Let me say up front: I think it's an exciting idea that anybody wants to write a novel about anything! And the stories in The Republic Reborn are certainly interesting and could be used as inspiration. But... there are several important considerations that must be taken into account. And I will go into a bit of detail here because this implicates what has become a recurrent problem at AncientWorlds.

There is a common misunderstanding that information that does not bear a copyright notice is not protected. This was true under various earlier versions of various copyright laws. It is no longer true. The current version of copyright protection applicable in the United States presumes that all works posted on the internet are "published" for the purposes of copyright protection and enjoy such protection. Unless material on the internet is specifically dedicated to the public domain, it is copyrighted by the author.

Thus, the specific storylines created and posted in The Republic Reborn actually are copyright protected and the rights inhere to the authors with a caveat concerning the terms of the User Submission Agreement with AncientWorlds, L.L.C.:

"By posting or making available Communications of any kind, you grant to AncientWorlds, LLC a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable nonexclusive license to use, reproduce, modify, publish, translate, distribute, perform and display those Communications alone or as part of other works in any form, media, or technology whether now known or hereafter developed and sublicense such rights through multiple tiers of sublicenses; you grant to other Users the right to access, view, store, and reproduce the Communications for personal use and not for reposting on AncientWorlds or on any other site."

What this means is that AW has the right to display your works--and people have the right to read what you have posted at AW. You, as a reader, have the right to access, view--and "store" or "reproduce" for your PERSONAL use--this information. However, that language is merely a concession to the reality of how cache files on a computer work. It does not mean that a member of AW has the right to "use" the storylines, graphics, or actual words that are posted on any area of AW for any purpose other than under the terms of the User Agreement.

Using another person's storyline or a character subject to copyright protection is creating what is called a "derivative work."

Derivative works are a rather tricky area of copyright law, too complicated for me to outline in a post on this board. I can provide a more in depth explanation if somebody wants one. The bottom line, however, is that nobody has the right to create a work of fiction using the characters and stories in RR any more than he or she would have the right to do this with a published novel by Stephen King.

What this means, for example, is that none of us can take the character created by Brutus as "Lucius Junius Brutus Numidicus" and use him as a character in a novel derived from RR unless we have written permission from the person who created Numidicus.

Nobody can take the character of Aemilia Paulla, as I created her, and use her in a novel without my written permission.

Now--this does not mean that nobody can ever write a novel "inspired by" the posts in The Republic Reborn. What do I mean by this?

Well... I might own the copyright to "Aemilia Paulla" the characrer in RR--as I see her--and as I've portrayed her. But I don't "own" the concept of a Roman woman with a reprobate father who was willing to sell her to his patron for a profit. That happened in Rome. I do not "own" that idea. So, if you wanted to write a novel in which something along those lines occurs--you have every right to do that. You just can't use my "concept" or my "creation" of such a woman.

It's possible that many members of RR would be willing to sign a release so you can use their work. But you need to approach each member of RR individually to find out what they are willing to let you do with their creations.

My suggestion is that, if you want to write a novel "inspired by" the posts in The Republic Reborn, you can and should do that. But you need to make sure that you are not taking the creative work of one of the writers here which is covered by copyright.