Originally Posted by Iyanga
The addons I write don't contain trademarks of ZeniMax, so I don't need to point out that they are trademarks.
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The bit they want you to add is three sentences. The first is a short, clear, plain-language that simply is intended to make it clear that your (or mine) add-on is not part of ZeniMax Media's IP, nor do they claim any responsibility if the add-ons re-formats the users hard drive.
Honestly, pretty fair request, all things considered. Also it accidentally makes it clear that your add-on is
not their intellectual property, because otherwise they couldn't necessarily disclaim all responsibility for it if they did own it.
The second simply states that "Elder Scrolls" is a registered trademark of ZeniMax Media, which is a simple true statement of little consequence, other than to acknowledge they do own the trademark, and thus they can "control" the usage of their trademark, or try to.
So long as you do not refer explicitly to the "Elder Scrolls" or "ZeniMax" you have no obligation to disclose that they are trademarked phrases. You see unlike copyright, trademarks owners have to make an attempt to control appropriate usage of their trademarks or risk "dilution," a legal thingie, not a janitorial metaphor. So if you do use the phrase, then it is a fair and modest request to simply disclose that "Elder Scrolls" is a registered trademark in various nation-states.
The third sentence is actually
stupid, because although this originated with the Buenos Aires Convention of 1910, which US was signatory of, but the Universal Copyright Convention, which US signed in 1955, eliminates the necessity, and the phrase is now entirely obsolete since 2000 when Nicaragua became last Buenos Aires member to become either a Berne or UCC convention member.
But Intellectual Property lawyers are conservative bunch even amongst conservatives, and the publishing industry is notorious at resisting change (and progress), so its usage continues primarily out of copy-and-paste
legal work.
Disclaimer: I wrote this, and I do
not practice, nor am I licensed to practice law in any lawful jurisdiction. The reader of this forum is clearly not dumb enough to believe this constitutes legal advice.