[MUD-Dev] Genuinely brief intro

[Jeff Kesselman]

At 09:07 AM 6/11/97 PST8PDT, Dr. Cat wrote:
>This kind of attitude is why movie studios (and these days, most computer 
>game companies) absolutely will not look at unsolicited scripts, and will 
>generally return the mail unopened if they realize that's what is in it.  
>If someone suggests an idea you'd already thought of, they're not likely 
>to believe that and will assume you "stole" it from them.  This sometimes 
>leads to lawsuits, which are the last thing they want to have to deal with.

More then just leads to lawsuits.. leads to winning lawsuits.  Remember
though its is NOT "ideas" they are afraid of.  Ideas are public domain by
definition.  Its that your IMPLEMENTATION (your script, you game) closely
matches in some way an IMPLEMENTATION they already have under way.

Typically all that's required though is that you sign a release and send it
with your script or game saying that you rcognize that they have inetrnal
development projects and that what you submit might well be simialr to
somethignj they already have in development and you release them from all
liability therefrom.

Intellectual property is really something that sghould be taught in grade
school-- it is BADLY misunderstood by the common public in America, usually
to their own detriment.

JK