Aneoth wrote:OH Contraire my friend.Those Copyright Laws which you so despise, protect my entire profession (And many others as well) from unscrupulous persons using our work without paying for it. They also protect the public from those same folks.In my profession, Title Company's and Real Estate professionals had a nasty habit of using and reusing the professional product of land surveyors anytime they wanted to. They would retain copies of old land surveys in their files and reuse them at will. They used them for sales of the same properties over the course of many years and even decades.What matters this you ask? The general public, (Buyer) is most likely unaware of any changes to that property since that old survey was done 30 years ago. The title company does not care, so long as that buyer signs the waiver forms (Which protect ONLY the title company, not the buyer, or seller).The title companies were telling the buyers that no new survey was needed, they had the old one. "Here, just sign this waiver and we will save you hundreds of dollars in survey fees." Of course they fail to mention (Or didnt know) that the current owner had built a new barn out back and that it protrudes onto the neighbor's yard by 8 feet. (NO survey was done for that either, they cost too much)Oh well, the buyer can deal with that later on……… he won't be able to sue the title company though, since he signed that waiver…. Now the buyer can pay his attorney thousands and possibly pay a demolitions company to demolish that barn. Then pay his neighbor for the lost use of the land. But HEY! The title company saved him money at the closing table!Those waivers are still legal in Texas, however, re-using an old survey is NOT. Copyright Laws protect not only the author, but the public as well in some cases. Copyright Laws: Two Thumbs WAY WAY UP
Copyright laws are there to protect the wealthy, and make the rich richer. The logic behind them makes no sense....half the time copyright LAWYERS (those whose job is to study the law) can't even agree on what they mean.
They are the biggest boondoggle since the income tax. Besides that the laws vary from country to country...what is legal to do in the UK, say, and in the US, are totally different. I think most of us can agree on a set, logical dates for copyrights to be extended to (say, 50 years after the death of the creator). Instead, we get ever-changing rules that are extended continually when a choice property comes up (such as the Disney estate, or the Burroughs estate, or the Tolkien estate), and a plethora of copyright rules, regulations and requirements that most professionals have a difficult time sorting through.
If you truly don't think the government has NOTHING better to do than waste our tax money, I have to disagree...that's what they do BEST
Quote: Copyright laws are there to protect the wealthy, and make the rich richer. The logic behind them makes no sense....half the time copyright LAWYERS (those whose job is to study the law) can't even agree on what they mean. Copyright laws are intended to provide incentives for artistic expression, just like patents are to encourage innovation. If you didn't have copyright laws, someone could spend a year writing a book and another could simply make copies of it and produce it himself with no effort. Copyrights are fundamental to the notion of private property rights. Now I would agree with you that the wealthy benefit from such laws, but its nothing special about them. The rich benefit from all laws. They have the resources to figure out and take advantage of all the complexities that the average person cannot. I mean the tax code is like 40,000 pages long. Copyright laws are equally complex.
PM-Knight wrote:Altering from the "Copyright" tangent, I noticed people were using the link for downloads as this: http://enworld.rpgnow.com/As opposed to just the RPGNow site: http://rpgnow.com/, so I am just curious as to why. Is the EnWorld site a better portal?In addition, I have not purchased any PDF's, YET, but I would like to know people's opinions of their quality. I have read several reviews from the RPGNow site and they all vary, so I have been reticent to make any purchases. Some of the FREE downloads have been acceptable though. The only reasons that I would like to get some PDF's is:1) Allows me to print & use what I need, without putting any stress on my collectible copy, plus saves me from having to wash my hands and put my white gloves on 2) It would be much easier to copy & paste, if these PDF's are OCR copies, text from them and incorporate what I want into my own designs.Thanks,
g026r wrote:I think it's a good thing.I (shame of shames!) have never had a chance to even read the OCE, as even a fine copy tends to go for more than I can spare (once the outrageous eBay shipping is factored in), and this finally gets me an affordable and legal way to do so.Oh, and:Sounds like someone is still worried about the Tolkien estate.
Beyondthebreach wrote:It's off topic, but interesting Aneoth. However, I must say, that this does sound great for the buyer. All the buyer has to do is not be an idiot and ask to look at the survey. If everything looks the same (i.e. no barn was built on the neighbor's property) then they do save hundreds of dollars.
Mythmere wrote:The availability of inexpensive pdfs might have some effect on the cheapest and rattiest old copies out there, but the collector copies and the pdfs are two different markets driven by an entirely different supply demand curve.Prices on the originals seem very high to me, and might be in a balloon right now anyway. In the longer term, I'd expect those prices to rise if the availability of the pdf actually gets more people playing OD&D. This would bring more people into the collector market as buyers.Since I don't think that (ie, new players) is going to happen in any significant way, I don't think the prices for the collector-quality originals is going to be affected in the slightest bit either way other than by the same market forces operating right now.
bclarkie wrote:I don't think that a free download kills the OCE, that is probably a bit extreme, but I am quite sure it will affect the value somewhat.
Rakeesh sah Tarna wrote:not downward much if incomplete set with damaged and taped box is too tempting to resell at c-note bin ** expired/removed eBay auction **
Rakeesh sah Tarna wrote:- You might want to read the fact that that set also has a G,D & H in there that will likely go for $20 to $25 at least as well.
bombadil wrote:By the way, speaking of lovely old dice from OCEs and earlier, John Huckerby, if you're reading this, I haven't forgotten. Your dice are on the way!