Legal Information for Publishers

[Bardsandsages]

As I promised, here is a collection of very useful websites for publishers who are trying to navigate the legalities of publishing.  DISCLAIMER:  these sites are not a substitute for legal counsel.  They are only a guide.  I am not a lawyer and I am not offering legal counseling.

http://www.copyright.gov/
The end-all, be-all site for copyright information.  This in the official government site for all things copyright.  The FAQs should be considered required reading before even putting pen to paper.

http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html
http://chillingeffects.org/fanfic/faq.cgi#QID15
Excellent FAQs regarding copyright law, fair use, etc.  (you’ll find the link to one on the other, but I’ve posted them separately as one deals exclusively with Fan Fiction)

http://www.whatiscopyright.org/
Another simple FAQ’s

http://www.findlaw.com/
A general legal site with HUNDREDS of links to various legal issues, well designed for ease of use.

http://www.publaw.com/
General website on publishing law.

Find your state’s official website
http://www.state. (initials of your state).us
for Example, to find New Hampshire type http://www.state.nh.us/
You can find information on your state’s laws by searching the government site.  (Note:  sometimes you might get redirected to a different page (as with Florida), but you will still end up on the page.

Find your county’s official website
http://www.co. (county name).(state initials).us/
for example: to find Cumberland County, NJ, http://www.co.cumberland.nj.us/

If this doesn’t work, perform a websearch “(county name) government”

[Ben Lehman]

Very useful, thanks!

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

To link up the current effort with Forge archives, here are some useful older threads.
Copyrights
Copyright and/or trademark infringement horror stories? (more useful than the title would indicate)
Should I bother registering my RPG for copyright?
Copyright question

All of them contain important external links, and a great deal of the discussions clear up common hassles for small-press RPG publishers.

Best,
Ron

[ffilz]

Hmm, you might want to add the United States Patent and Trademark Office Home Page for trademark research.

A little out there, but handy. Of course the copyright site has a link to the USPTO.

Frank

[Thunder_God]

I believe this thread is an ideal candidate for Sticky-status. It answered many of the questions I was about to ask :)

[drnuncheon]

I believe this thread is an ideal candidate for Sticky-status.

Given what seems to be going on with Memento Mori, I have to agree.