Talk:Evil Overlord List

message: The notability arguments above boil down to (1) somebody got busted for plagiarizing it once, so it must be notable, and (2) lots of geeks know about it. I don't accept either of these; people get busted for plagiarizing trivial documents all the time. This does not elevate the documents to notable status. Should a Wikipedia article be created for every document plagiarized by Blair Hornstine? And the "geeks know about it test" come up pretty thin -- a google search for text in the list itself, omitting trivials, finds only 144 hits, which seems light for an "internet meme". Nexis finds no print hits, and only one blog hit (which seems to be a quotation of a single line from the list).
I accept that some people have heard the joke, and that it is notable to them, but it doesn't seem to me that many people have heard it, or that it's sufficiently notable to merit an article here. I'm calling for AFD. Uucp
:You must be using some other form of Google, because when I did a search for the phrase "Evil Overlord List", I found 1,040,000 hits, which seems about right for an "internet meme".  It seems to me that you're intentionally skewing the evidence to support your own personal dislike of this article.
:The list is a standard reference for science fiction cliches, used by notable writing instructors including Teresa Nielsen Hayden to illustrate points about how cliches should be approached in writing.  This suggests to me that it is notable. See reference number 4 on the current version of the article, for excerpts from her lecture on the subject. JulesH 16:19, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Actually google only gets 143,000  results for Evil Overlord List and 22,100 for the phrase in quotation. So it really hurts the notability of it. However, due to the guidelines it does cite sources and therefore good without the tag. Even if only 10 people have ever heard of it, apparently it still meets notability guidelines. 72.221.114.113 (talk) 06:19, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Notability, part two 

message: This line is in plaintext on the page:
"This is much bullshit george w bush"
but isn't in there when I go to edit. Someone fix, please? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 12.216.83.78 (talk) 18:51, 10 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Vandalism 

message: I think this needs to be fixed up a little. It looks really sloppy. The list needs proper punctuation and to be numbered.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sworded lion26 (talk • contribs) 00:53, 10 February 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Clean Up 

message: Anon: stop posting the Butler list here. I realize you're basing your posting on "The following list isn't copyrighted to anyone, as we didn't think to copyright it while we were creating it.  If you enjoy it, feel free to pass it along or post it anywhere with no strings attached.", but Butler is wrong.
Copyright doesn't work that way. Everything is copyrighted by default (all rights not explicitly granted are reserved). And further, this proprietary non-licensing is viral: even if every contributor but the last had explicitly licensed their contribution into the public domain as required (which they didn't so this is a moot point), the last's non-public domain contribution turns it from a PD list into a derivative but completely copyrighted list. That list cannot be posted on Wikipedia, short of getting each and every contributor to license their contribution appropriately. Don't add it back. --Gwern  (contribs) 23:31 10 February 2008 (GMT)
:I contacted Butler via email about this, specifically wondering what he meant by "use it how you like" and so on.  He responded thusly:  "Technically, this person you're talking about is correct.  However, they are speaking from a position of ignorance.  Legally, I am the sole copyright holder through work-for-hire transferrance.  It says on my site explicitly that anything submitted to me becomes my property and that by submitting to me, you agree that its mine.  That makes it mine.  And I released the Evil Overlord List from copyright, and did so quite legally.  So you tell that "arrogant so-and-so" as you call him that he needs to climb down off his copyright soapbox and smell the public domain."  So... any further questions?
::I don't buy that. There's nothing 'for hire' here, and I am unsure that copyright can be transfered just through a blurb on a webpage - that seems to be beyond what mere EULAs and shrinkwrap licenses can do... 
::I've asked for comments on Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard#Work for hire copyright. --Gwern  (contribs) 00:25 4 March 2008 (GMT)
::That would rather assume that the person submitting anything actually has such right to grant anyway. Much the same as someone pasting a blatant copyvio here despite the "You agree to license your contributions under the GFDL" at the bottom of the edit box, if they don't own the right in the first place, they can't "sell" it on. --81.104.39.63 (talk) 20:14, 4 March 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Good to know. Thanks for commenting. – Luna Santin (talk) 09:58, 5 March 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: *Copyright: it is a tangled and often confusing mess. :) --Moonriddengirl (talk) 13:05, 5 March 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Butler list copyvio 

message: I'm trying to remember if there's enough things that were inspired by the list to mention; or possibly where it's been referenced. I can remember at least three webcomics that were based on it, but that was years ago and can't remember their names.  Also, a few years back I copied onto my computer what was the start of the 'Minion's Motivational Manual' (sample below); something created by the Evil Overlord and handed out to his minions. There was only 21 rules when I took it down, but it had to have continued somewhere. (e.g. Rule #16: If you hear a strange sound outside of your field of vision, call for reinforcements and sound the alarm. Addendum 16.A: Never, under any circumstances, should you check out a situation alone. Addendum 16.B: Unless ordered by your Master. - Rule #13: You shall not be lenient in your shooting lessons. It is expected of you to be able to *hit* whatever you shoot at.)  --Gero (talk) 17:02, 20 July 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Inspired Works? 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

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thread_title:  External links modified