Regarding Copyright on Group Projects

[they]

Hi,

A Few years ago I was the project lead of a game modification. This new game was using an already exisiting game engine and was to be built around a story that I had written. The project went on for two years, but eventually collapsed due to internal strife among team. Recently I have discovered that the project has been restarted by an old team member. During the creation of the initial pfoject this member had been given the task of writing in game dialogue based off of my story and progression of events to take place in the game. He has now attempted to claim the entire work as his own, going so far as to place copyright notice on his web site.

I have contacted him twice about placing proper copyright notice on his site. I have told him that he can continue the project as long as he notes that it is based off of the storyline of my creation. He has refused.

Because of this I have decided to post the full story and outline of all events that were to take place in the game on my own site.

My understanding of copyright law is that his actions would be deemed to be in violation of my copyright because he is basing his work on mine. Is this true? Also, by posting the story in question on my site - which he has not done on his (he has only started a new project around it and given very vague details about it) - have I helped ensure my claim of copyright on my work?

I am in California.

 

[divgradcurl]

This is a complicated situation. Before I provide any legal analysis, let me pose this practical question -- even if the other guy is infringing your copyright, what are you going to do about it? Is your copyright registered? Does he have any assets even if you were to win a copyright infringement lawsuit? Remember, copyright infringement is federal law, which means it gets tried in federal courts -- this isn't a small claims court action you can handle yourself.

That said...

This new game was using an already exisiting game engine and was to be built around a story that I had written. The project went on for two years, but eventually collapsed due to internal strife among team. Recently I have discovered that the project has been restarted by an old team member. During the creation of the initial pfoject this member had been given the task of writing in game dialogue based off of my story and progression of events to take place in the game. He has now attempted to claim the entire work as his own, going so far as to place copyright notice on his web site.

Did you guys have anything in writing? If not, it is likely that, although you might have a copyright in the story you have written, all of you together own a copyright in the work you developed as a group. And the way group copyrights work, any single owner may do whatever he or she wants with the work (as long as it does not create "waste," but that's another story). So, just because the one guy is continuing the work, if he was one of the original guys (and a co-owner of the copyright), what he is doing is okay, and he doesn't need your (or anyone else's permission).

Now, if he was not one of the co-creators (and therefore co-copyright owners), or if you had some sort of contractual agreements to handle copyright ownership, the forget what I said above.

I have contacted him twice about placing proper copyright notice on his site. I have told him that he can continue the project as long as he notes that it is based off of the storyline of my creation. He has refused.

As I noted above, if he is a co-owner of the copyright, he can continue to use the work you all created, icnluding creating a "derivative work" (that is, a new work based on the old).

Further, there is no general right of attribution in copyright law (or anywhere under U.S. law, for that matter). It's obviously not cool, but he doesn't HAVE to give you credit for anything.

Again, all of these things, when doen by studios and companies, are worked out in advance via contract law. But without a contract, you have to fall back on copyright law, and, while it seems that what this guy is doing is not cool or professional or anything, it doesn't sound illegal.

Because of this I have decided to post the full story and outline of all events that were to take place in the game on my own site.

Okay, As the (apparently) sole owner of the copyright in the underlying story, and a co-owner of the game copyright, you can do this.

My understanding of copyright law is that his actions would be deemed to be in violation of my copyright because he is basing his work on mine. Is this true?

Ahh, the tricky part. Now, the details you have given are fairly limited, but I would guess from these facts that what he is doing is NOT copyright infringement, and here's why. Yes, you own a copyright to the original story. But you essentially granted a license to the "team" working on the collaborative work, and you cannot now revoke that license. It's like if you were to write a short story and submit it to a magazine -- unless you agree otherwise, you would own a copyright on your story, and the magazine would own a copyright on the "collaborative work" (i.e., the magazine issue). You could freely republish your story without the magazine's consent, of course, but THEY could freely republish their magazine without YOUR consent, even though YOUR work is part of the collaborative work. Does that make sense?

Now, if you had a situation where the collaborative work only had, say, half of your story, and now they are working on the "secodn half" of the project, and using the "second half" of your story, you might have an argument for infringement, but I don't think it would be a strong one.

Also, by posting the story in question on my site - which he has not done on his (he has only started a new project around it and given very vague details about it) - have I helped ensure my claim of copyright on my work?

Not really, Your work was copyrighted the day it was "fixed in a tangible format" -- posting to the web provides no extra security or proof. If you wanted added protections, yo9u could register your work with the U.S. copyright office, but the additional rememdies afforded a registered copyright would only be for infiringement that occured aftert the registration, not before, so this ongoing work would not likely be covered.

Back to my practical question above -- you could, I suppose, talk with an attorney and ask them to write a cease-and-desist letter, but from the details you provided, it is not clear that the other guy is even doing anything wrong. Maybe morally wrong, but not legally. A local attorney, who is experienced in copyright and can review ALL of the facts of the situation, may have a different view on this, but based on the facts you have provided, I don't think you have much to go on.

 

[they]

I thought that this might be the case. I assume that all of this would also apply to him, making it very hard for him to claim copyright on the material in question.

One other question. Do you think that there are any legal issues associated with my posting of the storyline and outline of events that were to take place in the project that I led?