Copyright Protection For Game World?

[SAAj]

I have a game world I'd like to submit, but I'm not sure about what kind of copyright covers such a thing. My game world is not simply a campaign setting comprised of history, characters, and places, but an entire cosmology with its own natural laws. If I copyright it as a word document, the way a poem or novel would be, is my idea protected, or simply my writing describing the idea? Is this the sort of thing an Open Game License applies to?

I apologize if this isn't the right forum for these sorts of questions; it seemed like the most fitting place to ask, since this is where I would be posting my ideas.

[nexusphere]

SAAj wrote:

I have a game world I'd like to submit, but I'm not sure about what kind of copyright covers such a thing. My game world is not simply a campaign setting comprised of history, characters, and places, but an entire cosmology with its own natural laws. If I copyright it as a word document, the way a poem or novel would be, is my idea protected, or simply my writing describing the idea? Is this the sort of thing an Open Game License applies to?

I apologize if this isn't the right forum for these sorts of questions; it seemed like the most fitting place to ask, since this is where I would be posting my ideas.

No one is going to steal your idea. Or conversely, 100 other people have already had your idea. It's the execution that counts.

Think about it - publishers *want* ideas from writers, if they stole a good idea, it would shut them down for the next idea.

You're not submitting this unsolicited are you? If you're just sending people a manuscript then shame on you for wasting trees (or electrons). Unsolicited manuscripts will end up in the round file (or the slush pile, which is pretty much the same thing.)

If it's solicited, then no worries, eh?

[SAAj]

nexusphere wrote:

SAAj wrote:

I have a game world I'd like to submit, but I'm not sure about what kind of copyright covers such a thing. My game world is not simply a campaign setting comprised of history, characters, and places, but an entire cosmology with its own natural laws. If I copyright it as a word document, the way a poem or novel would be, is my idea protected, or simply my writing describing the idea? Is this the sort of thing an Open Game License applies to?

I apologize if this isn't the right forum for these sorts of questions; it seemed like the most fitting place to ask, since this is where I would be posting my ideas.

No one is going to steal your idea. Or conversely, 100 other people have already had your idea. It's the execution that counts.

Think about it - publishers *want* ideas from writers, if they stole a good idea, it would shut them down for the next idea.

You're not submitting this unsolicited are you? If you're just sending people a manuscript then shame on you for wasting trees (or electrons). Unsolicited manuscripts will end up in the round file (or the slush pile, which is pretty much the same thing.)

If it's solicited, then no worries, eh?

No, this is just for the purposes of submitting it here as homebrew. I write song lyrics as well, and there are certain dos and don'ts in the music industry about submitting material to public sources (such as forums) without copyrights. I was just making sure there weren't similar issues with this sort of material.