General Discussion

I just wanted to point this out for wall those who think all fantasy has copied off of J.R.R.Tolkien

in the late 19th century-early 20th century a writer named

E.R.Eddison wrote a trilogy of fantasy books.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_R%C3%BCcker_Eddison

Ideas should not be owned.

The thought process behind I thought of it first, no body can do anything with it unless they pay me, is whats holding us back as a civilization.

No seriously, think about it.

If everything was Open Source,

think about the multitude of innovative things we would have.

Alright anyways

i am going to stop my rant before it starts.

Hope that cleared some things up for people.

If everything was open source why would the talented people invent/create stuff if others could take their ideas and make money off them.   

Copyright laws and patents are good things.   They protect the creators.

Borrowing ideas and being inspired by works of art is one thing.   Stealing them is another.

Personally, i dont give a rats ass if anything is original or not. All i care for is if it's good or not. If it is, THEN i can somewhat care if it's original. If it is, fine, if it isnt... depends how good/bad the "thing" is.

The all "ZOMG FRIST" is way, way, way, way, over rated.

If you're the first to create something, that's great. People will ALWAYS remember you. But, if you take something that someone else created, tweak it a bit, and make it better, people will appreciate you. If you make it worse, people will laugh at you.

There's only so many (practical) ideas that are out there.

Originally posted by Porfat

If everything was open source why would the talented people invent/create stuff if others could take their ideas and make money off them.   

Copyright laws and patents are good things.   They protect the creators.

Borrowing ideas and being inspired by works of art is one thing.   Stealing them is another.

i totally agree about their rights needing to be protected,

but through totally different thought processes 2 people can come up with the same idea.

One may patent it under one name, and never do anything with it.

Than another person may come and think of the same thing, (through their own thought process) and actually create it, then end up getting sued by the little guy whose idea was "Too Similar".

I believe in copyrights, but only to an extent.

Originally posted by Bruticus_XI

If you're the first to create something, that's great. People will ALWAYS remember you. But, if you take something that someone else created, tweak it a bit, and make it better, people will appreciate you. If you make it worse, people will laugh at you.

There's only so many (practical) ideas that are out there.

Um no.  There are lots of things we associate with people who were not first to create them (and in some cases may have simply developed an idea they saw somewhere else).

I can think of two famous examples immediately... but I will let you do some research.

(Not to mention the fact that many of these examples start arguements when a horde of people show up to say "No!  So and So did that first!")

Originally posted by Gyrus

Originally posted by Bruticus_XI

If you're the first to create something, that's great. People will ALWAYS remember you. But, if you take something that someone else created, tweak it a bit, and make it better, people will appreciate you. If you make it worse, people will laugh at you.

There's only so many (practical) ideas that are out there.

Um no.  There are lots of things we associate with people who were not first to create them (and in some cases may have simply developed an idea they saw somewhere else).

I can think of two famous examples immediately... but I will let you do some research.

(Not to mention the fact that many of these examples start arguements when a horde of people show up to say "No!  So and So did that first!")

Sorry. If you are the first to create something useful/interesting and you make it popular, people will always remember you.

Heck, I could invent the next best thing since sliced bread. But if I didn't try to sell it, if I only told a small handful of people about it, then who will remember me? Only a small handful of people, plus maybe their friends. Not enough.

I typed it a bit too quickly, and you bring up a good point.

Originally posted by Porfat

If everything was open source why would the talented people invent/create stuff if others could take their ideas and make money off them.   

Copyright laws and patents are good things.   They protect the creators.

Borrowing ideas and being inspired by works of art is one thing.   Stealing them is another.

Yes I'm sure all those dead people are glad their works were copywritten by a publisher so the publishing house can still make money 500 years after they're dead. Copywrite laws are a joke they don't protect creators.

Originally posted by Bruticus_XI

Sorry. If you are the first to create something useful/interesting and you make it popular, people will always remember you.

Heck, I could invent the next best thing since sliced bread. But if I didn't try to sell it, if I only told a small handful of people about it, then who will remember me? Only a small handful of people, plus maybe their friends. Not enough.

...

And that is really the whole point of Copyright and IP laws.

If I 'invent' a good idea (but I don't market it properly) then yes I have made a mistake.  But that does not mean that someone else should have the right to slap their name on it (having done no work of their own) - mass distribute it (possibly putting me out of business in the process) - and make all the money.

You can 'borrow' from other peoples work.  But you have to put enough of your own 'original' content in to prove that you actually did your own work.  That's fair enough I think.