Is this copyright infringement?

[yoba333]

Hmm, I guess I will have to get permission from the actor... should be fun.

[roquefort]

"Falls directly under fair use and there's no chance of a lawsuit etc."

 

I think you need to swot up on 'fair use'. It tends to be more complicated & restrictive than is popularly believed.

[yoba333]

Ugh, this is getting complicated... I need the voice however to make the mod funny.... Decisions.

[urbex]

"Falls directly under fair use and there's no chance of a lawsuit etc."

 

I think you need to swot up on 'fair use'. It tends to be more complicated & restrictive than is popularly believed.

Last I checked, unless you're marketing it, sampling a voice for a mod is legal.

[Thandal]

Hmm, I guess I will have to get permission from the actor... should be fun.

Well, technically, you have to get the permission of the copyright holder. Actors RARELY hold the copyright to a recorded performance in which they appear. For example: Ms.Claudia Black does not hold the copyright to any of her work in either Dragon Age, or Mass Effect 2. BioWare (EA) does. And even her "fair use" of that work is limited to, for example, snippets she might want to include in a professional audition voice reel.

[Thandal]

"Falls directly under fair use and there's no chance of a lawsuit etc."

 

I think you need to swot up on 'fair use'. It tends to be more complicated & restrictive than is popularly believed.

Last I checked, unless you're marketing it, sampling a voice for a mod is legal.

So, I gotta ask.... When was this that you checked, and what sources were they?

[Eiries]

Thandal is correct: any audio clips from a TV show, movie, live performance, you name it, is intellectual property of the company that originally recorded and/or produced it, and using it in a distributed work without their permission, profit or non, is a copyright violation. Read this for more info.

[urbex]

The thing is you guys are completely blowing it out of proportion. Do you realize how often music artist's instrumentals are completely covered and reused by other artists? They're always redistributed for free to prevent such lawsuits. The same applies just in a far smaller way. Sure, Viacom potentially could sue for it, but that would simply never happen. I'm sure there's thousands of times cartman's IP has been reused in flash games, parodies, hell theres even Nike SBs based on him. All a fallout mod would do is promote the show.

 

Now stop thinking so hard.

[BlackBaron2]

Still, actually reusing somebody else's work without asking gets you into trouble when it applies to mods, and of course content from other games (usually various MMORPGs, when we look at what this community tends to rip content from). It would get you into trouble with the site admins, most likely, if you directly put someone else's content in the game and upload it to Nexus, knowing that it's not yours and that you don't have/can't get permission. So if you can't get permission for these files, you need to make your own or ask someone else to do voice work.

[roquefort]

"They're always redistributed for free to prevent such lawsuits."

 

Again with the misunderstandings. There's no distinction between `commercial' or `free' distribution in copyright law, none at all. Also 'fair use' is a defence if it comes to a lawsuit, not legal immunity, to be absolutely precise.

 

Get the full skinny on this from the proper source (at least for the USA) -- the US Copyright Office:

 

http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html

 

"The distinction between fair use and infringement may be unclear and not easily defined. There is no specific number of words, lines, or notes that may safely be taken without permission. Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining permission."

 

and,

 

"When it is impracticable to obtain permission, use of copyrighted material should be avoided unless the doctrine of fair use would clearly apply to the situation. The Copyright Office can neither determine if a certain use may be considered fair nor advise on possible copyright violations. If there is any doubt, it is advisable to consult an attorney."

 

Generally, big media corporations won't bother chasing piddling transgressions, such as sampling bits of dialogue for mods, but they could, and I don't blame Nexus for blocking such practise.