Character Usability - Revision history

Ununnilium at 20:44, 10 December 2018

2018-12-10T20:44:56Z

Ununnilium at 07:33, 10 December 2018

2018-12-10T07:33:14Z

Ununnilium at 07:32, 10 December 2018

2018-12-10T07:32:43Z

Ununnilium at 04:23, 5 December 2018

2018-12-05T04:23:15Z

Ununnilium at 04:23, 5 December 2018

2018-12-05T04:23:00Z

Ununnilium at 04:22, 5 December 2018

2018-12-05T04:22:29Z

Ununnilium: Created page with "All LNH characters fall into one of several usability categories. These are usually chosen by the character's original creator to define how the character can be used by othe..."

2018-12-05T04:21:32Z

Created page with "All LNH characters fall into one of several usability categories. These are usually chosen by the character's original creator to define how the character can be used by othe..."

New page

All LNH characters fall into one of several usability categories. These are usually chosen by the character's original creator to define how the character can be used by other [[Writers]]. Note that this doesn't affect legal copyright status; it's more of a courtesy thing than anything else. A character's owner can change their usability status at any time.

'''Reserved:''' This means one of two things:
* The owner of these characters doesn't want other writers to use them. (You can still ask, but don't be surprised by a "No".)
* A writer has reserved a Not Reserved or Free For Use character temporarily, as they'll be using them in a story and other writers using them would be problematic. They return to their previous status when the writer is done, and if the writer goes out of communication for over a year, they automatically go back.

'''Reserved, but Usable With Permission:''' If you want to use them for anything more than a brief cameo (even then it's still polite to ask first), ask the owners for permission. Most people will allow you to use them; often, they'll ask that you send a copy of the work to check over first. Some people will say "No". Please respect that.

This is the default category for new characters; a writer has to explicitly declare their characters to be in a lower category.

'''Not Reserved:''' The creator of these characters is still using them, but hey, you can use them too! However, you should ask before making any changes to them.

'''Free For Use:''' These characters have been given up to the common toy box. Use them whenever and however you like! However, as these characters are a common resource, after you're done using them, you should generally leave them in a state where they can be used by others.

----

[[LNHY]] characters fall under a slightly different system. From the [[http://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/2010-December/006791.html|LNHY Never Asked Questions]]:

* Level 1: Public Domain Characters:
* These are characters that are shared by the LNHY [[Imprint]] [[Writers]] and can be used freely by any LNHY writer.

* Level 2: Usable Without Permission Characters:
* These are characters that are owned by a particular writer, but the writer doesn't care if people use the character without permission. The owner can, at any time, shift the character to another level. All members of the LNH in [[Looniverse Y]], as well as members of the [[System Corrupters]], are either Usable Without Permission or Public Domain.

* Level 3: Need to Ask Permission First Before Using Characters:
* These are characters where you need to ask the owner permission first if you're planning on using them. If the owner of the character is unreachable, don't use this character. These characters aren't allowed to be members of the LNH or System Corrupters.

* Level 4: Don't Touch this Character, And Don't Bother Asking for Permission:
* These are characters where it probably would be a pointless exercise to ask for permission to use. But don't let that stop you. These characters aren't allowed to be members of the LNH or System Corrupters.<<BR>>

The reason for the rule that all members of the LNH in Looniverse Y have to be usable without permission is to solve the whole 'what happens to a character once their writer leaves' dilemma.

. In the classic LNH, what characters are okay to use has always been one of biggest [[The Flame Wars|Flame War]] starters. Certain Public Domain characters, like [[Cheesecake Eater Lad]] and [[Dr. Stomper]], aren't really Public Domain characters. They're characters whose creators kind of abandoned them and it eventually just became acceptable to use them without permission. A lot of the old-timers in the classic LNH know which characters they can use without permission without worrying about a writer coming back to bite their head. A lot of the ethics around this are rather murky.

. In the LNHY imprint, you don't have to worry about this, because all members of the LNH are usable without permission.

----

[[LNH20]] characters fall under yet another system, taken and simplified from the above:

* '''General Use:''' You can use these characters in your story without asking their creator. You should still ask if you want to make some major change that will affect how the character is used going forward.

* '''Ask Before Using:''' Self-explanatory; you need to ask for permission before using these.

* '''Reserved:''' The creator doesn't want anyone else to use these characters, at least for now. You can still ask, but don't be surprised if you get turned down. Characters from one of the other categories can also be Reserved temporarily, as in the Classic LNH.

There's also the "future sanity rule": if a character is not General Use and has an important role in the setting (leader, president, Sorcerer Supreme) that is getting in the way of other writers, ''and'' the creator isn't responding to requests, then other writers are explicitly allowed to write that role out, even if that requires a minor cameo by the "forbidden" character.

[[Category:Characters]]

@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 : The reason for the rule that all members of the LNH in Looniverse Y have to be usable without permission is to solve the whole 'what happens to a character once their writer leaves' dilemma.
-: In the classic LNH, what characters are okay to use has always been one of biggest [[The Flame Wars|Flame War]] starters.  Certain Public Domain characters, like [[Cheesecake-Eater Lad]] and [[Dr. Stomper]], aren't really Public Domain characters. They're characters whose creators kind of abandoned them and it eventually just became acceptable to use them without permission. A lot of the old-timers in the classic LNH know which characters they can use without permission without worrying about a writer coming back to bite their head. A lot of the ethics around this are rather murky.
+: In the classic LNH, what characters are okay to use has always been one of biggest [[The Flame Wars|Flame War]] starters.  Certain Public Domain characters, like [[Cheesecake-Eater Lad]] and [[Doctor Stomper]], aren't really Public Domain characters. They're characters whose creators kind of abandoned them and it eventually just became acceptable to use them without permission. A lot of the old-timers in the classic LNH know which characters they can use without permission without worrying about a writer coming back to bite their head. A lot of the ethics around this are rather murky.
 : In the LNHY imprint, you don't have to worry about this, because all members of the LNH are usable without permission.

@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 [[LNHY]] characters fall under a slightly different system.  From the [http://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/2010-December/006791.html LNHY Never Asked Questions]:
-* Level 1:  Public Domain Characters:
+* Level 1: '''Public Domain Characters''':
 ** These are characters that are shared by the LNHY [[Imprint]] [[Writers]] and can be used freely by any LNHY writer.
-* Level 2:  Usable Without Permission Characters:
+* Level 2: '''Usable Without Permission Characters''':
 ** These are characters that are owned by a particular writer, but the writer doesn't care if people use the character without permission.  The owner can, at any time, shift the character to another level.  All members of the LNH in [[Looniverse Y]], as well as members of the [[System Corrupters]], are either Usable Without Permission or Public Domain.
-* Level 3:  Need to Ask Permission First Before Using Characters:
+* Level 3: '''Need to Ask Permission First Before Using Characters''':
 ** These are characters where you need to ask the owner permission first if you're planning on using them.  If the owner of the character is unreachable, don't use this character.  These characters aren't allowed to be members of the LNH or System Corrupters.
-* Level 4:  Don't Touch this Character, And Don't Bother Asking for Permission:
+* Level 4: '''Don't Touch this Character, And Don't Bother Asking for Permission''':
 ** These are characters where it probably would be a pointless exercise to ask for permission to use.  But don't let that stop you.  These characters aren't allowed to be members of the LNH or System Corrupters.

@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 : The reason for the rule that all members of the LNH in Looniverse Y have to be usable without permission is to solve the whole 'what happens to a character once their writer leaves' dilemma.
-: In the classic LNH, what characters are okay to use has always been one of biggest [[The Flame Wars|Flame War]] starters.  Certain Public Domain characters, like [[Cheesecake Eater Lad]] and [[Dr. Stomper]], aren't really Public Domain characters.  They're characters whose creators kind of abandoned them and it eventually just became acceptable to use them without permission.  A lot of the old-timers in the classic LNH know which characters they can use without permission without worrying about a writer coming back to bite their head.  A lot of the ethics around this are rather murky.
+: In the classic LNH, what characters are okay to use has always been one of biggest [[The Flame Wars|Flame War]] starters.  Certain Public Domain characters, like [[Cheesecake-Eater Lad]] and [[Dr. Stomper]], aren't really Public Domain characters. They're characters whose creators kind of abandoned them and it eventually just became acceptable to use them without permission. A lot of the old-timers in the classic LNH know which characters they can use without permission without worrying about a writer coming back to bite their head. A lot of the ethics around this are rather murky.
 : In the LNHY imprint, you don't have to worry about this, because all members of the LNH are usable without permission.

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 * Level 1:  Public Domain Characters:
 ** These are characters that are shared by the LNHY [[Imprint]] [[Writers]] and can be used freely by any LNHY writer.
 * Level 2:  Usable Without Permission Characters:
 ** These are characters that are owned by a particular writer, but the writer doesn't care if people use the character without permission.  The owner can, at any time, shift the character to another level.  All members of the LNH in [[Looniverse Y]], as well as members of the [[System Corrupters]], are either Usable Without Permission or Public Domain.
 * Level 3:  Need to Ask Permission First Before Using Characters:
 ** These are characters where you need to ask the owner permission first if you're planning on using them.  If the owner of the character is unreachable, don't use this character.  These characters aren't allowed to be members of the LNH or System Corrupters.
 * Level 4:  Don't Touch this Character, And Don't Bother Asking for Permission:
-** These are characters where it probably would be a pointless exercise to ask for permission to use.  But don't let that stop you.  These characters aren't allowed to be members of the LNH or System Corrupters.<<BR>>
+** These are characters where it probably would be a pointless exercise to ask for permission to use.  But don't let that stop you.  These characters aren't allowed to be members of the LNH or System Corrupters.
 : The reason for the rule that all members of the LNH in Looniverse Y have to be usable without permission is to solve the whole 'what happens to a character once their writer leaves' dilemma.