I'm writing a monthly Pathfinder rules and advice column, "Finding the Path" for EN World. Column's just getting off the ground so I don't have a lot of activity in my inbox yet. Is it acceptable for me to take questions from the Rules Questions and Advice forums and answer them in my column?
Of course. Nothing we write on the boards is copyrighted. :)
I can't see it getting you in trouble.
PFSRD often had an entire FAQ with direct quotes from this board.
You should probably put a link to your column in your profile to get more traffic.
Senior Software Developer
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It depends on your participation here, I think. If you're just mining our messageboards for content and not actually participating in our community then I'd be more likely to see it as a dick move. Especially if you are providing answers to specific questions but not actually providing them in the context of where they're being asked and the askers quite reasonably would expect to find their answers. If you're writing stuff that's more like, "I've noticed some confusion on this issue in more than one thread" and go on to summarize something and write it up, that's different from "Dear PostMonster General, here's my answer to the question you posted on running a party of rogues."
Gary,
This example is probably the best way for you to gauge how Viktyr is approaching the advice column.
It depends on your participation here, I think. If you're just mining our messageboards for content and not actually participating in our community then I'd be more likely to see it as a dick move.
393 posts so far, and I have no intention of stopping. I'm a member of this community, and my column is just a larger and more formal venue for the same kind of advice that I've been offering the community since I signed up. And in any case, I'm hoping that email volume will pick up shortly and I'll have an abundance of questions of my own to answer.
Especially if you are providing answers to specific questions but not actually providing them in the context of where they're being asked and the askers quite reasonably would expect to find their answers. If you're writing stuff that's more like, "I've noticed some confusion on this issue in more than one thread" and go on to summarize something and write it up, that's different from "Dear PostMonster General, here's my answer to the question you posted on running a party of rogues."
Format's still a little shaky. I've been quoting questions as-is, but I haven't been identifying them by where I got them (so far, all from EN World) or by who asked them. There will be adjustments in the future, including changing how I handle who asked the question and where I got it, if they appear to be necessary.
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Chief Technical Officer
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Of course. Nothing we write on the boards is copyrighted. :)
According to the US Copyright Office, "Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form." Though not everyone posting on the boards is subject to US law, Paizo nevertheless assumes that the original posters do retain any copyrights on anything they post. Our messageboard policy states "Users posting messages to the site automatically grant Paizo Publishing the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, nonexclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, sublicense, copy and distribute such messages throughout the world in any media." In short, you own it, but we can use it.
However, it's not our place to pass that right on to anyone else... so if you want to quote directly from the boards, you'll need the permission of the post's author—or you'll just need to paraphrase.
However, it's not our place to pass that right on to anyone else... so if you want to quote directly from the boards, you'll need the permission of the post's author—or you'll just need to paraphrase.
BTW, which is what we typically do for the official FAQ, mainly because a poster's exact statement often isn't the best way to express a FAQ question, especially if the topic discussion leading to the FAQ ends up covering several related ideas.
Our messageboard policy states "Users posting messages to the site automatically grant Paizo Publishing the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, nonexclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, sublicense, copy and distribute such messages throughout the world in any media." In short, you own it, but we can use it.
However, it's not our place to pass that right on to anyone else... so if you want to quote directly from the boards, you'll need the permission of the post's author—or you'll just need to paraphrase.
Isn't that what "sublicense" means? By the terms of your messageboard policy, which forum posters must agree to, you have the express right to give other people permission to use material posted on your forums under whatever terms you see fit. I'm not arguing with you, of course; if your terms for my usage of material on your messageboards include asking the original authors for permission, I will happily comply and thank you for the privilege.
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Senior Software Developer
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I've been quoting questions as-is, but I haven't been identifying them by where I got them (so far, all from EN World) or by who asked them. There will be adjustments in the future, including changing how I handle who asked the question and where I got it, if they appear to be necessary.
My concern, which was probably poorly worded, was more along the line that if you're answering someone's question, but not putting the answer where the person that asked it is likely to see. I'd probably feel better if, when you answer a question on another site that was originally asked here, you also posted the answer here.
I wouldn't mind if you also included a link to the other site in your reply since you're trying to build an audience. I just don't want the utility of our advice or rules questions forums to be diminished by dispersing knowledge they aggregate and generate elsewhere.
Isn't that what "sublicense" means?Oh, hey! That *is* in there.
I'm not sure it's something I'd be comfortable creating a blanket sublicense for, though...
I suspect that verbage is mostly there for protection against parallel design.
Say I posted stats for the Bandersnatch in a forum post in 2009. Then when Bestiary 3 comes along with Bandersnatch stats in it, I can't go "Oh, you stole my design!" just because we both made monsters of the same name based on the same source material.
It's not likely to come up, but its the sort of things the lawyers put in just in case.
I'm not sure it's something I'd be comfortable creating a blanket sublicense for, though...
That's your prerogative. I will abide by any restrictions you see fit to impose.
My concern, which was probably poorly worded, was more along the line that if you're answering someone's question, but not putting the answer where the person that asked it is likely to see. I'd probably feel better if, when you answer a question on another site that was originally asked here, you also posted the answer here.
Yes, that is certainly not a problem. Any question I find interesting enough to answer on my column I will have already found interesting enough to have answered here-- as I said in my first reply to you, I'm a member of this community and I'm inclined to give advice, so that's not going to stop just because I'm also doing it professionally.
I wouldn't mind if you also included a link to the other site in your reply since you're trying to build an audience. I just don't want the utility of our advice or rules questions forums to be diminished by dispersing knowledge they aggregate and generate elsewhere.
I wanted to avoid doing that because I didn't want to create the perception that I was attempting to advertise on your forums. If you think that will help preserve the value of your services and enhance the value of mine, and you're comfortable with that, then I can happily post links to my column in threads I've taken questions from.
I'm a Paizo fan. As much as this is as a professional opportunity for me, I'm also trying to promote your products and provide a service to the community you've built; it doesn't make sense for me to operate in a fashion that detracts from your efforts.