Those derned in-game movies...

[themousemaster]

I don't think I've seen this question before, so here I go...

I know that it would be illegal to use the WZ movies in WZ2.X, due to the codec not being released.

In fact, I'll go so far as to say I know that those movies cannot be put into the game unless we, ourselves, write them brand new.

My question is this:

Can you take the movies, and simply place them on this website, so that the people who want to see the what the movies would be can come here to watch them?

Given how often people record their games of Warcraft, Starcraft, WoW, etc., and post those videos on YouTube, and those videos not being in violation of anything, would there be anything stopping this site from just basically using a screen-recording feature to do the same thing for the benefit of WZ players who never had the original?

[Terminator]

I recommend to download original game. Its better option.
.IMHO. send me PM massage if you need links

[Kamaze]

I know that it would be illegal to use the WZ movies in WZ2.X, due to the codec not being released.

From our FAQ:

Can I play the cut-scenes/Full Motion Videos from the CDs?

No.

Neither the videos themselves nor the source code for the RPL player were released with Warzone under the GPL. So we can neither distribute the videos nor play the files from the CD.


I've ripped the music from the CDs. Do you want to include it?

No, we do not want to include it as this would be copyright infringement. And additionally it would disrespect those people who liberated many parts of the game. After all they were not forced to release the game, it was their decision to do so and everybody should be grateful that they released so much of it.

Also, there would be more consequences to fear than only the legal one

[Chojun]

Can you take the movies, and simply place them on this website, so that the people who want to see the what the movies would be can come here to watch them?

No-one will prevent you from doing it.  If the 2.x.x version supports a particular codec, then I imagine that you would be able to view the videos you recorded, if you encoded them using that particular codec.

However, I doubt (100%) this project would host, or even support, these videos.

If you had a webhost you could host your videos on your own website.

[Rman Virgil]

I recommend to download original game. Its better option.
.IMHO. send me PM massage if you need links

* That's been an option for over 5 years without any legal repurcussions to date....

* We've forced SCi's / Eidos hand with the music for the past 6 month's by putting the tracks up at YouTube and sending their Legal Dept the link... they've had no problem with it... still up. We'll do the same with the FMV's.  Support for running the FMVs was in the source and we have not removed it so you can run 'em if you own 'em with our binary. All the evidence over the last 5 years points to this issue being a "paper tiger"... Plus when I told Alex NOT to bit torrent the source but instead drop it in one of our community servers (we set up 4 and it was pure luck that Radiosity's was the one it ended up on... I deliberately chose this route instead of having Alex put on my own server) I told him to leave-out the Music and FMV data files to conserve space and bandwidth. That's the FULL story on this matter for what it's worth to the *nixer free services and distro sites. And yes, I understand that what matters here is a particular perception of the truth rather than the actual facts of the matter in historical context.

- RV

[Chojun]

Plus, bandwidth at that time was much more scarce then than it is now.

In fact, the webhost running P-2 at the time only had 50MB space, if I remember correctly.

As I recall, finding a place to host the source .rar wasn't just a mad dash, but more like a panicked scramble.

I recommend to download original game. Its better option.
.IMHO. send me PM massage if you need links

Of course, this is the people's perogative..

The thing that ought to be understood is that although the Berne Convention provides automatic copyright protection, that is only half the battle.  The other half is posessing the ability (and desire) to protect and enforce your copyright.

I'm going to take a whack at this dead horse again by pointing at the fact that RV raised:  In all due dilligence we (at 2200.com) have raised the copyright issue with SCi and there is ABSOLUTELY NO INTEREST on their part to uphold or otherwise enforce it.  So little, in fact, that they have refused to respond to our direct contact with them.

So, given the apparent abandonment of their I.P., this relegates the issue to pure politics within the Warzone communities.  Nothing more, nothing less.

Let me assure you all that the "we removed support because we don't want anyone to violate copyright" dogma is offensive to a lot of people.

[DevUrandom]

VICTORY

Kind regards,
The Warzone 2100: Resurrection Project