Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 12 History of Time
"Okay, enough small talk, let's get straight to the point."

After inviting Ethan and Evelyn to sit down, Barbara Babcock glanced at her watch. The time on it made her smile and say, "It's 8:05 now. I have a class at 9 o'clock, so you have 50 minutes to understand the problem."

Ethan nodded slightly at the clear and concise words.

Glancing at Evelin, and seeing the girl signaling him to speak boldly, Ethan said seriously, “Teacher Barbara, we came here today mainly to consult you about the copyright issues of electronic games. Does this emerging industry enjoy copyright protection? If so, how should we use the law to protect ourselves?”

That's right, Ethan came here today for this.

Ethan seemed to feel that his question was a little unprofessional, or even a little idiotic, so he added, "Teacher Barbara, please forgive my ignorance, because my greatest understanding of the law is that the law has a lag."

"It's ok."

Lawyer Barbara snorted lightly, put her elbows on the table, and gestured: "Ethan, I understand what you mean. You don't have to be so reserved. In fact, Evelyn has already told me about Mirowa and Atari..."

At this point, attorney Barbara thought for a moment and then said, "It should be two years ago? When Nolan Bushnell's plagiarism incident was just exposed? Yes, she came to consult at that time."

"What?"

Ethan was a little surprised and turned to look at Evelin.

The girl leaning on the sofa looked calm and said, "I thought you would ask for legal aid."

She spread her hands and said, "If Mi Luohua really sues you, we will have to fight back against this rogue behavior in an even more rogue way, and those rubbish lawyers on the market don't have the ability to do that."

This fact really surprised Ethan.

He never expected that Evelin, who had always disliked Ethan for the past three years, had already helped him to get someone?
"Thank you." Ethan was somewhat touched.

But this thank you...

He was speaking for the original Ethan Jones.

Because now it seems that the guy who died is even more unlucky!
"Hey! Evelyn! Who are you calling a hooligan?"

Barbara overheard the conversation between Ethan and Evelyn.

When she was called a hooligan, her face immediately turned stern.

Evelin was not afraid, she stuck out her tongue, came over, took her arm, and said coquettishly, “Oh, Teacher Barbara, I’m praising you for being so great!”

“Humph!” Barbara glared at Evelin unhappily, then she couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst out laughing, “Okay, okay, stop shaking. Let’s not waste time.”

Amidst a flurry of banter, the atmosphere at the scene became very casual.

Barbara, who had a kind face, smiled and answered Ethan's question: "Ethan, your question is actually very simple. Electronic games are protected by law."

"However, I have to explain this matter in particular."

"The copyright protection law currently used in our country was enacted in 1909. Since there were no electronic games at that time, when copyrights were summarized, it was impossible for electronic games to be included in the copyright registration category."

"Of course, when the law was being drafted, people had already thought of similar issues, so when the law was being written, there were fallback items. For example, our 1909 Copyright Protection Act states that the objects protected by the copyright law include novels, music, dramas, movies and other published or unpublished works."

"So, the general understanding in our industry is that video games are classified as other works. In other words, if someone plagiarizes the content of video games, the 1909 Copyright Protection Act also applies."

"Is that so?"

Attorney Barbara spoke very clearly, and Ethan understood it very well.

But precisely because he understood it, he became even more confused.

He frowned and said, "Teacher Barbara, since the content of video games is also protected by copyright protection law, then how did Atari dare to copy Mirowa's game?"

That’s right, this is the key reason why Ethan wants to find a lawyer!

Because in his memory, America's copyright protection laws are very, very strict!

Otherwise, there wouldn’t be such a hellish joke about drawing a mouse on a deserted island and then being saved!
However, after he came to this era, the copyright lawsuit between Milova and Atari made him lack confidence.

Because, in the memory of the original owner of the body, the plagiarism of Atari's founder Nolan Bushnell occurred in 1972, and Milowa learned about it as early as 1973, but it was not until last year, that is, in 1974, that they formally sued!
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that there is something wrong with this matter!

After all, no company can sit idly by and watch its competitors plagiarize its work!

Especially when competitors are making huge profits from plagiarized works!
Ethan's question made attorney Barbara raise her eyebrows. She took a sip of her coffee and said with a smile, "Ethan, please don't be confused. When I heard your story, I was also very confused. Then I looked up some information and found that Atari's plagiarism of Mirowa was all caused by the American Copyright Office."

"???"

This answer interested Evelyn.

"Teacher Barbara, you are talking about those staff members..."

“No, No, No…”

Before Evelin could finish her words, Barbara interrupted, “Evelyn, it’s not what you think.”

"As I just said, our current copyright protection law was enacted in 1909. At that time, there was no category of electronic games. However, it also stipulated something very interesting, that is, when all works want to register copyrights with the Copyright Office, they need to fill out the corresponding application form according to the type of work."

"We can now define video games as other types, but at that time, when Milova applied, the people in charge of reviewing felt that video games might belong to music, or might belong to images, or more likely to belong to movies. They felt that these things should be registered separately."

"But Milova felt that their game was a whole and could not be registered separately. If they were registered separately and infringed, it would be difficult to protect their rights, so the registration was at a standstill."

"In the end, because the debate could not produce any results, MIRO only registered a patent for the Odyssey console, but did not register the copyright for the game content."

"???"

"What?"

Ethan was shocked!

This answer left him speechless! Because it sounded...

This is so ridiculous!

His incredulous expression made Barbara say with certainty: "It's outrageous, isn't it?"

"There's nothing I can do. This is reality, because only in reality will something like this happen that doesn't require logic."

At the same time, she spread her hands and said, "However, I haven't finished talking about this matter yet. The following content is actually more funny. Do you know that there is another key reason why Mi Luohua did not register the copyright for the game at that time? That is, the Copyright Bureau has a service called expedited service."

“You may not have heard of this thing, but I know it very well because I have used it.”

"According to the Copyright Protection Act of 1909, a work is protected by law regardless of whether it is registered for copyright, but if you want to enforce your rights, you must register it with the Copyright Office."

"This may sound like a paradox, because I haven't registered the copyright, so I can't determine when the copyright protection will take effect. If I can't determine when the copyright protection will take effect, I can't protect my rights."

“But with expedited service, everything becomes easy.”

"Once an unregistered work is infringed, the victim can apply for expedited service from the Copyright Office. The Copyright Office will review and issue a copyright registration certificate within a certain period of time. On the back of the registration certificate, there will be a note indicating when the copyright protection of the work will take effect."

"For example, if I apply today, but my work was created ten years ago, the Copyright Office will set the date as 1965. It is precisely because of this way of compensation that when Milova and the Copyright Office had a disagreement, Milova did not care even if the two sides did not reach an agreement. Their indifference also gave Atari an opportunity."

At this point, Lawyer Barbara laughed.

There was a gleam of playfulness in her curved eyes.

"I have said all this, you should be able to understand what I mean, right?"

"Since Milohua has not registered the copyright, why doesn't Nolan Bushnell dare to copy it?"

She raised her voice and said, "Because only if they succeed in copying and make a lot of money, will Milova apply for expedited service to sue them! And at this stage, Atari has actually succeeded!"

"Milohua must first prove to the Copyright Office when their game was made, and then the Copyright Office can determine the duration of the rights. During this awkward period of evidence collection, they have no way to protect their rights!"

"Also, one thing you have to note is that Pong wasn't Nolan Bushnell's first arcade machine! He made other games before Pong!"

"It just didn't work. The original copyright owner didn't even know about it, so he didn't care about it."

Ok!

It turned out that it was Milova who relied on the Copyright Bureau's ability to keep the history books that allowed Atari to win everything!

Ethan felt a little emotional.

Although he thought what Lawyer Barbara said was a little funny, but...

Well, this is indeed a traditional American art.

After all, in this country, there have been strange incidents of sending refugees from one place to another.

When Ethan, who lives in the 21st century, has seen countless fun things...

Milohua’s fun can’t really be considered fun, it’s just a big joke at best.

"Okay, Teacher Barbara, thank you very much for your answer."

Ethan suppressed his laughter and said seriously.

But to be honest, he was much more relaxed at this moment.

Because he figured out the real reason for the problem that the original owner of the body was struggling with, and he also knew that in 1975, in this barbaric era, electronic games were also protected by law.

Then in this case...

Can't we just register the copyright of "Snake" and sell it?
And once he sells it, won’t he have money?

Once you have money...

Beach! Beauty! Bikini Bottom!
Hey!
Thinking of this, Ethan couldn't wait to ask:
"So, Ms. Barbara, if I go and register the copyright now, can I fill in the electronic game?"

"I won't be rejected by the Copyright Office like Mi Luohua, right?"

"of course not!"

Lawyer Barbara smiled and said, "In fact, after Milova formally sued Atari last year, the Copyright Office has already relaxed the registration in this area. You can completely register your content as copyright in the name of video games."

This answer made Ethan very satisfied.

However, just as he was about to say thank you and follow the registration process.

Attorney Barbara added, "However, I don't recommend that you register now."

"???"

Ethan was a little confused by this sentence.

Evelin was also a little surprised, “Why? Teacher Barbara?”

The two people's confusion made Barbara laugh, "The reason is very simple..."

"My dears! You are very lucky. The fifty-six-year restriction will soon be overturned by those capitalists!"

Note: ① The joke about the Copyright Office mentioned in the article is true. Expedited service is also called special treatment. It can only be applied for when there is a risk of copyright infringement, customs matters, or when the contract or release period of the certificate must be expedited. After the application is accepted, the copyright registration certificate will generally be reviewed and issued within 5 working days. This service has really harmed many people, because in many cases it is impossible to confirm the specific copyright time. There are more jokes about copyright protection than this one. If you are interested, you can learn about Richard Prince, a well-known American appropriation artist. He erased the text from other people's works and re-photographed them with a camera, which was considered original, and was recognized by the Copyright Office. The Copyright Office said that his re-creation met the requirement of "some originality" in copyright registration, which is very outrageous. What I think is even more outrageous is Marlboro, because it was a commercial advertisement shot by Marlboro itself, and he took a photo of it directly with a camera and it became original.

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(End of this chapter)