permission, but if you're thinking about actually setting text to paper or charging for this, that just won't fly.

[Aardwolf]

Wasn't the entire purpose of the "FreeSpace Reference Bible" to facilitate such fan-fics?

[Getter Robo G]

You do realize my fanfic has about 20 copyright violations already and I'm not even 1/4 way through?

 


Now, if only I can find a way to work in Bosch Beer without ruining suspension of disbelief.
 

[MC_Kejml]

Anyway, a new idea.

I figured out I'll be able to make another background story ( renaming remaking Vasudans, Shivans and Ancients, and a lot of other things), however, the plot events ( like the Lucifer or Sath, Earth Alliance thingies ) still inspire me to write them into the book.

And the point is:

When does it stop being a plagiarized plot?   

I mean - No one can really sue me for stealing a story if I'm just inspired with a few events. There is NO PROOF whatsoever ( except for this thread, but hey ) that I was inspired with it and "copied" it. Is such way possible?

I already have a name for the series... It'd be "The Walls of Hell  "

Post your opinions on legality issues.

EDIT: I do not want to STEAL it - I want to point this out. I want to write about it because I like it a lot and I can make a great character plot into it.

[Solatar]

I think if you write something that's set (albeit unofficially) in the Freespace universe it's fine. If it was a larger franchise (Star Wars, etc.) you'd probably have to go ahead and get some approval. However with a small franchise you'll probably be alright.

Now if you write a story that just happens to have a Lucifer superdestroyer owned by a race called the Shivans that almost destroys Earth after destroying the Vasudan you might have some copyright problems. Piggybacking off another universe isn't plagiarism, but taking bits and pieces of it and cutting and pasting them into another story is.

I'd love to read a book set in the Freespace universe. It's worth noting that the notion of two entities fighting one another and then having to band together to save themselves isn't really that original. If you really want to use the general plot in another book I doubt it would constitute copyright infringement.

[Vasudan Commander]

Volition is dead, and i seriously doubt anyone is going to hunt you down for a law suit if you try and take some stuff from FS2 and make it your own.

However, the HLP hard-liners might shun you for it...

[General Battuta]

No.

Volition is alive and well.

They're about to release Saint's Row 2 and (in the longer term) Red Faction 3.

With regards to the original topic, you're never going to be able to get a piece of military SF with a plot like this published, because it's about the most banal thing imaginable.

[Getter Robo G]

MC are you on fanfiction.net?

Anyway you haven't mentioned one way or teh other if you are trying to do soemthing "commercial".

If you're liek me you can write anything you want and there's JACK anyone can do about it, because it for FREE and I am not harming any franchise. In the decades of fanfictio before us I have never heard of a STORY getting a C&D letter... 

And trust me if any story neeeded to eb banned it was that snuff/torture Pink Power ranger fic. Just 2-3 chapters of that was more than I could stand, that guy is SICK!!! 

But since you keep asking about "the line" here is it:

In a court of law if the plaintiff show a more than a 30% similarity to their work, they can win a judgment against you for THEFT OF IP. So if you are even thinking of something commercial I'm asking you right now to STOP and work on an original concept.

If your intentions are the opposite then my apologies for jumping the gun...

Now "independant parallel development is a proven fact (ie the telephone was simultaneously invented near the same time on the other end of the Earth and one guy was faster to patent it so we remember HIS name (bell) and forget the other guy...

But in this case you already KNOW about FS2 already and talk of meshing elements of it into your works...

[MC_Kejml]

I have found out a s..t proof way to make a commercial book based partially on a FS2 franchise. For reasons, I will not post it here, however anyone who wants to know it can msg me and I'll tell you. 

[MC_Kejml]

Last week, I've been thinking about the story round and round. I figured the names of the races and was thinking about this thing..

Is the whole "subspace system travelling enabled only by nodes" an original idea by Voliton, or was it used somewhere else? Just curious.

[General Battuta]

It's used very frequently in science fiction.