RPG (Community) Legal System Defence (Fund)

[Bardsandsages]

My concern with "special" defense funds is that they often duplicate work already being done, and thus create a bunch of small pools of resources with limited value, as opposed to a larger pool of resources with a great deal of value.  Independent writers would be better served to support existing organizations, such as the Freedom to Read Foundation (A sublet of the American Library Association), the ACLU, or a larger writing community (Poets and Writers, International Women's Writing Guild, etc).  

And they would also be far better served by taking the initiative to actually bother to learn about the law.  Most community colleges have courses in general business law, and their are plenty of traditional courses as well as online resources to learn about copyright and first ammendment laws.  I have been amazed as I wallowed into the whole self-publishing thing how few writers actually bother to try and understand the most basic ideas of copyright law.  It scares me how few understand such terms as fair-use or intellectual property.

Also understand the laws in your state and community regarding first ammendment issues.  What I have discovered in my discussions with fellows who have been "victims" of such attacks is that more often than not the situation could have been avoided by getting the facts about the local laws.  One guy got in a lot of trouble for distributing "pornographic and violent images" in a public place.  What he did was create a flyer featuring scantily clad fantasy female figures fighting demons, then left them at the local library.  Not exactly what any of us would see as pornography, but because the flyers were left in a public place out of context, they were perceived as such.  Had he left them on the shelf of a local bookstore's fantasy section, nobody would have said boo.  But because they were in public places where they were not expected to be, it got him in trouble.  To put it in perspective, if you are in the White Wolf forum discussing whether or not vampires can engage in sex, nobody thinks twice about it.  Go into the Nickolodeon website and start that conversation with a bunch of grade school kids and now you have a problem.

I'm not big on hoping some organization will protect me.  I believe in being self-reliant and self-responsible (which is why I decided to self publish to begin with).  And part of that for me means understanding the laws that effect what I do, and lending my support to groups already involved in first ammendment issues.  

Another issue is organizational.  Who would run it?  Who would decide how the funds are used?  Where would the funds come from?  It's been mentioned that the Forge should take the initiative...but why?  Why should the people who run this site take on that workload?  And make no mistake, it would be an enormous workload.  I've worked for small non-profits before, and just the bookkeeping for an organization with less than 30 members can be an accounting nightmare.

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

Thanks for your input. However, I'm not sure you're understanding the position I'm taking. Since Clinton and I run the Forge, that position has some weight. I'll outline it so your comments can be put in perspective.

1. The Forge isn't an organization, company, or even an imprint. It has no legal identity, standing, funds, or anything else like those things. It can't do anything of this legal or protective nature.

Therefore, arguing why it shouldn't do a particular thing that's outside of its venue is a little like beating the crap out of a nondescript spot on the ground, when the person you're talking to is standing a few feet away, wondering what the hell you're doing.

2. The Forge is, however, a nexus of information exchange and mutualism. It exists only for that purpose. Therefore, when someone cites useful resources for dealing with a problem, and puts them in a usable form for others to learn about, he or she is doing "what the Forge does."

In this case, we're talking about anything that permits people involved in role-playing to avoid and deal with crimes - mainly through understanding and having quick access to already-existing institutions, just as you describe. We're not talking about a legal fund or founding an organization of consultants.

You apparently have done some good background work on this issue for publishing concerns. Instead of speaking, primarily, about how great it is that you've done this, go ahead and post a series of links. Share the benefit of your research and your knowledge. Make yourself useful.

That alone will make this thread worth any of the time we've spent on it this far, and will stand as a particularly stunning example of how a new poster at the Forge can have a huge impact. I'll look forward to it.

Best,
Ron

[Bardsandsages]

Ask, and ye shall receive...

http://www.ftrf.org Freedom To Read Foundation

http://www.aclu.org/FreeSpeech/FreeSpeechMain.cfm ACLU, specifically their Free Speech section

http://www.lp.org/ Website to the Libertarian Party, where you can find info on free speech issues and how to contact libertarian officials in various areas.  

As to your request of "making myself useful", short of going through and listing the government websites for ever state and county is the U.S., I'm not sure what else you want me to do.  The information is available, and it is normally as simple as a google search for your county government of state government, then making a phone call to the county clerk.  However, if someone has a specific set of circumstances they want help with, then they can ask and I'd be happy to help locate resources.

[Ron Edwards]

Hey, that's way useful! On reflection, the phrase "make yourself useful" can be read in a very negative way, so I don't think I'll be using it as an internet communication again. Tones of voice, timing, expressions, etc, are absent.

Anyway, yes, thank you. That's exactly the sort of thing we need to have available here.

Best,
Ron

[Bardsandsages]

I am always happy to help.  If you think it would be helpful, I can put together a set of links related to various legal things (like copyright, fair-use, free speech,etc) and post them under a separate thread to make it easy to find.

[T'oma]

Please Do!   I am having a _very_ difficult time (personally) navigating the bureaucracy regarding copyright and trademark issues (ie/eg "How Do I Do It?"). Its a bit like standing in line at the DMV!
 I know its easy when you know how, but the learning curve is a bit steep for us nascent Self Publisher artistic types!
Thanks!