Hi, all, the Averoigne-obsessed author/gamer is back. :)

As work on the Averoigne Gazeteer continues I was wondering if Smith's Averoigne stories were in the public domain?

Technically they are, but it is considered customary in this community to send a request to the estate - and, don't fiddle with them, not that any sane person would -

Don't fiddle with them? Not sure what that means, but OK.

How should I go about finding contact info? I'm not sure I'm even infinging on any potential copyright as I've just re-used some of Smith's excellent prose in some descriptions. That probably sounds like copyright the way I've worded it but if you read it it may make more sense. Then there is Fair Use, and I consider my work scholarly, as it took a lot of research to compile the information.

However, I don't want to step on any toes and would prefer to play nice.

"Don't fiddle with them" means quite simply - no changes - believe me, it's been done

By my understanding of copyright law (IANAL), a Gazetteer of Averoigne would qualify as a Derivative Work whether you explicitly copied text or not. Fair use would not be an option. If you want to publish it, "playing nice" means asking the Estate's permission before doing so.

What is the correct email address for queries directed to the Estate?

The Smith Estate is represented by JABberwocky Literary Agency: [awfulagent.com]. All inquiries regarding game licensing should be directed to them. I would also suggest that you research the copyrights of the original appearances before contacting them. Be warned that they also represent Arkham House. Arkham House had some very negative experiences with gamers a while back, and that has not left them with any warm, tingly feelings toward new proposals. I would suggest that you make any proposal as specific as possible without waxing prolix.

Good luck.
Scott

You're correct, Paul, this is a derivative work. As such I was interested to find it can be itself be copyrighted, provided there is sufficient additional material provided (which there is). It's been a while since I read copyright law; I used to know it better.

Scott, I'm a bit confused. If the works aren't copyrighted, I don't see that I have to contact anybody. If I contact these people and they hold no copyrights, I'm not sure what they could say to dissuade me. Perhaps rights may be another issue, but I'm not selling it, it's a free download.

Regarding gamers, I only game periodically but I know that the Cthulhu role playing games have been popular for a long time and I'm unaware of any friction between Chaosium (the publishers IIRC) and Arkham/other parties with an interest.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 25 Sep 10 | 01:17PM by Madog Barfog.