LARP and Intellectual Property
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NOTE: The author of this article is not a lawyer or accountant. This article is intended as basic information and should not be considered legal or financial information. Please consult a legal or financial advisor for personalized information regarding LARP.
The common person understands personal property but can easily get confused when it comes to intellectual property. There are a number of great articles and videos on the subject (I watched this one to work on this article https://youtu.be/EUo4G1lw-w8?si=s5XcNRYOnYEd5g5V).
Because intellectual property is more difficult to understand, it is easy for people to be mislead on how intellectual property works when it comes to LARP. Due to this, I figured I would go over a number issues that are important consider when attending, staffing, or being employed by a LARP.
Intellectual Property Generalized
Intellectual property is something written, designed, or created that could be used to generate a profit. These are broken into 4 basic parts.
Copyright - This a protection for an author of an original work such as a story, book, art piece, etc. Common law copyright covers all works once they are created (no other person has the right to copy it or distribute it). Registered copyright goes through the government to give the copyright additional protections.
Trademark - These are names, logos, symbols, and other items that are used to direct people to a particular good or service. These may be common law trademarks or registered trademarks, similar to copyright.
Trade Secret - These are secret items that are important to how a person or business handles their goods or services. This can include recipes, processes, and systems. When a business franchises its product to others, these are usually part of what is shared.
Patent - This is a design for how something appears or how something works. The owner of a patent is the only business or person who may create or sell the item.
Typical LARP Intellectual Property
A LARP may own and use a number of intellectual property pieces.
A LARP can produce copyright materials by making their own art, roleplaying guides, books, maps, and props.
They can produce their own trademarks such as logos, names, trade dress (normalized tags, item cards, coins, and props.) and symbols.
They can also create trade secrets such as internal rules for item distribution, treasure distribution, how to structure events, monster cards, etc.
Finally, if the LARP comes up with new technology for their business, they may hold patents.
Intellectual Property of LARP Employees
LARPs may have paid employees who create intellectual property for the business. It is highly suggested that all employees have a contract or employment paperwork that directly states how the ownership of intellectual property will be handled. Some businesses allow the author to maintain ownership of their created intellectual property but in exchange, the company receives a license to use that property for a certain amount of time or indefinitely.
An important distinction must be made at this time. An employee must be paid by following all laws and regulations, including minimum wages, hour tracking, and taxes. A person that receives points, game currency, extra lives, treasure, or any other sort of in game benefit for helping the game is a volunteer, NOT an employee.
Intellectual Property for LARP Volunteers
LARPs often function off of volunteers helping to create content regarding individual events such as story and organization. This is a murky and dangerous situation unless clearly defined prior to work being completed.
All intellectual property created by a volunteer is owned by the volunteer themselves unless official paperwork is completed transferring these rights to the LARP. This paperwork should be completed prior to the work being created, though a contract transferring these rights can be completed after the fact.
It is important for volunteers to review any and all paperwork signed prior to agreement to volunteer to ensure these rights are understood.
Intellectual Property for LARP Members
Similar to volunteers, LARP members own any intellectual property that they create while interacting with a LARP, unless specific paperwork or contracts are signed.
Intellectual Property in regards to Non-Profit or Not For Profit LARP Organizations
Many LARP groups are Non/Not for Profit organizations. This is mainly a tax filing status, but also includes other restrictions. During my research, the following quote seemed to stick out to me.
“The only way that a nonprofit owns the copyright in a work created by an individual is if: (a) the individual is/was an employee of the nonprofit who created the work within and during the scope of his or her employment by the nonprofit, (b) the work created qualifies as a “work made for hire” under the narrow definition within the copyright statute and you have an agreement signed by the person who created the work stating that it is a work made for hire, or (c) you have a written agreement signed by the person who created the work stating that he/she has assigned (transferred ownership of) the copyright to your nonprofit.” - https://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/charities--non-profits-/399494/ten-key-copyright-issues-and-pitfalls-every-nonprofit-should-know#:~:text=The%20only%20way%20that%20a,hire%22%20under%20the%20fairly%20narrow
LARPs Trying To Deceive?
Some LARP groups will be unclear on how intellectual property works at their game. There are some that say that all characters made in their system, including backstory, is their property. Unless there is paperwork or a contract saying so, this is incorrect. The LARP, in an effort to make sure you have fun, may have an inferred license to use this intellectual property to run a cohesive story for the player.
For plot writers and runners, this becomes more difficult. A writer or runner maintains their intellectual property as stated above, but If the plot writers and runners are taught how to write and run their events using a LARPs trade secrets, then an inferred license to use this intellectual property most likely exists. Also, if the writer/runner uses items of copyright such as specific area names, symbology, and previously run story, then an inferred license is also likely to exist. Overall, a writer or runner should expect their stories to be used and built upon, but are not exclusively owned by the LARP.
Be Careful
So, what should you do to protect yourself?
- Ask the LARP about their policy regarding Intellectual Property
- Review all paperwork required to play, volunteer, or work for a LARP
- Check with the LARP regarding individual projects regarding these rights before starting work
- If you are uncomfortable with any answers, DO NOT TAKE PART.
Crestfallen Policy
So, for our game we use the following policy.
Crestfallen owns the intellectual property that the game has created. Authors writing stories for Crestfallen own the stories and concepts but grant Crestfallen license to include their works in outlines, event write ups, and descriptions of how the events transpired. Authors may use/reuse these works in whatever way they see fit as long as they do not reference locations, named character, or named concepts already established as Crestfallen lore. These items may be renamed at the authors discretion. Crestfallen will have event write ups for every event to document all written and run plot for future use. These write ups are Crestfallen LARP intellectual property as written and may not be entirely reproduced without our express permission.
We feel this policy protects our authors, allows for cannon story elements, and promotes transparency for those that take part in our game.
Thoughts?
We would love to hear what you have to think on our discord or privately at CrestfallenLARP@gmail.com