In an attempt to alleviate some of the stress on the forums due to questions about what constitutes the in-game crime of copyright violation, this guide was drafted to help players make educated decisions about what is safe to upload to Popomundo, in an easily understandable, plain English format. Be forewarned: this guide is a lengthy read, significantly longer than the agreement itself, since it explains things, rather than just stating them. Still, if you're having trouble understanding the agreement, it might be worth taking the time to read.
This guide is in no way certified or guaranteed by Popomundo.com or its representatives. It was drafted by a player of the game, and is not guaranteed to be up to date. The Popomundo Content Agreement may very well have been updated more recently than this guide, and it is in the best interest of all players to consult the content agreement itself for changes each time they wish to upload content. This guide exists merely to help those who aren't versed in legalese understand the agreement. This guide was most recently updated on 18 February, 2007.
I am not a lawyer. I do, however, deal with copyright on a regular basis in the audio production field, and have had some training in understanding contracts (which the Popomundo Content Agreement essentially is). For ethical purposes, I cannot guarantee with complete certainty that my interpretation is legally sound, but I'm as confident in it as any non-lawyer could possibly be, and it is entirely based on my experience with and teaching from entertainment lawyers. If you have any questions, I play the game as Louis Radywonik. Feel free to look me up.
The first two paragraphs of the agreement serve to define terms that will be used throughout the rest of it, and establish the agreement's breadth. The only really important things here (from an “understanding the agreement” perspective) are its statements on how the agreement affects you.
This section of the agreement outlines what your rights are as a content author, what Popomundo's rights are as the receiver of uploaded content, and what guarantees you're making to Popomundo by agreeing. It also deals briefly with liability.
When you submit content to Popomundo or any other web site, you are making it publicly available. This means some unscrupulous person might come along and steal your content to use for their own purposes. Understand that this risk is inherent in putting content on the Internet. If something should stay top secret, don't upload it. Popomundo can't be held responsible if you do, and someone takes it.
Nearly everything you submit to Popomundo can be considered content. When your character writes a song, if you fill anything into the lyrics text box, that's content. If you submit an article to It's Pop, that's content. If you make a post in the forum, that's content. If you link a picture for your character, artist, or an album cover, that's content (though the game authorities seem not to be particularly concerned about this one). Think of it this way: if you are putting it on display, it's content.
Song titles, however, are not content. No title is ever protected under copyright, and there's nothing in the content agreement which suggests Popomundo will treat titles any differently from the numerous international treaties on the subject. I'm not sure why you'd want to, but if you do want to name your next song “Hey Jude,” go right ahead. Just leave the lyrics field blank, or come up with your own content for it.
This section's main function is dealing with liability. You'll likely never need to worry about it. It states that anyone visiting the site is allowed to view content on it, and keep it for their own enjoyment, but not to publish it elsewhere, sell it, or do other unethical things of that nature. It also bails Popomundo out of being responsible if someone finds their own material was submitted to Popomundo by someone else without their permission. It instead shifts that responsibility to the person who uploaded it. Don't use content that isn't your own, and you won't have to worry about this.
This section states that if anything you do with the Popomundo web site gets you into hot water, Popomundo doesn't owe you anything, and will stay completely uninvolved. This means that if you get sued for using someone else's content, Popomundo isn't paying for it. Use your head and you'll be fine.
The last two paragraphs of the agreement (“Discontinuance or Change of Popomundo,” and “Modification of Terms and Conditions”) are simple but important. They state that the people behind Popomundo are allowed to make any changes to the game or the content agreement, ranging from the extremely simple (e.g. correcting a typo) to the extremely severe (e.g. abandoning the game and deleting everything on its servers). If they do anything like that, it is your responsibility to find out about it, and act accordingly. The best way to do this is to occasionally check for changes to the content agreement.
Legally speaking, yes, you retain the rights to the content you upload, and nothing in the agreement prevents you from using them elsewhere. However, if your lyrics are found published elsewhere (even on your own web site), Popomundo has no method of proving that you are who you say you are (in this case, the author of the lyrics). Because of this, they might have to err on the side of caution, assume you've stolen the lyrics, and treat your character accordingly. This means you're taking a risk using lyrics that you've published elsewhere within Popomundo, even if you have legitimately written them yourself. From the game's perspective, it's less damaging to make you a bit angry if you are the real owner than to face a court case if you aren't who you claim to be.
You do, however, still own the rights to the lyrics you've uploaded. So if you feel a pressing need to publish them elsewhere, you can always delete them from your character, then publish to your heart's content. That way, you haven't violated any agreement with Popomundo, and your character isn't breaking any rules.
…Isn't copyright non-confusing and fun?
The vast majority of the content you'll submit to Popomundo will be song lyrics, It's Pop articles, and forum posts. If you put anything in any of those which you didn't create, you're going to get into trouble. Your character will be punished (quite harshly) in the game, and if the real life content owners find out, they might take expensive legal action against you. The best way to avoid this is to use your head, and follow the very, very simple rules.
If you didn't create it, don't submit it.