User:Wwwwolf/Copyright and ToU analysis

Some collected thoughts and observations on Copyrights and Terms of Use.

Currently pretty unorganised - please plunder these and put them in articles.

Copyrights

Firstly, my personal Public Disclaimer Video (provided below) clearly defines Sonichu, Rosechu and all as Officially Copyrighted under the Present Copyright Law, and that anyone using my characters and all Without My Consent are Criminals, and such people should be reported to the Police immediately.

Almost everywhere in the world, copyright infringement is a civil offense, not a criminal offense. In smaller words that Chris might understand, it is a dispute between two people that needs to be fixed by someone with authority and ability to make impartial judgements, and it's not a matter that the police will investigate on their own volition because it's clearly evil and stuff.

It's up to the copyright holder and copyright holder alone to bring on the infringement lawsuit - usually you can't sue on someone else's behalf. Many websites etc. fear lawsuits brought on by copyright holders, so they may act on infringing content reported by third parties. They're technically not required to do damn, though.

Oh, and in the United States, being a copyright vigilante usually sucks. Why? Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, you are allowed to send a takedown notice to the service hosting the stuff, but you have to state under penalty of perjury that you're either the copyright holder of the work in question, or acting as their agent. I'm no lawyer, so I have no idea what becoming such an agent entails, but I take it takes more than a video or a web page that is addressed to no one in particular.

Secondly, according to Circular 40 from the VA Library of Congress, "Under the present copyright law, which became effective January 1, 1978, a work is Automatically Protected by Copyright when it is created. A work is created when it is "fixed" in a copy or phonorecord for the first time. Neither registration in the Copyright Office nor publication is required for copyright protection under the present law."

Obviously, Chris conveniently ignores here that Sonic the Hedgehog was created by Sega, and Pokemon stuff was created by Nintendo (et al), and they got copyright on their characters first. Since Sonichu is based on those two previously very much copyrighted, thank you very much for asking, characters, it is a derivative work.

Derivative works are not copyrightable. Their rights, if any, belong to the original copyright holders.

US Copyright Office Circular 14 (my emphasis):

A typical example of a derivative work received for registration in the Copyright Office is one that is primarily a new work but incorporates some previously published material. This previously published material makes the work a derivative work under the copyright law. To be copyrightable, a derivative work must be different enough from the original to be regarded as a "new work" or must contain a substantial amount of new material. Making minor changes or additions of little substance to a preexisting work will not qualify the work as a new version for copyright purposes. The new material must be original and copyrightable in itself. Titles, short phrases, and format, for example, are not copyrightable.

(See? We can throw law books at ya too!)

And according to Circular 3, Copyright Notice, "Because the dividing line between a preliminary distribution and actual publication is sometimes difficult to dertmine, the copyright owner," or author which is myself, Christian Weston Chandler, "has the right to place a copyright notice on copies or phonrecords that leave his or her control to indicate that Rights Are Claimed." And I have Constantly keep my Visual Copyright Notice of "Sonichu and Rosechu are Copyrighted (c) by Christian Weston Chandler, March 17, 2000" this whole time, so My Copyright Has Been Legitimate and Sound This Whole Time. And I have sent in my Complete Copy to be Registered in June, 2008; I have been in Full Power, and I will continue to be in Full Power and Total Copyrights over Sonichu, Rosechu, Cwcville and all associated therein.

And here we see a really major big fundamental issue in Chris's reasoning. The quoted text states, basically, that it's acceptable to put copyright notices on works even when that's strictly not required by law for the work to be copyrighted. Or, to be put in small words, "you can do it if you think it helps". This needed to be clarified because previously the © mark had to be included in all works or the work wasn't considered copyrighted. Nowadays, it is just used for clarity.

But Chris's reasoning is that by putting the copyright notice in all the time, he suddenly has full rights over this work. He is actually claiming that having this copyright sign in his works all the time will strengthen his claim that he has copyright over these works. This is actually the exact opposite of what's going on: as said above, the copyright signs are not required in order to obtain a copyright.

Plainly put, repeating a lie often enough may make people believe it, but it's still a lie.

Copyrights - Terms of use

Anyone using images or likenesses of Sonichu and/or Rosechu and all associated for mockery or slander, monitary gain, or anything similar, without the consent of the original Author, Christian Weston Chandler, AKA Christopher Weston Chandler, of Ruckersville, Virginia, United States of America, shall be subject to legal lawsuit and dubbed as a criminal, punishable by applicable and associated laws.

Chris may be horrified to know that while (legitimate) copyright does put a stop to slander (a crime in itself) and monetary gain, it doesn't protect from mockeries. Under United States law, parody is specifically considered Fair Use. Remember that? "Parody"? Rings a bell? Chris's famous copyright disclaimer from early episodes of the comic, or somesuch? Good.

Submissions of Publically Acceptable Fan Art can be submitted to Christian ONLY to his Main e-mail address, <address redacted>. All works will be visually reviewed and considered for upload onto the FanArt Section of Cwcipedia. And individual "Thank You" replies, with optional notes, will likely be sent back to the FanArt Artist who sent it originally. Any and All Visually Grotesque, Shocking and Offensive works will be Immediately Deleted and NOT be uploaded, or seen ever again; NO RESUBMISSIONS ALLOWED of such pieces.

There's a small problem: Chris backpedals a bit from the "mockery" stance above. Apparently, he's unwilling to sue people if the works are merely "Visually Grotesque, Shocking and Offensive".

Hand-Written and Hand-Drawn Submissions are also accepted, ONLY addressed to: <address redacted> ALL letters addressed to any NAME other than "Christian Weston Chandler" or "Christopher Weston Chandler", will be Immediately disposed of with Paper Recyling, or be "Returned to Sender" with a frown face on it. ALL Visually Grotesque, Shocking and Offensive art works and letters will be disposed of properly as well.

Not the frown face! Seriously, though, this passage is more indicative of the severity of mental trauma the whole IBAChandler saga has caused.

Christian is NOT ACCEPTING any telephone calls to either his House or Cell Phone Numbers from Unrecognized Numbers, or "Restricted"/"Unavailable" Calls. Such calls will be ignored. If you are a true person, NOT a Bully or Troll, you may leave a message on the voicemail; he may return your call, but don't hold your breath. As for Legitimate Business People who wish to get in touch with Christian, may call his House Phone at <redacted> and leave a message with their name, business name, message and number. Those people will be verified by their voice tones, internet searches and all related inquiries to verify him/her for who he/she is. For better results, Business People, Please Snail-Mail your business directly to Mr. Christian Weston Chandler to his home address, listed in the paragraph above, including if you are replying to his resume from Snail-Mail or on Monster.

Veering slightly off topic from copyrights and terms of use. This is all highly paranoid and clear as mud!

More terms can and will be added personally under my own hand, so show respect and kindness; you will receive the same in return. Show cruelty, insults, mockery or slander; you will be accepted as if you were talking to a brick wall or shooting air into more air, or you will be cursed.

Most people would say "Terms are subject to change at any time" would have sufficed. Now we get moral lectures and vague threats of supernatural retribution.

Terms of Use

I just want to inform all persons, fans of Sonichu and Rosechu or otherwise, that Sonichu was originally Created on March 17, 2000, and I, Christian Weston Chandler, AKA Christopher Weston Chandler, have a Copyright on my faithful Electric-Hedgehog Pokemon. I am very proud to share my Sonichu with the people who appreciate my creativity in Sonichu's world.

This is not the best way to start your terms of use rant that was written as a response to Chris going apeshit over people using his material under (then-presumed) GFDL license.

I often do a "Search" of "Sonichu," and, currently, and I only want to see links to my Sonichu Site, or related sites. If I see links to websites with any person who has used his name, I will view it. If I should see the "Sonichu", "Rosechu" or "Christian", or "Christopher", "Weston Chandler" name used to describe any character, other than my original Electric-Hedgehog Pokemon, I will send you an E-Mail to inform you if you have intruded into Copyrighted territory, and request that you remove the name from your website, or forum entry, and change it to something else. If, however, you do not abide to the request, or not reply to the E-mail within 14 days, I may take legal action against you.

In other words, here Chris is claiming he has complete control over how his characters are discussed. (Not only that, but I suspect he won't be very successful enforcing the use of the names "Christian" and "Christropher"...) This completely disregards the fundamental human rights issue of freedom of speech and open discourse.

I am not a mean person, and I am not out to start any trouble, so please do not use the Sonichu name in vain. If, however, you would like to create a fan website to describe my Electric-Hedgehog Pokemon, please send me an E-Mail to <redacted> with information, and link, about your fan site. I will view your fan site, and if I like it, I, Christian Weston Chandler, will send you an approval E-Mail. And you may keep your website up on the web. If I find it offensive, I, Christian Weston Chandler, will send you an E-mail asking you to either change the content to something else, or remove the website from the web.

This terms of use section lacks all sorts of information about terms of use. What exactly are the conditions of starting a fan website? What sort of material is appropriate? What sort of material is inappropriate? Chris has no idea that other people have absolutely no clue what he finds "offensive". And, out of curiosity, what kind of turnaround time does Chris guarantee for these requests?

Also, if you would like to see Sonichu and Rosechu as a real video game, or catch them in a Pokemon title, please send your request to Nintendo of America, inc., or Nintendo Power magazine; please raise the hype on Sonichu so that I will be able to legally talk to the people of Nintendo of America, inc., and make a deal.

Almost all creative enterprises have the policy of not taking ideas from fans. This is primarily to avoid lawsuits: It's easier to say "we couldn't have possibly stolen the idea from this fan, because we have the policy of not taking ideas from the fans at all. People from fan mail room and game design department just don't talk to each other. We obviously came up with the idea on our own."

And yes, this has been brought to Chris's attention multiple times by Nintendo staff themselves.

And why is he worried about legality of his enterprise here? If he really has the copyright on his character, then he'd be a fool not to go to Nintendo himself with his totally legitimate and original idea.

Sonichu, Rosechu, and I, Christian Weston Chandler, thank you for following the Legal Guidelines expressed here, and in the Copyrights Page. I sincerely hope that you enjoy the stories of my Electric-Hedgehog Pokemon. And I also hope that you will voice your hype and interest about Sonichu, Rosechu, and my world of Cwcville, to Nintendo of America, inc., so Sonichu and Rosechu can become a video game, cartoon (or anime), and all that other Official Merchandise stuff that only I will sign off on Officially.

Thank you! And hire a lawyer to rewrite these pages. I can't say I'm particularly informed by these web pages. These words have affected my psyche and I don't think I can rest too well tonight. I'm going to bed.

He went like one that hath been stunned,
And is of sense forlorn:
A puzzled and a clueless man,
He rose the morrow morn.

(after Coleridge)