dcg_in_cc

Ultimately, I would say the most important thing to do is look at your job contract. Some will specificially state that if you make a "teaching tool" and if you use it in the classroom, then you created this "teaching tool" for the purpose of doing your job. Since (according to them) you did this for your job, this was done in the scope of your job, and the employer (district, university, private school) can have, "Unlimited, copyright free, royalty free" access to what you created. It doesn't matter if you did it on your own time, with your own money, at your own house, they will claim that you did it to work for them. Check your contract carefully. Of course, I'm talking purely from a point of view in the USA, other countrys may, of course, vary. http://ict-design.org/2011/04/28/do-teachers-have-right-to-their-intellectual-property/ http://srahuff.wordpress.com/2011/09/28/a-teachers-intellectual-property/ And for a really scary perspective, look at this http://www.aasa.org/SchoolAdministratorArticle.aspx?id=5528

Thanks, that is very similar to what I had in mind. I see that the Brick Testament is offered for sale, also. My project would be educational, and it's still in the preliminary and exploratory stages, as you can see. I have been leery of expending a large amount of effort only to have it nixed by a corporation, however. Ultimately, I will do as Aanchir has said, after I have a more concrete idea, I will send it to LEGO and see what they have to say...But what concerns me in that regard is a possible snagging of the idea, however unrealistic that concern may be. In this regard, however, I find that pre-emptive permission (or leniency) will be much more productive to seek, than after-the-fact forgiveness. I did find the incident with the "Rock Band" interesting, and as nobody has mentioned it, I will assume it is Verboten. It does shed different light on my perceptions. Ultimately, I will be doing something "Educational," and as my intent is to publish not as a hard copy textbook, but rather in PDF format, I *might* be able to avoid general "publishing house" issues of the idea of "profit" or "not for profit." However, I may be limited in terms of actual ability to use this as a primary tool, IF this is not vetted and peer reviewed. I'm just thinking out loud at this point though. I would like to thank you all for your insight and replies.

One video that I made was the following: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=83507 It contains death, blood (red bricks) and cruelty to a real life animal, (the pirates are attacked by and kill a crocodile).

This was an exploratory video (no audio) in which I practiced showing how Legos could be used in a foreign language environment. I used this to demonstrate "verbs in third person plural."

Good afternoon, I apologize for possibly misposting this topic in the wrong area of the forum, but I know that you all will be able to point me in the right direction, and ultimately give me the answer that I think that I will get, which unfortunately will probably not be the answer that I want. I've worked in foreign language education for 20 years. One thing that has been sorely lacking is a good accompaniment to foreign language textbooks, that has a compelling story. Ultimately, my intent was to create a story with photos/screenshots of legos, that are used in conjunction with basic foreign language teaching sequencing, to introduce a story, while at the same time introducing foreign language concepts. I have made a short video testing the relative ease at which this can be done, and its appeal, and I have received good feedback on this. I'm deeply concerned that if I do so, and should this ultimately be slated for publication, that I would wind up with legal issues with Lego. Bear in mind that I do not in any way intend or wish to "break the law," nor violate any user agreement, in a strict legal sense, but I also do *not* wish to damage any goodwill that Lego itself has established with the fan community. I had considered using my own Legos that I have to do the following: 1. Create photos to be used with the story. 2. Integrate photos into grammar and vocabulary exercises (initially in PDF) 3. Use these (1) and (2) in an academic environment initally as a supplement to language instruction but ultimately as a sole textbook in a class. Thus, what concerns me is the Intellectual Property that Lego has over what would probably be a derivative of their product (non-parody). My concern is that if my product were distributed for money (either through a textbook company or through my own PDF) or for free, whether this would possibly infringe on Lego, to the extent that they would be able to not only "nix" the product but also "own" what I have created. I did for a while work for a school district that did say that any materials that I made on my own time and used in the classroom, that this district still did have "perpetual, royalty-free, unlimited copyright access to this and all derived works." I subsequently was also considering using Lego Digital Designer to create and possibly "screen shot" some of the more brick-intense constructions and settings, but I haven't installed and read the EULA of LDD yet. I apologize in advance if I have missed any stickied posts or major threads discussing this issue, but I haven't seen any that discuss this issue in a cursory glance. Thank you for your time, In delving further on the forums, I'm now rather sure that my answer will be a definite, "NO." I had intended to provide a Dungeons and Dragons style environment, with two characters traveling through a "lord of the rings" style world, but issues would arise that would involve, say, combat with other creatures, slaying dragons, and other complex social issues, and these would seem to be in violation of: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=69445 n this announcement, they clearly state what they will not produce; they are as follows- Politics and political symbols Religious references including symbols, buildings, or people Sex, drugs, or smoking Alcohol in any present day situation Swearing Death, killing, blood, terrorism, or torture First-person shooter video games Warfare or war vehicles in any situation post-WWII to present Racism, bullying, or cruelty to real life animals Now, I do hope that I am wrong, but my derivative product would include, "death and killing." Not in a glorified manner, mind you, but they would exist. Part of one activity was the Role Playing of a Dwarf and an Elf, (and their canonical pessimistic and optimistic attitudes) and how to deal with three goblin prisoners, with the dwarf wanting to exterminate them, and the Elf wanting to free them.