Copyright Policy
DGN as
DEDICATED GAMING NETWORK LLC AND TOP MORPG
LEGAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT
COPYRIGHT POLICY
EFFECTIVE DATE: 09/07/2007
Table of Contents
1. Policy
2. Scope of Policy
3. Responsibility
4. Definitions
5. General Statutory Background
6. Requirements for Computer Software
7. Timing of Registration
8. Form of Copyright Notice
9. Location of Copyright Notice for Computer Software-Published and Unpublished Works
10. Deposit for Initial Registration of Computer Software
11. Changes to Copyright Works for Software
12. Copyright Notice for Changed Works for Software
13. Deposit for Registration of Changed Works for Software
14. Copyright of Audiovisua1 Displays
Appendices
A. Form of Copyright Notice for Computer Software - Unpublished Works
B. Form of Copyright Notice for Computer Software - Published Works
1. Policy
The objective of this manual is to detail the policy and procedures of Dedicated Gaming Network LLC and Top MORPG (“DGN”) on affixing a "Notice of Copyright" to DGN Intellectual Property; to describe the form, affixation, and location of the copyright notice; and to define the information required for United States copyright registration with the Copyright Office.
DGN has a large investment in its Intellectual Properties (as defined in Section 2 herein), and wants to ensure that its copyrights are not lost. This manual provides directions for securing the copyright protection provided under the United States Copyright Act.
2. Scope of Policy
2.1 For purposes of this policy statement, the term "Intellectual Property" shall include (i) all Computer Software (as defined in Section 4.1) developed by or for DGN, regardless of the media on which it is stored and regardless of the stage of development, (ii) all documentation, drawings, diagrams, specifications and other related material created during all stages of the development of such Computer Software, and (iii) all graphic audiovisual displays and sequences generated by such Computer Software.
2.2 This statement of copyright policy applies to all Intellectual Property designed and developed by or for DGN and by contractors when produced under a development contract for DGN where, under the terms of the development contract, DGN obtains ownership of the copyright in the Intellectual Property.
2.3 A "Notice of Copyright" will be affixed to all DGN Intellectual Property created in the United States. It will also be affixed to all such Intellectual Property created elsewhere that is furnished to DGN in the United States, whether for DGN's internal use or for release and/or distribution in the United States.
3. Responsibility
3.1 The Departmental Copyright Policy Administrator shall be responsible for determining which source and object code will be registered with the United States Copyright Office.
3.2 Managers in charge of software development are responsible for ensuring that a "Notice of Copyright" is affixed to all DGN Intellectual Property.
3.3 The attorneys for DGN will be responsible for filing for copyright registration by submitting an application along with the required data to the United States Copyright Office.
4. Definitions
4.1 Computer Software
"Computer Software" includes system software, applications software and firmware.
Such software will be manifested in one or more of the following forms:
(a) Source and object code on any internal or external media;
(b) Program Listings;
(c) Specifications, including Functional and Implementation; or
(d) User Manuals, Operating Instructions and other operating material.
4.2. Copyright
A copyright is the right of ownership in a product of the intellect. Under the United States Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 302), copyright protection subsists in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression. A work is fixed when its embodiment in a copy is sufficiently permanent. Storage of a copy of source or object code on a tape, disk or ROM has been held by the courts to be sufficient fixation so that copyright privileges attach. Copyright registration is not a condition for copyright protection, but is a prerequisite for bringing an action to recover damages for copyright infringement or to obtain an injunction.
4.3. Published Works
Published works are works distributed to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership. This includes works distributed to the public by rental or lending, but does not include works licensed under a license agreement, or other type of agreement which incorporates retention of ownership and confidentiality provisions.
4.4. Unpublished Works
Unpublished works are works distributed to licensees under DGN license agreements, or other DGN agreements incorporating retention of ownership and confidentiality provisions. It is DGN's position that all of its Computer Software is not published and is to be considered "unpublished work," and is licensed or otherwise provided to third parties only under confidentiality restrictions. Although the copyright law protects both published and unpublished works, in order to strengthen the trade secret status of distributed Computer Software and related documentation, DGN considers such materials to be "unpublished."
5. General Statutory Background
5.1 The United States Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 302) includes provisions to give federal protection to certain intellectual properties, and sets forth procedures for obtaining the maximum protection provided.
5.2 The United States Copyright Act states that, in order to put the general public on notice that the work is copyrighted, a published copyrighted work may contain a copyright notice.
5.3 Under the United States Copyright Act, unpublished works are not required to contain a copyright notice; however, DGN has elected to include a copyright notice on all newly developed DGN Computer Software and selected existing software, whether published or unpublished, in order to:
(a) Show that DGN's interests in them are reserved; and
(b) Prevent availability of the innocent infringer defense to those who may copy DGN Computer Software. (An innocent infringer without notice of copyright would have no liability to DGN for making unauthorized copies.)
5.4 As a point of clarification, it is DGN's position that all its Computer Software and related documentation are available only to DGN customers/clients under confidentiality restrictions. Distribution of Computer Software and related documentation under such restrictions is not considered to constitute "publication" within the meaning of the copyright laws and, therefore, such software and documentation are considered "unpublished" works. However, it is recognized that in a litigation, a court may hold that mass-distributed software is to be considered "published." The copyright law still protects such mass-distributed works. However, in order to assure preservation of certain statutory damages and recovery of attorneys' fees in any infringement action, registration must be submitted to the United States Copyright Office before any external distribution of such Computer Software and the related documentation.
6. Requirements for Computer Software
6.1 All DGN Computer Software, in the form of Source and Object Code, developed in the United States and elsewhere for license or external use in the United States, will be registered with the United States Copyright Office.
6.2 Software Development Managers are responsible for:
(a) Ensuring that a "Notice of copyright," as defined by this manual, is affixed, in the manner stated below, on all Computer Software;
(b) Supplying the information required for the completion of copyright registration Form TX or Form PA to the designated DGN attorneys when registration is necessary; and
(c) Supplying the required "deposit for registration" to the designated DGN attorneys.
6.3. The copyright notice is to be included on all Computer Software, i.e., software modules, units and products, specifications, manuals and other related documentation, at the time of original creation. Where such notice has not been included prior to the effective date of this policy, efforts must be made to include notices on all copies of software in DGN's possession, and on all copies in the possession of any licensees of DGN. The ultimate goal is to generate the copyright notice for each software module when it is first compiled. In the interim, the minimum requirement is to add at least one copyright notice in the first module of a software product so that it will appear in the first twenty-five pages of the printout of the code.
6.4. The copyright registration (when necessary) for Computer Software, consisting of preparation of Form TX or Form PA and supplying the appropriate source and object code, is to be initiated during the "Delivery Phase" of the development cycle. When the Computer Software product can be utilized or marketed as part of multiple products, these multiple products should be listed on the deposit for registration.
6.5. Specifications, manuals and other documentation related to the code, if available, will be registered concurrently with the code.
6.6.Audiovisual displays generated by DGN Computer Software may also be protected by a separate copyright registration using Form PA and related identifying materials. See Section 14 below.
7. Timing of Registration
7.1 Registration for published works must be submitted to the United States Copyright Office no later than ninety days after publication, to preserve statutory damages and to recover attorneys' fees in any infringement action initiated within the first ninety days after publication.
7.2 Registration for unpublished works must be submitted to the United States Copyright Office prior to any distribution to assure preservation of statutory damages and to recover attorneys' fees in any infringement action.
8. Form of Copyright Notice
The form of copyright notice for Computer Software that will be included on published and unpublished works (on both printed and handwritten material as well as machine-readable material) is specified in Appendix A and Appendix B attached.
9. Location of Copyright Notice for Computer Software-Published and Unpublished Works
9.1 Printed and handwritten material:
(a) For single-page works, the copyright notice may be placed anywhere on the front or the back of the page.
(b) For works in book form, the copyright notice may be placed in any one of the following locations:
(i) The title page
(ii) The page immediately following the title page
(iii) Either side of the front cover, or if there is no front cover, either side of the front page of the copies.
(c) For material in loose-leaf form, the copyright notice should appear on the title page or the page immediately following the title page. The copyright notice may, but is not required to, also be included in alternate pages, e.g., every five pages.
(d) For source and object code listings, the copyright notice should be placed on the front page. The copyright notice may, but is not required to, also be included in alternate pages, e.g., every five pages. The external copyright notice can be in the form of a label and is in addition to any printing of an internal copyright notice.
(e) For material in microform format, the copyright notice should be placed on the front of the container.
9.2 Machine-readable material:
(a) External notice-The copyright notice along with the program identification number is to be placed on a printed label and affixed to the exterior of the machine readable media; i.e., to a box, reel, cartridge, cassette or other containers used as a permanent receptacle for the media.
(b) Internal notice-The copyright notice is to be included at or near the beginning of the material in such a way that all printouts of the program, either in human or machine-readable form, contain the copyright notice. The copyright notice should appear adjacent to the program identification number and is to be contained in the source code and the nonexecutable object code. This copyright notice need not appear in memory during execution of the code.
9.3. For all on-line displays of any DGN Intellectual Property, the first screen should display the following copyright notice:
Copyright 2007 Dedicated Gaming Network LLC and Top MORPG.
All Rights Reserved.
Use of this software is governed by a License and/or Confidentiality Agreement. This software contains confidential and proprietary information of Dedicated Gaming Network LLC and Top MORPG which is protected by copyright, trade secret and trademark law.
10 Deposit for Initial Registration of Computer Software
10.1 Registration of Copyright
Registration of copyright will be made, as a single work, for a machine-readable Computer Software product that may comprise a number of programs or software modules.
10.2. Source Code/Object Code Computer Software
(a) One copy of "Identifying Portions" of the source code, reproduced in a form visually perceptible without the aid of a machine or device, is to be sent to the designated DGN attorneys for transmittal with the application for copyright registration in memo form. "Identifying Portions" is defined as either the first and last twenty-five pages or equivalent units of the code if reproduced on paper or microform. The copyright notice must be contained within the Identifying Portions submitted for registration.
(b) Trade secrets and special relief-When Computer Software contains trade secrets or other confidential material that DGN is unwilling to disclose by depositing the first and last twenty-five pages in source code, the Copyright Office is willing to consider special relief requests enabling applicants to deposit less than or other than the usual 50 pages of source code. Special relief requests for the following three deposit options are presently
being granted upon written request for special relief:
(1) First and last twenty-five pages of source code with some portions blocked out, provided that the blocked-out portions are proportionately less than the material still remaining,
(2) At least the first and last ten pages of source code alone (with no blocked-out portions), and
(3) First and last twenty-five pages of object code plus any ten or more consecutive pages of source code (with no blocked-out portions).
(c) Object code registration-For mass-distributed Computer Software, it may be preferable not to deliver any source code to the Copyright Office. In such cases the Identifying Portions will be the first and last twenty-five pages of object code only. Dedicated Gaming Network LLC and Top MORPG will receive a copyright registration under the Copyright Office "rule of doubt" procedure.
(d) Additionally, one complete copy of the combined source and object code Computer Software, or one complete copy of the source and object code Computer Software separately submitted for copyright registration, must be sent to the Departmental Copyright Policy Administrator for retention in DGN's permanent file, together with a copy of the materials submitted with the registration. This complete copy is to be on paper or microform to permit permanent storage.
(e) The one copy of the first and last twenty-five pages or equivalent units called for in paragraphs (b) or (c), whether reproduced on paper or microform, will be identical to and in the same sequence as the first and last twenty-five pages or equivalent units of the complete copy called for in paragraph (d), in the form that the complete copy is received by the Departmental Copyright Policy Administrator. A Directory Listing should be included with the above copies that are sent to the permanent file. (Where registration is made for a Computer Software product comprising a number of programs, the one copy of the first and last twenty-five pages may require pages from more than one program module).
11. Changes to Copyrighted Works for Software
11.1 When Computer Software is changed in any meaningful manner, the date contained within the copyright notice must be changed to reflect the year in which the change was made and, if the work has been previously registered, a new application for registration must be submitted.
11.2. A "Meaningful Change" is defined as:
(a) A change in the release number above the point release of a software product,
(b) A change in revision level of specifications (after the acceptance phase of the product), or
(c) Any change in printed or handwritten works where they are republished for distribution.
12. Copyright Notice for Changed Works of Software
Printed and Handwritten Materials-The copyright notice is to contain the year of first publication, creation, or registration and all years in which Meaningful Changes have been made. In all other respects, the notices shall be identical to those contained in Appendix A or Appendix B.
13. Deposit for Registration of Changed Works of Software
13.1. The quantity and types of documentation required for the registration due to additions or changes are the same as those outlined in Section 10.
13.2. Where a new software product is developed and registration is to be effected, the following will apply in the case of changed works:
(1) Where new software modules are added internally to a previously registered Computer Software product, the one copy of the Identifying Portions called for in Section 10.2(a) need not be sent to the designated DGN attorneys if they are identical to the Identifying Portions of a previous registration and where such previous registration is identified in space 5 of Form TX. The copies on file from the previous registration will be used. The one complete copy called for in Section 10.2(d) will consist of one complete copy of the new software modules only.
(2) Where any of the new software modules are added externally to a previously registered Computer Software product, the one copy of the Identifying Portions called for in Section 10.2(a) is applicable, and such previous registration is identified in space 5 of Form TX. The one complete copy called for in Section 10.2(d) will consist of one complete copy of the new software modules only.
13.3 Information for spaces 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 of Form TX is also required for registration of changed works.
14. Copyright of Audiovisual Displays
If graphic displays containing original expression are generated by DGN Computer Software, such expression is protected by filing a copyright registration of the screen display as an audiovisual work. Using Form PA, the original elements of the screen display will be identified. Registration materials would include a copy of an audiovisual tape of the screen display sequences.
APPENDIX A
Form of Copyright Notice for Computer
Software-Unpublished Works
1. Printed, handwritten material, and source and object code listings:
(c) 2007 Dedicated Gaming Network LLC and Top MORPG.
All Rights Reserved.
Printed in U.S.A. (if applicable)
This document contains unpublished, confidential and proprietary information of Dedicated Gaming Network LLC and Top MORPG. No disclosure or use of this document, its contents or any portion thereof may be made without the prior express written consent of Dedicated Gaming Network LLC and Top MORPG.
2. Machine-readable material:
(1) External notice
(c) 2007 Dedicated Gaming Network LLC and Top MORPG.
All Rights Reserved.
This media contains an authorized copy or copies of material copyrighted by Dedicated Gaming Network LLC and Top MORPG and is the confidential, unpublished property of Dedicated Gaming Network LLC and Top MORPG. This copyright notice and any other copyright notices included in machine-readable copies must be reproduced on all authorized copies.
This media contains unpublished confidential and proprietary information of Dedicated Gaming Network LLC and Top MORPG. No disclosure or use of this material, its contents or any portion thereof may be made without the prior express written consent of Dedicated Gaming Network LLC and Top MORPG.
(2) Internal notice
Copyright 2007 Dedicated Gaming Network LLC and Top MORPG.
All Rights Reserved.
This media contains confidential and proprietary information of Dedicated Gaming Network LLC and Top MORPG. No disclosure or use of this material, its contents or any portion thereof may be made without the prior express written consent of Dedicated Gaming Network LLC and Top MORPG.
For unpublished works, the year in the copyright notice corresponds to the year of creation of the work. In the case of unpublished works that are to be registered (source and object code), the year in the copyright notice corresponds to the year of registration, which is usually the year of creation of the work.
APPENDIX B
Form of Copyright Notice for Computer
Software-Published Works
1. Printed and handwritten material (including marketing literature and other nonproprietary materials):
(c) 2007 Dedicated Gaming Network LLC and Top MORPG.
All Rights Reserved.
Printed in U.S.A. (if applicable)
2. Machine-readable material:
(1) External notice
Copyright 2007 Dedicated Gaming Network LLC and Top MORPG.
All Rights Reserved.
This copyright notice and any other copyright notices included in machine-readable copies must be reproduced on all authorized copies.
(2) Internal notice
Copyright 2007 Dedicated Gaming Network LLC and Top MORPG.
All Rights Reserved.
For published works, the year in the copyright notice corresponds to the year of first publication of the work.
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