🚀 go-pugleaf

                          Frequently Asked Questions
                        (last revised August 2, 1994)

                               PART 7:  AUTHORS



CONTENTS OF THIS PART

1).  What is an Author?
2).  What rights and privileges do Authors have?
3).  What is a Senior Author?
4).  What additional rights and privileges do Senior Authors have?
5).  Who are the currently active Authors on Superguy?
6).  Who are the Inactive Members of the Authorial Hall of Fame?
7).  What is the Superpen Superguy Author's Mailing List?
8).  How do I subscribe to Superpen?
9).  Why make it so hard to join Superpen?
10). In what situations will someone be removed from Superpen?
11). Should I forward Superpen to other people?  By the same token, if I send
     mail to the Superpen list, will it get sent to other people?
12). What are the explicit Legal Rights Authors have concerning Superguy Posts
     both being sent from the list and in the Archives?  What are the actual
     implicit Legal Notices associated with them?
13). Should I post an explicit notice of my Legal Notices to the list?  How do
     I do so?  Can I alter the conditions of my legal notices?
14). What is the public domain?
15). How do I release my stories into the Public Domain?
16). Hey, Gary Olson has synopsized my adventures in his "History of the
     Superguy Universe" without asking permission -- what gives?
17). How do I remove my characters permanently from the Superguy Mailing List?



1)   What is an Author?

     An Author is a writer for Superguy who has posted at least three episodes
of a Limited or Regular Series on one of the Subtopics of Superguy, not
counting the Author's Altiverse, Administrivia, FAQ, or Legion of Net-Heroes.
After a writer has reached the third episode of a series, he is considered to
be serious about writing for Superguy and becomes an Author.
     Note that all the legal rights given herein to `Authors' are also assumed
to apply to new writers who have not reached episode three in a series.
However, new writers are not invited to the Superpen Superguy Authors Mailing
List until they become actual Authors.

2)   What rights and privileges do Authors have?

     Authors have the right to dictate the method in which their characters
will be used by other Authors in the various shared universes, as well as the
right to refuse to allow their characters to be used by any other author.
Authors have the full protection of the Berne Convention of Copyright Laws and
Common Law Trademark Protections (see LEGAL NOTICES below) for their fiction.
Authors also are invited to participate in the Author's Altiverse subtopic.

3)   What is a Senior Author?

     A Senior Author is an Author who has been on the list for a long period of
time and written a significant body of work.  This body might be significant
for its quality, quantity, or sheer gall.  Senior Authors are assumed to have
contributed heavily to the Superguy Mailing List through its various
incarnations, and often have performed tasks above and beyond the call of duty.
The Senior Authors who are currently active are (in Alphabetical Order):

     John Bankert ("CHAOS_Engineer"), Eric Alfred Burns ("Lord Sabre"),
     Bill Dickson ("Pickle"), Rob Furr ("The Punk Without a Gun"), Gary W.
     Olson ("the Swede"), Bill Paul ("The Man with Two First Names"), Tad
     Simmons ("no nickname"), Jesse Taylor ("Shadowywriter"), Dominic
     White ("the Artiste")

     There are other Senior Authors who currently are not active on the
Superguy list.  There are also other Authors who have served a significant
amount of time, but who have not made a large overall contribution as yet.  The
title of Senior Author is largely an honorary one that clings to the people who
have been around the longest and done the most, overall.  For example, the
`juniormost' Author on the above list is Jesse Taylor, who has posted
consistently since 1991, and is the veteran not only of Force Ten, his current
story (formerly the Super-Losers) and the inventor of Admiral Morgan, but also
the author of the sometimes grand, sometimes terminally bizarre "Blorg Trek"
series.  The Seniormost tend to be people like Gary Olson, Bill Dickson and
Bill Paul -- who have posted hundreds of episodes, helped to create the Round
Robin projects, collected and collated archives and Chronicles, and have both
worked above and beyond the call of duty to create, nurture and disseminate the
Superguy Mailing List.  Most of the rest fall somewhere in between.

4)   What additional rights and privileges do Senior Authors have?

     Officially, none.  No Author has authority over any other Author.  But the
experience of the Senior Authors lends a certain weight to their words.
     It is what is known as the "Old Fart" Syndrome.  Those Senior Authors (or
Old Farts) who have seen a large cross section of history and made a lot of
mistakes in their time will often have opinions and ideas newer authors might
not appreciate.  By tradition and convention, non-Senior Authors are supposed
to at least listen to the Senior Authors.  While listening, they are permitted
to say "shut up, you Old Fart" under their breath.  They then may do what they
please, as this *is* an Anarchy.
     In general, if a Senior Author thinks that something is a bad idea, it's a
sign that you may wish to rethink what you're doing.  If *all* the Senior
Authors think something is a bad idea, it probably is.

5)   Who are the currently active Authors on Superguy?

     This list is by nature volitale, and partially guesswork.  It is based on
those people currently subscribed to Superpen, although not all of those
Authors (Evan Pongress and Frank Orzechowicz, for example) are considered
active of this writing.  Any ommission is accidental.

John Bankert ("CHAOS Engineer")
Yvonne Bennett ("The Girl with a Catbunny")
Ben Brown ("Another Punk Without a Gun," "The Furr/Brown Gestalt")
Lawrence Brown ("The Amigoid")
Eric Alfred Burns ("Lord Sabre")
Bill Dickson ("Pickle")
Mike Escruta (no nickname)
Greg Fishbone (no nickname)
Rob Furr ("The Punk Without a Gun," "The Furr/Brown Gestalt")
Mason Kramer (no nickname)
Daniel Pawtowski ("Gadge")
Bill Paul ("The Man With Two First Names")
Gary W. Olson ("The Swede")
Tad Simmons ("The Listowner so he's automatically active")
Jesse Taylor ("SW," "Shadowywriter")
Dominic White ("The Artiste")

6)   Who are the Inactive Members of the Authorial Hall of Fame?

     There are several Authors who were a part of Superguy in one way or
another who, due to circumstances which may well have been within their
control, are no longer a part of Superguy.  These Authors have contributed
enough so that they bear mentioning.  (Note that Active Authors are not
mentioned here.)

"Tennesee H. Cowboy" -- one of the most prolific and funniest Sfstory Authors.
     It is safe to say Sfstory wouldn't have lasted long enough to spawn
     Superguy without him
Evan Pongress ("The Dead Author," "Shadowman," "Doctor Kolos") -- `creator' of
     Burt Ward, Adam West, and the Starship Winaprize, Round Robin Author and
     creator of Jake Hawthorne.  The man who raised the raised the writing
     stakes on Superguy, first with Hawthorne, and then with Round Robin.
Jeff Smith -- the essential creator of Sfstory, though not the technical one.
     Many of the conventions on Sfstory and Superguy were created by him.  We
     would not be here without him.  It is not known if he went on to create
     Bone.
Chris Wilcox ("The Creeper") -- the creator and first recruiter for Superguy.
     Creator of Wonder Grunion -- the first Superguy Hero.  The First Superguy
     Author.

7)   What is the Superpen Superguy Author's Mailing List?

     The Superpen Superguy Author's Mailing List (or Superpen) is a list that
all Authors (as per the definition of #1, above) are subscribed to
automatically, unless they indicate they would not like to be.  It is,
essentially, a forum where the Authors can let down their hair, comment on each
other's work, ask for advice, gossip about their own and others lives, and
generally do Authorial type stuff.  Collaborations and projects are generally
coordinated on Superpen, as are general, often highly biased opinions and
general facetiousness.  Superguy's Authors tend to be a close knit group of
friends, and the existence of the Superpen list is a big reason why.
     For those readers who are concerned about missing the debate and
commentary of Superpen -- you can stop worrying.  It's not exactly Rocket
Science, over there.

8)   How do I subscribe to Superpen?

     Superpen is not a public list, and subscriptions are not generally
available.  The list's owner (Eric Alfred Burns ["Lord Sabre"]) automatically
adds any Author who has made it to their third episode in either a regular or
limited series.  It's pretty much his judgement that decides whether an Author
has reached the point where it makes sense to be added to the list.
     If you feel you haven't been put on the Superpen list when you should have
been, or if you are a former author returning to the Superguy list and you want
to be reinstated, you should send e-mail explaining your request to:

     rubicon+sprequest@drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu

     Note that Administrivia, LNH, and Author's Altiverse posts do not count
towards making Superpen's list.

9)   Why make it so hard to join Superpen?

     It isn't, really.  You simply have to write three posts in a single series
-- which all told shouldn't be hard at all for anyone who wants to participate
in Superguy to the point that they want to receive Superpen.
     As to why a first time writer isn't immediately added to the list, the
question is one of logistics.  The Superguy Archives are full of episodes
written by people who have sent one or two episodes and then vanished forever.
For example, Robert Beeler ("the Beez") created Nouveau Skunk and Eighties Man
-- both good characters.  However, he posted Nouveau Skunk and Eighties Man
Episode #1 and then vanished for years.  To date, he has not been back.  This
is actually the norm rather than the exception.
     So, rather than load the Superpen list up with writers who weren't really
interested or who simply didn't have the time, a simple threshold was
established.

10)  In what situations will someone be removed from Superpen?

     Almost no situation.  If an e-mail address becomes no longer valid, a user
will be deleted from the receipt list.  Otherwise, an Author who becomes
inactive but wishes to continue receiving Superpen can do so.

11)  Should I forward Superpen to other people?  By the same token, if I send
mail to the Superpen list, will it get sent to other people?

     Not usually, no.  Superpen is a private list.  The mail sent to it isn't
meant to be seen outside the pale.  The Authors who post to Superpen will not
phrase their letters for general reading, but instead for this particular group
of friends and co-writers.
     As a result, reposting or forwarding Superpen mail to other people is not
a particularly good idea.  It is easy for a person to misunderstand that
forwarded mail or be offended or hurt by it.  Treat it like you would private
E-Mail received from the person who wrote the post.
     By the same token, when you are sending mail to Superpen, you are sending
it to all of the active Authors.  While in theory this is a closed list,
remember that you are speaking to several people.  When discussing or positing
opinions about someone who is *not* on the Superpen list, remember that person
will not be able to respond to what you are saying.
     You have the right to post anything to Superpen, and as a rule, no one
will get on your case about any language or opinions you express (we tend to be
an opinionated bunch).  It is appropriate to be polite, however.

12)  What are the explicit Legal Rights Authors have concerning Superguy Posts
both being sent from the list and in the Archives?  What are the actual
implicit Legal Notices associated with them?

     Superguy is a Shared Universe.  It arose very informally, but has
gradually become more and more formal when it comes to the rights each Author
has concerning his work, and the recognition of Author's rights has been
retroactively extended to the beginning of the list.  The rights specifically
set forth in this electronic document shall be assumed to belong to all
Authors, past and present, who have sent work to any incarnation of the
Superguy Mailing List (including but not limited to SUPERGUY CSNOTICE at
CSNEWS, SFSTORY CSNOTICE at CSNEWS, SF_STORY CSNOTICE at CSNEWS, SUPERGUY
DIGEST at UMNEWS, SF_STORY DIGEST at UMNEWS, SFSTORY DIGEST at UMNEWS, the
Superguy Discussion, the Sfstory Discussion, the Sf_Story Discussion, SUPERGUY
DIGEST at NICBBS, SFSTORY DIGEST at NICBBS, the Superguy Mailing List, Superguy
Magazine on America Online, the Superguy Digest Archives, and any other medium
or BBS which has in any way reproduced Superguy or echoed Superguy or any
Superguy, Sfstory or Sf_Story posts not mentioned explicitly herein).
     Superguy Posts are considered Electronic Publication.  They will not
ordinarily constitute a ceding of First North American Serial Rights, nor will
they constitute a ceding of First World Publication Rights.  The Superguy
Chronicles Project (see Archives) constitutes only an extension of the
Electronic Publication, wherein the `single hard copy' is assumed to be the
printed copy available from Bill Dickson.  Furthermore, since Superguy Posts
would generally be altered to some degree before publication in some other
form, it is safe to consider Superguy a draft form, and an earlier form of the
fiction in question, and in no way the final product which might later be
published.

     All Superguy Subtopic posts are copyrighted by the writer who actually
wrote the post in the form it appears (hereafter known as the Author).  Unless
a Copyright notice is actually attached to part of the post, the following
Copyright notice is assumed to be implicitly part of the post:

     The Series "[Series]" is Copyright 1994 [Author].  Permission is
     hereby granted to disseminate or reproduce this work via electronic
     means only, for entertainment purposes only, and only if all
     attributions and headers remain in place and the text of the work
     (including said attributions and headers) is not altered in any way.
     Any reproduction of this work for profit of any form is strictly
     forbidden without the express written permission of [Author].
     Hard Copy reproduction is limited to single copies printed for the
     use of the user only, and cannot be mass produced or disseminated in
     any way.  Permission is granted for minor alteration of headers and
     attribution in such a way that does not alter the meaning or intent
     for the purposes of inclusion in the Superguy Chronicles with the
     understanding that the Superguy Chronicles are an extension of the
     single Hard Copy, do not represent a profit of any kind for the
     producer of the Chronicles, and do not constitute any further
     extension or release of rights.  All characters appearing in this
     story that are not the creation of [Author] are used with the
     explicit or implicit permission of their creating author, and do not
     in any way constitute a violation of the Copyrights, Trademarks,
     Intellectual Property or other rights of the author in question.
     Implicit permission is granted to make reference to the characters
     and events of this work in the context of the Superguy Subtopic of
     the Superguy Mailing List only, and such use does not constitute an
     abridgement or relinquishment of any of [Author]'s rights as
     they are expressed or implied herein.  All other rights not
     specifically referred to in this notice are reserved to [Author].

     Wherein [Series] is replaced by the name of the series in question, and
[Author] is replaced by the name of the Author in question.

     All character names in the Superguy Subtopic are assumed to be trademarked
by their creating Author under Common Law trademark, and are used by implicit
permission of the Author in the context of the Superguy Subtopic only.  The
(TM) after each name indicating a common law Trademark is assumed to be
implicit in any circumstance where it is appropriate.  The lack of such a
symbol is not in any way assumed to be an abridgement of that Trademark.
Authors are encouraged to post an Administrivia post of Legal Trademarks which
explicitly protects the characters and other names of a creating Author.  A
sample form of this as applied to the series "The Adventures of the Adjusted
League Unimpeachable" is as follows, with explanatory notes following:

     The Adventures of the Adjusted League Unimpeachable(TM), The Adjusted
     League Unimpeachable(TM), The Adjusted League(TM), The ALU(TM),
     Trashman(TM), The Non Bio-Degradable Trashman(TM), Bruce Rogers(TM),
     Mighty Guy(TM), Kent Clark(TM), Timmy O'Larson(TM), Flores Lame(TM),
     Percy Grey(TM), Doctor Unorthodox(TM), Stanley Unorthodox(TM),
     Spandex Babe(TM), Dianna Potentiate(TM), The Dash(TM), Jane West
     Garrick-Allen(TM), The Masked Bruce(TM), Unorthodox Girl(TM),
     Unorthodox Lass(TM), Trudy Unorthodox(TM), Kid Solipsism(TM), Eric
     Shapiro(TM), Dangerousgirl(TM), Danielle Potentiate(TM), Mandy
     Harken(TM), Justice Overmind Electronic Locus(TM), JOEL(TM), Trace C.
     Beaulieu(TM), Kev Murphy(TM), The Adjusted League Unimpeachable
     Central Headquarters for Morally Outspoken and Upright Superheroes,
     Exclusively(TM), The A.L.U.C.H.Q.M.O.U.S.E.(TM), The Xolchipalian
     Defense Forces(TM, Xolchipalia(TM), The League of Unconcerned
     Scientists(TM), The LUS(TM), the Unimaginable League Amoral(TM), the
     ULA(TM), Special Special Agent Thomas Kim(TM), Ratman(TM), Force(TM),
     Jan Taylor(TM), Mister Filthy(TM), Nimbus(TM), Black Steel(TM),
     Egoiste(TM), Blue Steel(TM), Arsenal(TM), Psybernet(TM), The Crimson
     Crowbar(TM), The Awe-Inspiring Force(TM), Andy Awe-Inspiring(TM), The
     Astounding Salad Shooter(TM), Mensch(TM), Puke(TM), Weasel(TM),
     Fallen Angel(TM), Q(TM), lo-brow(TM), and all other characters and
     titles created by Eric Alfred Burns in the series "The Adventures of
     the Adjusted League Unimpeachable" are Trademarks of Eric Alfred
     Burns.  All Rights Reserved.

     Healer(TM) and Elizabeth Tirkoff(TM) are Trademarks of Gary W. Olson
     and are used by permission.  No violation of Trademark is intended or
     implied.

     Mike Green(TM) and Michael Green(TM) are Trademarks of Bill Paul and
     are used by permission.  No violation of Trademark is intended or
     implied.

     Dangerousman(TM), Lars MacPherson(TM), Relativity Woman(TM), Marjorie
     Hopkins MacPherson(TM) and Ramrod(TM) are Trademarks of William R.
     Dickson and are used by permission.  No violation of Trademark is
     intended or implied.

     High Jinx(TM) is a Trademark of Dominic White and is used by
     permission.  No violation of Trademark is intended or implied.

     The Awe-Inspiring Force(TM) and all its members are derivative works
     based on the series "The Awesome Force" by Dominic White and Bill
     Paul, and the series "Andy Awesome and the Awesome Force" by Dominic
     White.

     JOEL, Trace C. Beauleau and Kev Murphy are derivative works based on
     "Mystery Science Theater 3000" by Best Brains, Inc.

     The use of all other Trademarked names and characters in the context
     of the Superguy Subtopic on Superguy is done through implicit or
     explicit permission of the holders of said Trademarks.  No violation
     of said Trademarks is intended or implied.

     NOTES ON THE ABOVE NOTICE:  First off, it is worth noting that this
notice, per se, is officially unnecessary, as is an explicit copyright notice.
Common Law Trademarks are assumed by the Paris Convention, and Implicit
Copyright is assumed by the Berne Convention.  However, what explicit notices
of trademarks and copyrights does is demonstrate an understanding of the legal
rights a holder of copyright has.  By specifically enumerating the various
Trademarks he owns, Burns is stating for the record that he understands his
rights concerning the use of those Trademarks.
     The size and level of redundancy in the Trademark notice is apparent.
Remember that this is a legal notice.  When one is setting his legal rights in
any form of writing, it is *far* better to be safe than sorry.
     One might note that all of the secret identities of the Adjusted League
Unimpeachable's members are Trademarked by Burns except Mike Green.  Mike is an
interesting case anyhow, since he is based on a real person (although the
character has nothing to do with that real person, given that Eric Burns has
never met Mike Green).  Note that Mike Green first appeared in an Awesome Force
episode written by Bill Paul, and therefore the implicit Copyright and
Trademark belong to Bill.  However, the character of The Masked Bruce was
completely developed by Eric Burns, and he holds Copyright and Trademark to
that.
     The net result is, if Bill Paul demanded that Eric Burns stop all use of
the Trademark and Copyright, Burns would have to change the character's secret
identity immediately, but could continue to use the Masked Bruce as a
character.
     Healer is a character who essentially is controlled by Eric Burns at this
point.  However, the character remains the Trademark, Copyright and
Intellectual Property of Gary Olson, and therefore the legal notices must
reflect this.  By the same token, the character of Mighty Guy is the
Copyrighted, Trademarked Intellectual Property of Eric Alfred Burns, and he
would therefore include Mighty Guy in his Trademarks, despite the fact that
Gary Olson currently controls Mighty Guy.  In a Trademark notice put forth by
Gary Olson, he would make reference to Eric's Trademark.
     Dangerousman, High Jinx, Ramrod and Relativity Woman are not regular
series characters, but they have had significant enough effect on the series to
warrant explicit Trademark information.
     The League of Unconcerned Scientists as a whole is Trademarked, but as
many of its members are parodies, the individual members are not Trademarked.
Copyright protection is still assumed for those members, of course, as the
Parody is a legally accepted derivative work.
     The Xolchipalian Defense Forces, and especially the Crimson Crowbar, are
parodies and derivative works based on real people and characters from various
series.  The (coincidence) tag is meant to explicitly show that the characters
are not meant to be representative of the real people or trademarked or
copyrighted characters.  However, Trademarks are not taken out on the names of
the various members of the XDF, to avoid legal difficulties.
     Some Trademarks above are innately unenforceable.  For example, the
Trademarked character name `Puke' of the Awe-Inspiring Force is not meant to
imply that the word puke is the intellectual property of Eric Alfred Burns.
Similarly, the trademark of the crap rock-and-roller Q does not reflect either
an attempt to trademark a letter of the alphabet, nor to usurp the trademark
held by Paramount on the character of "Q".  In circumstances where a character
is sufficiently different and the Trademark is a term that is in common
parlance, it is acceptable to have two characters who are nothing alike and who
do not infringe on each other have the same Trademarked name, assuming that one
character does not specifically draw unfairly off of another's notoriety (which
in the case of Q of the Awe-Inspiring Force is certainly true).
     An odd case in Trademark legislation happened between Paramount and
Filmation, actually.  Back in the early seventies, there was a horrible live
action Saturday Morning Cartoon called "Ghost Busters," featuring a cheesy guy
named Spencer, an Ape named Tracy, and a slob named Kong driving around the
world dematerializing ghosts.  A fun and funky movie in the early eighties
called "Ghostbusters" starring Bill Murray was also produced.  Both shows are
Trademarked and Copyrighted, but there was no attempt to draw off of each
other's notoriety implicit, so there was no conflict.
     Until, that is, the lucrative syndicated cartoon market was opened up.
Both Paramount and Filmation attempted to release "Ghostbuster" cartoons based
on their own product, both obviously trading on the success of the movie.  As
both had legitimate claims, the cartoons were allowed to be released under
different titled.  Thus Filmation had "The Original Ghostbusters," which was a
horrible show with the central joke being `hey, there's an Ape driving the
car,' and Paramount had `The Real Ghostbusters,' which was a highly
entertaining show based on hard research which derived a lot from Sumerian,
Aztec, Greek and Norse Mythology for their first two seasons, then got on a
network, based the entire show around the character of Slimer, and went to
Hell.
     The point of this story is to show the effects of convergent Trademark.
The question is always one of the central intellectual property (and if you
ever get a chance to see the Episode of "The Real Ghostbusters" where they
fought Cthulu, do it -- it's incredibly good).
     The Awe-Inspiring Force and JOEL and the bots are both listed as
Derivative Works.  This is an important facet of Copyright and Trademark law.
A work which is derivative of another person's creative work can be copyrighted
and trademarked, so long as the derivative work does not violate the actual
copyrights or explicit or implicit trademarks of the original work.  The Awe-
Inspiring Force is a variation on the theme of the Awesome Force, but each
character is different enough to be Trademarkable (although their secret
identities are the same as the Awesome Force, which means they are Trademarked
by Dominic White, and therefore under his control.  A better example of
derivative work and trademark is the character of Crankshaft in the Defense
Squad.  Crankshaft was created by Bill Paul, who holds all intellectual
property rights to the character.  The character is admittedly a derivative of
Ramrod, however.  As for JOEL, Kev Murphy and Trace C. Beauleau -- they are
Derivative as they do not use any of the same names or backgrounds of the
characters Joel Robinson, Tom Servo or Crow T. Robot, nor are they truly the
names of the actors who play those characters.  They fall in as Parodies and
Derivative Works, and are therefore protectable.
     (Though if Best Brains, Incorporated sought to have the characters
removed, it is likely they could successfully do so.)

13)  Should I post an explicit notice of my Legal Notices to the list?  How do
I do so?  Can I alter the conditions of my legal notices?

     It is not necessary to post a Legal Notice to the list, but it is
advisable.  As stated before, it is an expression by the Author which indicates
that said Author understands his legal rights and does not yield any of them.
     A Legal Notice should follow this basic form:

     The Subject of the post should be "ADMINISTRIVIA:  Legal Notice of [Series
Name]."  A different Legal Notice should be generated for each series.

     A statement of intent should follow.  This is serious, and should reflect
the seriousness of the notice.  It should indicate that the notice covers all
posts written in the past and all posts written within the calendar year of the
notice itself.  It is impossible to Copyright something by Calendar Year 1994
when it will only be written and distributed in 1995, for instance.  An example
of a Statement of intent is:


     The following is a notice representing the legal rights of Jonathan
     Doe concerning his series "Unknown Squad."  This notice is meant to
     cover all "Unknown Squad" Episodes posted previous to Calendar Year
     1994 and within Calendar year 1994.

     Next should come the copyright notice.  If an Author wants the standard
Superguy rights and assumptions to apply to his story (shared universe,
references being able to be made, inclusion in the Superguy Chronicles, and so
forth), he can replicate the Copyright notice given in #12 above, replacing
[Year of Initial Posting] with the current year, [Author] with the Author's
real, legal name, and opening with the line "The series "[Name of Series]"
is...."  Taking the example of CalForce, by Gary Olson (this is an example and
is not meant to represent Gary Olson's actual Copyright notice):

     The Series "CalForce" is Copyright 1994 Gary W. Olson.  Permission is
     hereby granted to disseminate or reproduce this work via electronic
     means only, for entertainment purposes only, and only if all
     attributions and headers remain in place and the text of the work
     (including said attributions and headers) is not altered in any way.
     Any reproduction of this work for profit of any form is strictly
     forbidden without the express written permission of Gary W. Olson.
     Hard Copy reproduction is limited to single copies printed for the
     use of the user only, and cannot be mass produced or disseminated in
     any way.  Permission is granted for minor alteration of headers and
     attribution in such a way that does not alter the meaning or intent
     for the purposes of inclusion in the Superguy Chronicles with the
     understanding that the Superguy Chronicles are an extension of the
     single Hard Copy, do not represent a profit of any kind for the
     producer of the Chronicles, and do not constitute any further
     extension or release of rights.  All characters appearing in this
     story that are not the creation of Gary W. Olson are used with the
     explicit or implicit permission of their creating author, and do not
     in any way constitute a violation of the Copyrights, Trademarks,
     Intellectual Property or other rights of the author in question.
     Implicit permission is granted to make reference to the characters
     and events of this work in the context of the Superguy Subtopic of
     the Superguy Mailing List only, and such use does not constitute an
     abridgement or relinquishment of any of Gary W. Olson's rights as
     they are expressed or implied herein.  All other rights not
     specifically referred to in this notice are reserved to Gary W.
     Olson.

     If an Author does not want to have the Standard Rights as they apply, he
may alter the pertinent sections of the Copyright notice to reflect those
alterations.  Not that if an Author does *not* post a Legal Notice, he is
assumed to accept the standard Superguy rights.
     For example, let us say Chris Meadows does not want his series Team
M.E.C.H.A. to be included in the Superguy Chronicles.  This is his right.  He
simply has to delete the Permission section as follows (this is an example and
is not meant to represent Chris Meadows's actual Copyright notice):

     The Series "Team M.E.C.H.A." is Copyright 1994 Chris Meadows.
     Permission is hereby granted to disseminate or reproduce this work
     via electronic means only, for entertainment purposes only, and only
     if all attributions and headers remain in place and the text of the
     work (including said attributions and headers) is not altered in any
     way.  Any reproduction of this work for profit of any form is
     strictly forbidden without the express written permission of Chris
     Meadows.  Hard Copy reproduction is limited to single copies printed
     for the use of the user only, and cannot be mass produced or
     disseminated in any way.  All characters appearing in this story that
     are not the creation of Chris Meadows are used with the explicit or
     implicit permission of their creating author, and do not in any way
     constitute a violation of the Copyrights, Trademarks, Intellectual
     Property or other rights of the author in question.  Implicit
     permission is granted to make reference to the characters and events
     of this work in the context of the Superguy Subtopic of the Superguy
     Mailing List only, and such use does not constitute an abridgement or
     relinquishment of any of Chris Meadows's rights as they are expressed
     or implied herein.  All other rights not specifically referred to in
     this notice are reserved to Chris Meadows.

     The only sections a person posting to the Superguy Subtopic cannot remove
are the ones granting permission to distribute the list by electronic means,
the section detailing that characters not the Author's own appear by permission
and do not represent a violation of Copyright, Trademark, or Intellectual
Property, and the section granting permission to make reference to the
characters and events of the story.  This is the price of the Superguy Subtopic
-- you are agreeing to allow the distribution of your posts as part of the
archives and to be sent out over the list (including all list echoes), you are
acknowledging the rights of your fellow authors, and you are granting
permission for your plotlines to be referenced in the History of the Superguy
Altiverse, to be acknowledged in other plotlines (though your characters can
only actually appear with your permission, as set forth in Part Two:  Posting
Guidelines).  If you are posting in Metaworld, you can eliminate all sections
except electronic distribution, and if you make reference (with permission) to
another person's story, you must acknowledge their Copyrights.  Round Robin
posts set in the basic Round Robin Altiverse will be covered in Legal Notices
agreed to by the Round Robin Authors.
     Following your Copyright notice, a notice of your Common Law Trademarks
should appear, following the Adjusted League Unimpeachable example given above.
This Trademark notice should be as thorough as possible, and should also
reflect the Trademarks of other Authors when applicable.  Not that short
teamups or scenes in q post or two does not necessitate the need for a
Trademark notice, and by the Posting Guidelines given above in Part Two, you do
not need to include the Villains other people have created, since there is
implicit permission given.  However, if another person's villain has
significant impact on your storyline, it is appropriate to make reference to
their trademark.

14)  What is the public domain?

     The public domain refers to the Intellectual Property of the public at
large.  A trademark or copyrighted story which is assumed to be the property of
no one is said to be in the Public Domain.  There are many ways something can
enter the Public Domain.  After a certain number of years (based on when the
original Copyright was taken out) a story automatically enters the public
domain, for example.
     A story or character in the Public Domain can be reprinted by anyone.  The
characters appearing in such a story can be used by anyone else in any other
story, assuming they do not appear in a Copyrighted story.  The Public Domain
intellectual property is truly fair game, for whoever wants to use them.
     Some Public Domain examples are Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, Tarzan,
the works of William Shakespeare, John Cater, Warlord of Mars, et cetera.

15)  How do I release my stories into the Public Domain?

     As a general rule -- *don't*!  Releasing your creative work into the
Public Domain means giving up all your rights for that work.  Anyone can
publish it, altering it as they choose, without your permission.  Anyone can
make reference to it.  All your protections will be gone.
     If you are determined to release your work into the Public Domain, you may
do so with a Statement of Intent.  Bear in mind this Statement may not be
revoked at a later time.  If you are discussing a body of work in a Shared
Universe such as the Superguy Subtopic, you must explicitly state that all
Intellectual Property that is not yours remains the property of the appropriate
people.  As a result, if you cross over or use someone else's characters,
Villains or not, and place your work in the public domain, that work
effectively becomes the property of the Authors whose characters you have used,
since their copyrights and Trademarks are still in effect.  A person could
eliminate those characters from the story and publish, however.
     An applicable Statement of Intent for placing a Superguy Story in the
Public Domain could read as follows (This is an example and not a legal notice
of any sort):

     I, Jonathan Doe, hereby place the body of work collectively known as
     "The Unknown Force" (comprised of "The Unknown Force" Episodes #1
     through #17) into the Public Domain.  In so doing I recognize that I
     am losing all rights and privileges of Copyright and Trademark
     Protection for the Story.  It should be noted that any and all
     characters, Trademarks and Intellectual Property not created by me
     which appears through the implicit or explicit permission of the
     holders of Copyright or Trademark within this body of work remain the
     Intellectual Property of those holders, and that this Statement of
     Intent is not meant to violate or abridge the Copyrights, Trademarks,
     or rights held by those Holders of Copyright in any way.

16)  Hey, Gary Olson has synopsized my adventures in his "History of the
Superguy Universe" without asking permission -- what gives?

     "The History of the Superguy Universe," compiled and updated annually by
Gary Olson ("the Swede"), is not a violation of Copyright by any stretch of the
imagination.  There are three applicable facets to its creation.

     1)   The History is posted under the SG: header, placing it in the
          Superguy Subtopic.  As all stories posted in the Superguy Subtopic
          have given permission for their work to be referenced by other
          Superguy Subtopic posts, the History is legal.

     2)   The History is a Derivative Work.  As such, it is legal and
          Copyrightable, although all Trademarks remain the sole property of
          the Authors in question.

     3)   Copyright law permits quoting and synopsizing within reason.

17)  How do I remove my characters permanently from the Superguy Mailing List?

     If you are the legitimate holder of Trademark and Copyright for a given
character in use on the list, you may disallow further use of that character,
hero or villain, on Superguy at your discretion.  The proper method of doing
this is through an Administrivia message with a Statement of Intent.
     However, no Author has the right to remove their stories from the list,
unless it can be shown the stories were posted without his permission (which is
not likely to happen).  Therefore, although an author can restrict all future
references, but cannot have his past posts deleted from the list.  Further, the
references made to the characters in the History can remain in place as a
synopsis and Derivative Work.
     However, all current use of those characters must stop from the Statement
of Intent Post on and all future use of those characters is prohibited.  It is
the responsibility of those future Authors to obey the wishes of the holder of
Copyright.  If a character is in use in a current plotline, it is the
responsibility of the current Author to secure permission from the Holder of
Copyright to wrap that character's involvement up.
     A sample Statement of Intent could be:

     I, Jonathan Doe, as valid Holder of Trademark and Copyright, hereby
     state that the Unknown Force, Mister Unknown, Enigmatic Lass,
     Oblivious and all other characters involved in the series "The
     Unknown Force" episodes #1-#17 are hereby no longer available for
     current or future use on the Superguy Mailing List.  Any characters
     appearing in episodes #1-#17 of "The Unknown Force" who are the
     intellectual property of other Authors are not affected by this
     statement.  I understand that "The Unknown Force" Episodes #1-#17
     will continue to appear in the Archives and continue to be
     distributed under the implied rights of Electronic Distribution.