Quote from: ggroy;422386American copyright law:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/302.html

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/304.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries%27_copyright_length


The first publishing of "Cthulhu" was in 1928.

According to American copyright law, the copyright on something first published in 1928 will expire 95 years later in 2023.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._P._Lovecraft#Copyright

Obviously this only applies if the right is defended/asserted.  The history of the Lovecraft genre would seem to make this moot.

Quote from: Peregrin;422390I thought it was shakey for Cthulhu since there were disagreements over who exactly owned the copyright?

It most likely will not stop the Cthulhu (alleged) copyright holders from launching infringement lawsuits.

For a small rpg company or book publisher, it can be the difference between being in business or bankrupt.

Quote from: Professort Zoot;422392Obviously this only applies if the right is defended/asserted.  The history of the Lovecraft genre would seem to make this moot.

Of course.

The only flare up I'm aware of, was the Cthulhu mythos issue in the 1E AD&D "Deities and Demigods" book.

Quote from: Spike;422388I hate to say it, Bub, but this is very much looking like 'I want to be outraged against something'.

The Nazzadi are fucking Dark Blue.  They don't look like any human race whatsoever, and I strongly doubt you could find a single line of text anywhere in the entire line of books that suggests their facial features look like any particular ethnicity.  The art is cartoony enough, and in the character chapter at least all one artist, that trying to assign an ethnotype to Fucking Blue People is silly.

pg 38 of the corebook, under the two page section marked "Nazzadi"

"Based closely off of our DNA, the Nazzadi are graceful Caucasian- or Asian-appearing people with jet-black skin and hair and red eyes that shine in the dark."

QuoteAlso: China DOES get plenty of mention in the main book: Hastur's Cannibal/monster horde has over run it and eaten and or (in no particular order) raped everyone.

No, over half of China is free of the cult of Hastur, as the map on pg 43 of the corebook indicates. As well, though I don't expect the Cthulhutech authors to realise this, the section that the cult of Hastur has is mostly barren desert & mountain (the Migou have barren plains and tundra). China's RL population is massively concentrated on its eastern seaboard, which is almost untouched by the Migou and the Hastur cult.

China is brushed over rapidly, as is most of the world that isn't white people. Heck, I've seen fans of the game on RPG.net complain that the setting expansion barely even touches on it as well.

Now, by itself, ignoring China is not proof of racism, but there's a lot of little things like that (including the Nazzadi thing) that collectively add up to making the game "Whites and Japs save the world aka themselves!"

Eh. That'll show me to ignore maps...

Also: where do I send you the cookie for beating my challenge?  Talk about a stupid line to put into a description of blue alien hybrid clones!

Quote from: ggroy;422396Of course.

The only flare up I'm aware of, was the Cthulhu mythos issue in the 1E AD&D "Deities and Demigods" book.

Which is strange, really, because there has been a shit ton of Mythos fiction written over the years, and to my (completely fragmentary and unimpressive) knowledge, all of it has gone uncontested. I'd also be interested to know if the guys who made the Call of Cthulu silent film had any kind of license.

I guess I'll start wringing my hands and crying now.

Seriously, look at Africa now or Eastern Europe 15 years ago. Rape camps happen a LOT even without Cthulhu influence. Not adding them would deny human impulses.

I've run the game as urban horror conspiracy. Went just fine. I only own the corebook though and people generally agree that it is pretty good and the strongest part of the line.

Quote from: Spike;422426Eh. That'll show me to ignore maps...

Also: where do I send you the cookie for beating my challenge?  Talk about a stupid line to put into a description of blue alien hybrid clones!

No worries mate, it's not like you wrote it. But yeah, I read that and was all WTFBBQ?!?

I'm kind of pissed at the game, because the idea of a technologically advanced humanity taking on the footsoldiers of the elder gods is a great idea (cf. Delta Green, Laundry Files), and Cthulhutech manages to do it in what I consider just about the worst way.

Quote from: danbuter;422441I guess I'll start wringing my hands and crying now.

Seriously, look at Africa now or Eastern Europe 15 years ago. Rape camps happen a LOT even without Cthulhu influence. Not adding them would deny human impulses.

It's not the rape camps per se that seem extraneous, it's the focus on them, on forced impregnation, on Nazi rape machines that rape you to steal your soul, boss monsters with save vs. rape powers, and at least two major factions (Shub-Niggurath's cult and the Order of Dagon) whose masterplan is "YOU GONNA GIT RAPED!".

Also, it's mainly inhuman monsters doing the raping, not people.

Even weirder, the rape isn't actually necessary under the technological scheme of the setting. They can grow body parts and have highly advanced genetic engineering. They create and alter lifeforms all the time. The Migou and the Cthulu forces doing this have access to even better tech in that regard than the NEG (the good guys). But instead of doing that to produce say, perfect clones of the Deep Ones, it's rape, rape, rape.

Quote from: Aos;422439Which is strange, really, because there has been a shit ton of Mythos fiction written over the years, and to my (completely fragmentary and unimpressive) knowledge, all of it has gone uncontested. I'd also be interested to know if the guys who made the Call of Cthulu silent film had any kind of license.

Well, considering that August Dereleth and Arkham Press and a couple other folks have all laid claim to being the rightful inheritors I don't think anyone's going to clean up that mess.

With that said:

the Lovecraft (and Elric) sections in the D&DG were put there with the permission of Chaosium, after TSR asked.

They were removed (after a print run of 40k or more books - they are not rare) after the Blume Brothers discovered that a TSR product was "advertising" a competitors products (Elric! and Call of Cthulhu).

Had Los Bros. Assholes not thrown a hissy, there'd never have been an "expurgated" D&DG.

TSR asked, permission was granted.  There were no IP violations on the part of TSR.

Quote from: Spike;422382I've run Cthulutech, so I'm a fully credentialed expert.

I won't dispute that there are rape camps in the game, but the overt rapey sexualization of the game really doesn't come into focus until you add the later books.  Off the top of my head the only rape camps mentioned are the deep ones on the coast and pretty much all of china is one big rape/cannibalism fest to show just how bad things get when the great old ones are winning.

The Fun Guys from Yuggoth don't, to my recollection, have any rape camps, but they do mind rape people into being on their side... or maybe replace them with exact clones, I can't recall which.

So, lotsa rape but not quite that much rape. That's reassuring to read, since there are too few games that get the amount of rape just right.

_______________________
(caveat1: rape is horrible, evil, and I will not have it in my games. just to make this absolutely clear.)
(caveat2: the basic idea of Cthulhus-vs-mecha is cool as hell, though, the best spin on the Mythos since Delta Green)

Mecha + Cthulhu = x

Cthulhu = Tentacles, therefore

Mecha + Tentacles `= x

Mecha = Anime, therefore


Anime + Tentacles = x

I am not surprised!


What naive Settemrbini thought, though:

Cthulhu + Mecha = x

Mecha = Battletech, therefore

Cthulhu + BattleTech = x

Cthulhu = ultra-bad-ass aliens that are hard to kill, therefore

Great Old Ones vs. House Steiner == AWESOME!!

Sadly we got anime in the mix and that spoilt it all.

Quote from: thedungeondelver;422456Well, considering that August Dereleth and Arkham Press and a couple other folks have all laid claim to being the rightful inheritors I don't think anyone's going to clean up that mess.

August Derleth having himself, through/with Arkham House, stepped forward to stop the NY ex-wife to lay claim on Lovecraft's literary legacy herself (who, by all accounts, was quite the utilitarian/bitch ex-wife, if you get my drift).

I agree that any copyright dispute over the Cthulhu Mythos are unlikely to ever be resolved before it is certain every single piece of writing makes it into public domain.

It's kind of pointless now. The Mythos is, in effect, into the public domain. Might as well accept that.

Still fantasizing about Deep-Ones vs. Jägermechs...

"Hauptmann Redlich, where is your goddamn Rifleman company, we need help here with that Wing of Byakee!"

"Alpha-Lance requesting LRM-strike at ze-ro-se-ven-fi-ver, Shoggoth armed and dangerous, repeat..."

"LAM-Regiment Osano-Wo: It is my honour to inform you that the Dragon has chosen you for the Kamikaze attack on Hastur. BANZAI!"

I'd do it with Heavy Gear rules, personally. HG even has a psyche score representing how well-balanced psychologically you are.