A word of caution this FAQ is so big now, it has been split in to three pages. What I have done is created Related Topic links that will take you through out the three pages. I want to convey to you all the knowledge I have about UseNet, Mailing-list, Internet, and general computer use so you don't suffer any problems making your experence much more enjoyable instead of painfull. Please consume all the information and make it your own. If you have a question, by all means ask me. I'm willing to help in anyway that I can.
Contributers and editors to this FAQ have been John Buten, Peter, Bill DeMartini, and Jeff Jonaitis. Thanks to everyone that has been involved in contributing too this.
| 3. |
Feist Frequent Asked Questions |
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| 3-1. |
Q: Can I write FanFic?? |
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A: No, FanFic is NOT permissible in the worlds of Raymond E Feist
Long answer by REF: |
Why I Won't Let Anyone Write In
Midkemia Without Permission:
I'll skip the history of Midkemia part. Let it suffice
that a handful of us from UCSD circa 1977 can write
Midkemian stories if we want. I'm the only one who's
managed to make a living at it.
I live and die on intellectual property. Midkemia,
the places, characters, and situations in my books, all
are how I pay the rent, put food on the table, keep my
kids clothed, and send them to school.
I must protect that Intellectual property.
The simple version of that is that "if I don't give
permission to someone [except those few others who
are equally entitled to write in Midkemia with me] to
write in Midkemia (or Kelwan or the Hall of Words,
etc.) then they simply can not do it."
Why? Very complex legal reasons, but the short
answer is: because it puts my ability to make a living
out of my work at risk. It threatens my ability to pay
the rent, put food on the table, keep my kids clothed,
and send them to school.
You don't agree it's a threat? Then you'd better be
an Intellectual Property lawyer with a very
persuasive brief to that effect, else I'm not going
to listen to you.
"But it's good publicity!" some will shout. Hey, I get
to decide what's good pub, not you.
"It's a tribute to you!" Fine, then honor me by
abiding by my wishes and not threatening my
livelihood.
"I don't care what you say, I'm going to do it
anyway." Fine, then you'll get a very pointed letter
from my attorney and that won't be fun. And I'll send
copies of everything to your ISP. If I have to, I'll sue.
Anyone who would like to know more about the
i ntricacies of this can do two things:
1) visit http://www.clari.net/brad/copymyths.html for
a very nice intro to the realities of this.
2) e-mail me with specific questions.
I've "blessed" a few web pages, and have authorized
one free Mush, so I'm not a 100% "no" guy, but I
won't give free reign to anyone who goes off
half-cocked and wants to just spew out recycled
Jimmy the Hand stories, either.
So, I know some folks are anxious for more stories
and don't care who writes them, but for the most part,
I have found out people who are informed on the
intricacies of this issue come to understand.
Sorry for the length of the post and hope this sheds
some light on the question without raising the heat.
Best, R.E.F. |
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Incase you still don't get it, here is Jack Taitum, Ray's assistant back
in 2001 who posted a lot to the newsgroup. He now has moved on or
disappeared: |
OK, here's the skinny on the MBZ deal.
Marion was always a big booster of fan fiction, and
had a fanzine as well as a prozine going.
The fanzine was Darkover stuff. She was about
half-way through a book when she read a story that
Rachael Holeman had bought for the 'zine and
thought that there were overlapping elements with
the book she already had underway.
So she contacted the woman who wrote the story and
she said (as well as I can remember what Ray told
me), "We have similar themes and I really like this
one character you created, so why don't I integrate
your material into my new book? I'll give you an
acknowledgement and send a little cash your way."
Or something like that. The woman wrote back and
said, "I want co-author credit, half the royalties, and
if you publish this book without that, I will sue you."
So Marion, on advice of counsel, dropped the book
she had half-finished, and started a different novel in
its place. She lost almost a half year's work because of
a clueless wonder who claimed to be her fan.
From that point froward, Marion's point of view on
fan fiction radically changed. See, she would have won
any lawsuit. But why, at her age and in her state of
health, should she waste a couple of years to win a
case that never should have come about.
This is why Ray politely tells people to go out and
create their own universes and leave his alone.
There's another "really stupid fan" story about
Chelsey Quinn Yarborough, if you're interested.
Jack Taitum
Related Topics:
Well if I don't charge for it, its legal right?
If you don't defend your copyright, you lose it?
So what is copyrightable and how do I know something is copyrighted? |
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| 3-2. |
Q: Well if I don't charge for it, its legal right? |
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A: False. By charging a price only affects the damages
awarded in court, but that's essentially the only difference. It's still a violation if you give it away
for free and there can still be heavy damages if you hurt the ”commercial value” of the property. |
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| 3-3. |
Q: If you don't defend your copyright, you lose it? |
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A: Incorrect. Copyright is never lost in that fashion. Since the change in the United States law in 1975 (effective in 1976), Copyrighted intellectual property belongs to the owner of the copyright until 75 years after their death. There is also other rules but in REF case this will be the rule so that his estates can benefit from his creative genius. So this means since REF owns the copyright and is still alive you need to ask him before you duplicate or derive off from his works. But since REF is international (worldwide publication), other countries have different laws regarding this. In the United States the copyright laws are so twisted and confusing that you need to hire a special consultant (lawyer) who just deals with copyright, trademark laws if you're found in violation.
Now what you can lose if you don’t defend it is a trademark. A trademark is any word, name, symbol or combination used to identify and distinguish goods or services in trade for consumer’s consumption.
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| 3-4. |
Q: So what is copyrightable and how do I know something is copyrighted? |
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A: What is Copyrightable is anything that is a tangible fixed and has been reproduced, or otherwise communicated that is perceived directly or with aid of a machine. Now does this mean if it’s only a book and not a electronic one, I can provide the electronic one because there is none. No. The earlier line is not a either or, its an all inclusive. Meaning if you need a computer to view it or a projector then you can’t disturb a book version without authorization. Copyright protects what is referred to as Intellectual Property ( IP ). And IP is any product of the human mind that is protected under law.
But there are limitations. You can’t copyright names, facts, useful articles (such as a mug or a book), public domain, and most importantly ideas. But wait a minute. This means REF can’t stop me from deriving or copying his stuff. You’re jumping to conclusions. REF can copyright characters, description of places, the content of his story basically the written word not the physical book itself. There are different bundles of rights here. The bundles of right you posses are Personal property rights in which you can posses, use/enjoy, sever (sell or give away), change (write in or burning) the book. REF has the rights to reproduce, distribute, adapt or derive, and public perform his story providing he hasn’t given that away. Then after he dies, it falls to his estate to control up to 75 years. Then after that it becomes Public Domain.
Now how do I know if this book is copyrighted. Look in the front few pages of any of his stories, it states it right there. Copyright (date) by Raymond E. Feist. But this little notice is not required since the Berne Convention of 1989. The other thing on how you can tell this is copyrighted, look back to the first sentence. It’s anything that has been fixed. Yes that means ideas or thoughts are not copyrighted. But once you fix them to paper or through the use of a machine they do become copyrighted. But does this mean if I write my own none derived story, I own it. Yes, as long as you haven’t signed those rights away to someone else.
Related Topics:
What if I write my own story based off another work? Wouldn't the new work belong to me?
What if I write a parody based off another concept?
How do they find out that I could be in violation of a copyright? And what happens after that? |
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| 3-5. |
Q: What if I write my own story based off another work? Wouldn't the new work belong to me? |
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A: The Copyright law is quite explicit that the making of what are called "derivative works" (works based or derived from another copyrighted work) is the exclusive province of the owner of the original work. This is true even though the making of these new works is a highly creative process. If you write a story using settings or characters from somebody else's work, you need that author's permission.
So Yes, that means almost all "fan fiction" is in copyright violation. If you want to write a story about Jim Kirk and Mr. Spock, you need Paramount's permission, plain and simple. Now, as it turns out, many, but not all holders of popular copyrights turn a blind eye to "fan fiction" or even subtly encourage it because it helps their sale in there view of things. Make no mistake, however, that it is entirely up to them whether to do that or not.
But there is a loophole that if you base your parody (make fun of) off another work you are protected under the first amendment in a way. |
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| 3-6. |
Q: What if I write a parody based off another concept? |
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A: Here is your loophole. A parody is a literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an author or a work for comic effect or ridicule. With the parodies author intent to make ill suit humor or jaded satire in a very mocking tone of the derived work.
Parodies fall under the Fair Use Provision. To allow this thing called freedom of speech in the United States to thrive. If this weren’t the case, most comedians would be out of a job.
The fair use provision says that if you want to make fun of something like Star Trek, you don't need their permission to include Mr. Spock in sex scene with a bear while he makes corny jokes. This is not a safe loophole; you can't just take a non-parody and claim it is one on a technicality, because you misspelled something or changed something. The way "fair use" works is you get sued for copyright infringement, and you admit you did infringe, but that your infringement was under the "Fair Use" clause. A subjective judgment is then made. And it does tend to favor the owner of the copyright. If you want to make fun of the character or writer, it is sometimes safer to do a slight change, like instead of Mr. Spock. Go with Mr. Socks. Or add elements that are totally bizarre and out of context for the owner of the derived story. So just basically pick up your MAD magazines for how they do it so damn well.
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| 3-7. |
Q: How do they find out that I could be in violation of a copyright? And what happens after that? |
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A: You’re in for some serious trouble. The person that is responsible for protecting their copyright is like the same person that is responsible for their own Identity, the person who it belongs too. This means REF must police his own works or hire people to do it, the government doesn’t have the time or the resources to seek possible violators. Does this mean that quoting a few sentences from his book is a infringement, most likely no. The reason why is that there is a Fair Use clause. This allows the limited use of material without authorization. But the decision ultimately falls on a Federal Judge who uses what is referred to as the Four Factors as guidelines to determine Fair Use.
Once the Federal Judge decides that you have infringed, REF or his estate can finically ruin you. Since REF has registered his work and can sue you for damages. Registration provides REF with the right to sue, seek damages (money), and have you pay for his lawyer and court fees. So it’s a win, win situation for him.
Now it is customary and might help REF’s court case if he sends a letter of Cease & Desist before he brings legal action. This letter basically tells you that you could be infringing on copyrighted material and REF or a representative (lawyer) wants you to stop. |
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| 3-8. |
Q: Where can I find free REF books or review before I purchase? |
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A: Define what you consider free? There is a ton of places that offer you the ability to read books for free or for a small, small fee. The first thing that comes to mind is your local Library. You can check the book out for a few days and return it, and libraries will charge nothing for it. You can go to Barnes ‘N’ Nobles or Borders, find the book and sit down and read a few chapters to review before you purchase it.
Back in the past, paperback books cost $5.99. Now these throw away books cost $7.99. Other countries prices vary, but it’s the matter of working a small job. Mow peoples lawns, Shovel their driveway all for a small time fee. Within a week you should raise enough cash to buy one of these paperback books. You don’t want the alternative and get busted dealing with unauthorized ebooks.
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| 3-9. |
Q: It says that character XXXX goes here? And now it says that XXXX is now character YYYY. Is this a misspelling? |
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A: If you can understand all that jargon. It’s just a simple misprint. When the editor went through the book for correction. He just happened not to catch it or changed it because they thought REF was meaning something different. We're all human, so we can make mistakes. |
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| 3-10. |
Q: Why doesn't REF write more XXXX Stories or Why doesn’t he write more about XXXX? |
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| 3-11. |
Q: I heard REF is writing a sequel to The Kings Buccaneer? |
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A: Okay the rumor that you hear that Ray is writing a sequel to The King Buccaneer, is about as good as the prequel to Magician. They have something in common besides being a rumor. They will never exist. The Magician prequel is something Ray will never write.
As for The King Buccaneer rumor, well there was going to be a book called ‘Return of the Buccaneer’. But the story got told in clips in Shadow of a Dark Queen and Rise of Merchant Prince to create a diachronic story. The issue was Ray was changing to a new publisher, and his new publisher wanted a new book series. So in the contract confliction that might have risen, the ‘Return of the Buccaneer’ was lost at sea. |
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| 3-12. |
Q: What are REF's stories based on? Where does his inspiration come from? |
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A: As general rule for all writers, for realism you base your stories on real life. If you write a story about say war, you read all you can about war so you can make your war story as real as possible so that the reader believes your tale. You borrow from real life so the reader can connect with what’s going on. This is commonly called research.
REF's inspiration also comes from what is referred to as the Friday-Nighters. Back in his college days he was a member of paper-game group that they created rules and a background history for. REF has based his stories and is basically telling the History in this game. So we are reading a history of how things unfolded for this game.
For Instance there are Five Rift wars. The First one was known as the Riftwar between the Tsuranuanni Empire and the Kingdom of Isle. Then there was the Great Uprising evolving the Moredhel. The Second Rift war was the Serpent war when the Emerald Queen evades the Kingdom of Isle. The Third is known as the Dark war which was short, not very well known to Midkemia, and had a large impact on Kelewan. The Forth rift war is a long war but wasn’t as important but it hurts both the Kingdom of Isle and Great Kesh. Plus it changes how both countries regards the Isle of Stardock. The last and final fifth Rift war is short but brings on what is referred to as The Great Cataclysm which changes the face of Midkemia and a disasters falls upon one or all the major characters.
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| 3-13. |
Q: Which author is better, Feist or XXXX? |
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| 3-14. |
Q: I like book XXXX, which book do you think is good and why? |
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A: Personal opinions tend to travel down in to a flame war, or border on one. Your taste as to why you like a particular book is your tastes and preferences. Most people dislike RoaMP because of Rupert, but others liked the break from the traditional styles of
Hero-Fiction. I personal liked Mag and RoaDK, as I feel REF does a better job when he is not rushing to the main climax. But all these are a matter how you like to be entertained by a book.
Related Topics:
Why should I avoid posting my opinions or argue until the other person concedes? |
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| 3-15. |
Q: If Mr. Feist made a movie. I would have XXXX play as XXXX? |
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A: Okay its nice to indulge on a list of cast members
who would look, act and fill the role of such character’s discussed. This is a very large topic that pops
up quite often and really has no correct answer. But once people give Personal Opinions, others must
give their opinion. Thus creating a very heated discussion and when someone makes the comment
along the lines of “XXXX would make a better actor for that part.” Anger is introduced to the discussion
and once someone gets angry or sense someone else is angry, they will reiterate the emotion. Then it
becomes hard to let it go and a flamewar starts between the two either on the newsgroup, Mailing-list,
or e-mail.
The reason as to why Lord of the Ring Movies by Peter Jackson did so well is that it has a much
larger fantasy base or fans. He also made a major push to get funding and was taking a huge risk by
doing these movies. However it paid off for him, but someone else might not have the same luck and
Jackson might not be able to duplicate that feat. Now that LotR has been out, anything done similar will
be seen as a clone by the larger society. As a local radio personality stated that he wouldn’t watch LotR
because it’s a “geek movie”.
One more thing is Magician is a large book. What would you cut out, reword and change to make it
dramatic enough for the big screen. Your script choice might slaughter the feeling of the book itself,
as you must take in all consideration when creating a script, as this is now a script for a movie not a
book. Being now that it is a movie, you’re writing to a group of people that view the story more than
reading or hearing it. Plus most moviegoers can’t tolerate sitting more than Two and half hours. So
making the right decisions might still hurt the bottom line, which is selling the movie and possible
merchandise that will be coming out.
Related Topics:
Why should I avoid posting my opinions or argue until the other person concedes? |
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| 3-16. |
Q: Where can I find Character Pictures? |
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A: Look on the book covers or in your imagination... |
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| 3-17. |
Q: Where can I find Character art? |
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A: Well my best suggestion is to check the webring or goggle for it. Crydee.com has some REF inspired artwork as does Hall of Worlds. |
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| 3-18. |
Q: How about time-travel and Paradoxes? |
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A: Answer from R.E.F.
Because in the Feist universe, time travel doesn't permit the same person to exist in two places at once, so you can go back to before you were born, or into the future after you were dead, but if you leave on Tuesday, Jan 4 and do stuff, you must come back AFTER you left, not before.
Best, R.E.F. |
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| 3-19. |
Q: What’s the order the books go? |
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| 3-20. |
Q: Is REF writing a new book? |
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| 3-21. |
Q: Does REF post or monitor this group? |
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A: Although REF does monitor this newsgroup,
he doesn't pay much attention to it. If you want to talk to Raymond, or ask him a
question then I suggest you join the Mailing-list. He's on the mailing list and he
just might respond to questions or participate in the general discussion. Please go
to the Mailing-List FAQ page on how to join and more answers to question. |
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| 3-22. |
Q: Can I use the artwork of the books on my site or etc. ? |
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A: You will need the appropriate permissions from the owner of the cover art and be prepared to have a disclaimer on your site. Meaning you need REF’s, the Artist's, or publisher's permission to have the cover of the book on your site as either one owns the copyright. The first step is to ask REF for permission or ask him how do you get in contact with the individual who owns the copyright on the cover. Then list why your seeking permission. Be explicit and courteous, but don't get upset and do it anyways without permission if you’re denied.
Related Topics:
So what is copyrightable and how do I know something is copyrighted? |
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| 3-23. |
Q: Where do I post the replies to a message? |
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A: In alt.books.raymond-feist, refer to proper etiquette on how to post and what you can post. Please refer to your newsreader online documentation to reply to a message instead of sending a new post. If you don’t know how to use the program you’re using to read news groups. You can do a Goggle search on “How to use ‘XXXX’”. Or you can communicate with someone who knows how.
Related Topics:
Should I post on the top or bottom of a quoted response? |
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| 3-24. |
Q: I've got this great photo of XXXX. Can I post it here? |
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A: Binaries or any attachment files are big, especially once they have been encoded for Usenet transmission. As probably only a few people will be interested in the binary, the rest of the group is going to find it useless. If you really want to pass it around, ask to email you if they want to see it or post it to a website. Please keep what is referred to as binaries post (attachment) to ng that has the word binary in its name.
Related Topics:
What are the standard rules of UseNet? |
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| 3-25. |
Q: Can I post ebooks or scanned in photos of REF books? Can I type up the whole book by hand and post it to the newsgroup? |
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A: NO
All this is forbidden and has several copyright infringements. If you create an ebook by typing word for word you’re infringing on REF intellectual property and are lower the commercial value of his printed stories and lowering the value of any future published ebook by REF. If you scan in images of the printed story your infringing on both REF and the publishers copyrights. Plus by disturbing or posting what you think is a great find you can be sued for willful participation of infringement. However if you come by illegal material and your found with it but without intent to distribute. The material will be seized and you need to prove that you where unaware that the material was distributed to you without authorization. So if have to question the authentication of the source then don't get it.
Related Topics:
Where can I post Binaries?
Can I post Binary attachments to abrf or the Mailing-List?
What is the rule of posting in html? |
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| 3-26. |
Q: What are other good Authors I can read? |
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A: There are plenty of books out there to read by some really good Authors. Here is a list of Authors created by those who subscribe to alt.books.raymond-feist. This is not a list created by REF. |
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| Steven Brust |
Orson Scott Card |
| David Drake |
David Eddings |
| Kate Elliott |
David Gemmell |
| Neil Gaiman |
Terry Goodkind |
| Simon R. Green |
Ed Greenwood |
| Tara K. Harper |
Robin Hobb |
| Robert Holdstock |
Robert E. Howard |
| Guy Gavriel Kay |
Katharine Kerr |
| Katherine Kurtz |
Mercedes Lackey |
| Stephen Lawhead |
George R.R. Martin |
| Anne McCaffery |
Patricia McKillip |
| L.E.Modesitt |
Elizabeth Moon |
| Michael Moorcock |
Andre Norton |
| Jerry Pournelle |
Melanie Rawn |
| Jennifer Robeson |
Joel Rosenburg |
| R. A. Salvatore |
Fred Saberhagen |
| S.M. Stirling |
J.R. Tolkien |
| Harry Turtledove |
Jack Vance |
| David Weber |
Margaret Weis and Tracey Hickman |
| Janny Wurts |
Roger Zelazny |
| Marion Zimmer Bradley |
Mickey Zucker Riechert |
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This list is made by the subscribers of alt.books.raymond-feist and if you feel this lacks any Author please e-mail me the Author if you feel an Author should be added. |
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| 3-27. |
Q: I have a problem with the game Betrayal at Krondor? |
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A: Okay. I'm not a Troubleshooter or Technical Support. But I can give you some help. What little I can provide you. Some help requires professional help <wink>. If you know what I mean... :)
There is a Troubleshooting document included with the Betrayal download file. It should exist after you extract or installed the game. Look for the file called: bakts.wri
It should tell you important information you may need to know. But if you don't want to read it, here is an insert for the memory management error problem:
SECTION 8: RUNNING BETRAYAL AT KRONDOR UNDER WINDOWS '95
The Win 95 shortcut provided with this version of Krondor assumes that the
program is install to the C: drive in the \Sierra\Krondor directory. If you
choose to install Krondor to a different hard drive or directory you can
easily update the Krondor shortcut to include the changes. Begin by right
clicking on the Krondor shortcut icon and selecting "Properties." Next,
select the "Program" tab and change the "Cmd line" and "Working" settings to
the correct drive and directory.
Krondor is a DOS based program and requires 590k of Convential memory and
1024k of Expanded (EMS) memory. By default, some Win95 systems are not
configured for EMS memory and may not run Krondor initially. To enable EMS
memory on your system, select the "Run" option from the Win 95 "Start" menu,
type SYSEDIT, and then select "OK". Once the System Configuration Editor is
open, select the CONFIG.SYS window and look for the line that reads
DEVICE=C:\winDOWS\emm386.exe NOEMS. If the line exists you can simply change
the line to read DEVICE=C:\winDOWS\emm386.exe RAM. If the line does not
exist, type in DEVICE=C:\winDOWS\emm386.exe RAM below the line that reads
device=c:\winDOWS\himem.sys. If, after double clicking the Krondor shortcut,
Window 95 warns that there is not enough Conventional memory refer to the
section on freeing Conventional memory.
-Special thanks to Peter for bringing me this information.
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| 3-28. |
Q: How do you pronounce Feist? |
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| 3-29. |
Q: How much does REF make per book or year? |
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A: He has had this question asked a lot of him. I understand where it’s coming from. How do you support your life style off from book sales? I would suggest you couldn’t. If you like writing. Do it as a pass time, or when you retire for something to do. Raymond’s answer seems short.
"It's none of your business." -REF |
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