To try and help clarify:
Actually, if you read the EULA, they do specifically own everything about our characters. Right down to any stories we put in the "info" screen.
This, folks, is the most incorrect answer. YOU own the characters. As well as any AE mission you make. What you grant NCSoft in the EULA is exclusive worldwide royalty-free rights to use the characters/mission if they so choose to do so.
1) NCSoft owns the game, the engine, the way it works, as well as all the parts and pieces used to do whatever is done on the client end.
2) YOU own whatever you *specifically create* in the game. That includes the character's bio, the *way* the powers are selected and slotted, the *way* the character is put together visually, the bio you create for it, the battle cry too. AE mission *text* is yours, as is the same 'how the character is made' player made custom enemies, What maps are used, where things might be placed, how the missions go along.
You DO NOT own the *pieces* or the *powers* of the characters you make. You ONLY own how the assembly goes together, as well as the description, and that's it.
Read through Title 17, Chapter 2 and you'll find that copyright ownership (which you get on your characters automatically when you create them, per other sections of Title 17) cannot be transferred by means other than a written contract signed by both parties.
A paper contract, that is, not a click-through agreement. Implied consent (they can't PROVE that it was you who clicked the button) is not enough to transfer ownership, and I don't believe it would stand up in court. Written contracts require certain components legally, and EULAs are missing most of them.
Now, the nonexclusive license for NCSoft to *use* your characters if they want to is probably valid, but they can't stop *you* from using them, or from licensing their use to others.
Thing about EULAs is that you can't take them at face value. Lawyers can and will put anything they want in there -- whether it's legal or not -- along with an "if certain parts of this agreement are found to be unenforceable, the rest of it still applies" clause. It's the legal equivalent of throwing a bucket full of pancakes at the wall and seeing what sticks.
Those are the most salient points as I see them, as an author and a songwriter who holds registered copyright on some of her work.
Copyright law is a mess. What U.S. Copyright law recognizes is that anything an artist or writer creates is covered by copyright
immediately, whether that artist files for a copyright or not. In the event of a copyright breach, it is up to the author to prove that an alleged breach occurred, which is why most artists and authors will either formally obtain a copyright or at the least maintain notes, drawings, something that can be dated to prove they came up with a particular work first.
In the cases of our characters, the character concepts in general as well as the backstorys belong to us; NCSoft has no rights to any of them as long we do not include any information that IS specifically covered in the EULA, which is anything to do with Paragon City, Rogue Isles, Statesman, Dream Doctor, other signature characters or any other material included in game or in publication via NCSoft. I can write a story about my character Ganymede, who gained the power to manipulate dark energy after an encounter with a life-stealing alien who crash-landed on Earth, and be perfectly within my rights as an author. However, I am not legally allowed to refer to her as a Warshade, call the life-stealing alien a Nictus or describe her powers as Umbral Blasts or Umbral Auras. Ganymede, her backstory, her powers and personality and her future are mine. The specific interpretation of Ganymede the Warshade, her powers in CoH, the exact likeness of her character and costume pieces and the animations of her powers belong to NCSoft.
Hope that helps. This thread has gotten testy at times. We are all on the same side here, guys and gals. We miss our world and our community, and taking frustration out on each other isn't going to help. I still remain hopeful, so much so that I keep looking for a blue power ring to fly through my window any moment. If only...
