CompuServe Thread

Paul: Thanks for your note. >>On your BBS, and in general, are >>there copyright laws to consider? You bet! >>If I download a mesh from your BBS or >>the Asoft Forum, can I do as I wish with it? If the object is an original work by someone who allows public use of the object, that would be the case. In a perfect world. However… see below – >>What if the mesh is a faithful reproduction >>of an object created for TV or film? I am >>considering using some Star Wars meshes >>I downloaded here, for use in an animation I'd like to sell. There's some grey area with respect to objects in films. Designs of practical things are, in general, non-copyrightable. You can freely sell a mesh of a Viper without paying money to Dodge. Fonts also fall into this category, though the font-houses are lobbying congress hard to get rights to own the alphabet, as they've designed it. However, if you take something from a film, that is creatively unique and not practically used by people (like a spaceship), it's pretty much copyrighted by design. The gray area is in use. You can play around with the mesh, make stuff for family and friends, even put it on your demo (since it's not being sold) and probably be ok. But all of Lucasfilm's 50 flesh-ripping lawyers will descend upon you if you start trying to profit from Star Wars without their approval. I'm not a lawyer, so I'm not the final word on this. But I wouldn't do that if I were you ("use in an animation I'd like to sell"). Jim