TD's have leeway// Re: COTKU

• From: R. Robert Hentzel <topquark_at_rhentzel.yahoo.invalid>
• Date: Wed, 05 Nov 2003 18:22:13 -0000
• Message-ID: <bobf4l+650n_at_...>

> That said, central governing bodies can get in the way. Part of the
> reason (in my own opinion) that the ACF format has become so
> widespread is that the rules for ACF are not copyrighted, like NAQT 
or
> CBI, so ACF-style tournaments can be played without having to pay 
for
> permission to use a certain set of rules.

I'm sorry to be late with this reply, but there have been a lot of 
questions to be written lately. :-)

I'm sure that Stephen knows this, but NAQT's rules, while 
copyrighted, are free for use by any team under two conditions:

1. Teams give credit to NAQT
2. If teams use any rules variations, they report that to us along 
with how they were received.

A large number of tournaments do, in fact, use NAQT rules and there 
has never been a problem with them doing so.  There is even a 
term, "NAQT-style," for tournaments run with NAQT rules but not NAQT 
questions.

For the record, I strongly suspect that the ACF rules are copyrighted 
as well and there is merely an implicit understanding that schools 
are free to duplicate and distribute them as necessary for the 
running of a tournament.

-- R. Robert Hentzel
President and Chief Technical Officer,
National Academic Quiz Tournaments, LLC