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25 | Implementing an existing (but out of print) game electronically One of my favorite games is the old Avalon Hill class, PanzerBlitz. I would like to implement it electronically, and have a couple questions related to that Would I be in legal trouble if I do this? (note this is not for sale or distribution) How would I go about implementing the hex grid and piece database most effectively (each piece has a variety of 'factors' (movement, carryability, attack, defense, unit type)? The game play and mechanics are already well defined in the written rules so I'm not writing the game from scratch just programming it to follow the board game. |
25 | Legal issues around using real players names and team emblems in an open source game I'm writing a sports management simulation game. Like most sport management games, it makes heavy use of statistics. I would like to use real players, teams and league names. i) Am I running the risk of getting into legal battles if I should use the real names? ii) Also what about team colours and emblems etc? Update Much thanks for all the input! |
25 | Can I get around a Pokemon copyright with new art and minor changes? If I develop a game that is essentially pretty much Pokemon (you're a trainer, you catch "monsters" and put them to fight and level up etc), and I do the next things I'm a trainer with a 6 "Monsters" party. Mechanics like the PC, Gym Leaders and "tall grass" will be used. I will throw an "ball" to catch the weakened "monster". I will use common item names, like "potion", "high potion". The battles are almost the same as Pokemon in terms of mechanics (four moves, elements, critical, evasion etc) I will NOT use Pokemon names nor graphics... artwork is mine. Some of the attack names will match Pokemon attack names. I think it is okay, like "ember". Come on. With all these points, I shouldn't run into copyright issues or anything right? Even if the game feels a lot like Pokemon itself? |
25 | Is naming an app similar to another app legal? I just finished my first ever app after 1 month of programming it and I'm ready to put it on the app store google play. I searched the stores to see if the name i wanted to name my app was still available. Say i wanted to name my app "example App". I found an app named "exampleApp" but the name "example App" was still available. Could I still legally put my app name as "example App" without worrying about getting sued or having to get my app name changed? The game play and graphics are entirely different. Thanks. P.S. That app also has over 1,000,000 downloads so if I could still name my app "example app" would that be a bad idea and make it harder for people to find my app? Or would it make my app more popular by someone accidentally finding it in the search? |
25 | Making an indie with friends Legal considerations I am close to finishing a game I am making with 3 friends. 1 other coder, and 2 graphic designers. We agreed from the start to split revenue (40 40 10 10). However we have no contract, and I know that I don't own the graphics sounds in my game just because "my friend made it". What steps should we take to make sure that all graphics sounds that were provided by my friends, are actually owned by me (the company). We have a budget of 0 so hiring a lawyer is not an option, should we draft our own contract regarding the revenue share? |
25 | Legally possible to re create remake an old game? Recently I started remaking an old game on Unity. Basically I want to remake an old RPG that was released for Playstation 1. I'm not ripping anything from the old game, all the assets are being created by me. I'm creating everything from the scratch, music, 3D models, gameplay however I will keep the (copyrighted ?) names, I will try to create the characters and maps levels as they were in the original version of Playstation 1 but with better graphics. I'm not planning on selling it or adding in on a platform like Steam (for obvious reasons, copyrights etc), just giving it for free. But I wanna know when I will finish the development, can I share the game on public with other people so they can download it? Can the company that made the original game sue me fine me because of copyrights reasons even though I'm not planning on selling for money? tl dr Remake an non profit game of PS1 from the scratch, can the company that holds the copyrights of the game sue me fine me? |
25 | Is it legally possible to make a clone of the game? With board games like "Monopoly", "Domino", "Checkers", or "Chess", can game developers make clones and sell them? Also, can I make a clone of ZX Spectrum games? Are there many parts of the game with which can do the same? |
25 | Are there legality issues using a company's name in a game? I'm working on an RPG of sorts where the character has a "day job" that determines how much money they make each time the day cycles and other things like that. Are there any legality issues with using the names of companies like "Barnes amp Noble" or even "Apple"? |
25 | Legal and IP considerations with publishers and playable prototypes I'm almost ready to send a playable prototype of a game to a publisher. I've never worked with publishers. What legal or intellectual property issues should I consider at this stage (if any)? In this specific case the publisher is well known... perhaps this makes a difference. Also the game is for a mobile platform. |
25 | Who should be contacted to request permission, for commercial songs (and cost ballpark) While playing to Fifa, it occurred to me that there is probably a license that EA pay to musicians to play their songs in their game. Does anyone know if there is a standard license for indie games, to be able to play commercial songs in the game? Either for the intro and for the game itself, like FIFA does. I did a brief search and the suggestion is to contact the publisher of the specific group singer but 90 of the time they probably won't even read such email. Is this the only way? Of course this won't apply for free music that is distributed to be freely used for any use my question is specifically for commercial music from decently known artists. |
25 | Question about Monster Rancher My Brute generators I want to build a system based on the idea of Monster Rancher's monster generation system. First, is it legal per se? Obviously, I don't know how they built theirs and I will be generating my own "generator". But the idea itself of being able to randomly create a character or monster based on something..is it copyrighted? patented? |
25 | What are the legal considerations with using spritesheets? If you google for sprites sheets, you'll find a lot of sprites sheets. As far as I can remember, industrial patents (the terms may not be the right ones I'm sorry), after 20 years, fall into public domain. For music it's 100 years. How about sprites sheets? I'd like to know if I can use some of them directly? If I spend a lot of time to take them, rework them as SVG and they will look modern but exactly the same as the original ones? What is the general rule of thumb to follow to know if I can use a sprite sheet? |
25 | Using an unregistered company name If I want to release an App with a Company Name do I have to have that registered before I can use it? I have checked and the name is not taken, so is it fine to just use a made up company name? As a side note, I have made this game just as a hobby project, not looking to make any money from it. |
25 | Is Tetris public domain? is the concept for Tetris in the public domain or is there someone who is still collecting royalties on the concept? I mean, if I were to write a variant of Tetris would I owe somebody some money? Thanks. |
25 | Question about Monster Rancher My Brute generators I want to build a system based on the idea of Monster Rancher's monster generation system. First, is it legal per se? Obviously, I don't know how they built theirs and I will be generating my own "generator". But the idea itself of being able to randomly create a character or monster based on something..is it copyrighted? patented? |
25 | Releasing a game without really having an officially registered company I'm thinking of releasing my iOS game without formally registering a company at all. I'm not sure I even want to create a company. ITunes wants to know the copyright holder of my title. I have 2 questions regarding this 1) Can I use my (already decided upon if will exist) company name and just register it later (if the need arises)? 2) Or should I just use my NAME as the copyright holder, regardless if I plan to formally register the company later or not? |
25 | Making an indie with friends Legal considerations I am close to finishing a game I am making with 3 friends. 1 other coder, and 2 graphic designers. We agreed from the start to split revenue (40 40 10 10). However we have no contract, and I know that I don't own the graphics sounds in my game just because "my friend made it". What steps should we take to make sure that all graphics sounds that were provided by my friends, are actually owned by me (the company). We have a budget of 0 so hiring a lawyer is not an option, should we draft our own contract regarding the revenue share? |
25 | Are there legality issues using a company's name in a game? I'm working on an RPG of sorts where the character has a "day job" that determines how much money they make each time the day cycles and other things like that. Are there any legality issues with using the names of companies like "Barnes amp Noble" or even "Apple"? |
25 | Copyright and patents on game design and names? We all know that each game has elements from another game but when does one cross the line of copyright? I have a view particular questions about this since this "line" is very vague. While looking for a name and Googling it usually return some kind of old or unknown game already with the exact same name. Can i use this name? And what about a name like Diablo, since Diablo is the commonly used name for the devil there cannot be a patent on this afaik. So would a different kind of game named Diablo be allowed? Let's say i want to make a game of mechs like in Mechwarrior. Obviously the mech designs have copyright, the name as well since i suppose. But am i crossing any rights if i make a top down tactical squad game that include mechs of different designs names and call it Clash of Steel? I understand there are not much lawyers here, but how could anyone create a game these days that does not cross the lines of copyright. Like the Mechwarrior example, there are plenty of games nowadays even movies that use this concept. For what it matters Mechwarrior could have ripped the idea from the Gundam anime series. With so many titles coming out each week including the indies it is next to impossible not to infringe into someone copyright. |
25 | Is it legal to use elements of the outfit of a character in another game as an optional cosmetic in my own game? In my game, I plan on implementing various optional unlockable costumes, earned by collecting in game items. One hypothetical example of such a costume would be Banjo's (from Banjo Kazooie) shorts, backpack, and shark tooth necklace. In trying to find the answer to this, I've found plenty of information about directly using Banjo himself (clearly illegal without a license), but I haven't found any form of direct answer when it comes to his outfit placed onto the main character. The closest thing I've found to an answer are similar cosmetics being used in other games In TF2, for example, there's a hat that references Mario's hat, but replaces the M with an E, while in Terraria, there's a direct recreation of Mario's entire outfit. Obviously, though, just because another company was able to do such a thing doesn't mean I necessarily will be able to as well. Lastly, I'm not sure if it makes much of a difference, but it's also worth mentioning that the art assets used for these costumes would be entirely created by me in the image likeness of the other characters' outfits obviously, ripping said assets from the games themselves would NOT be legal. Also, I do plan on selling the game and making a profit on it. Would creating these homage outfits be legal, or would it violate the copyright and or trademark (not sure which applies) of the character? |
25 | Releasing a game without really having an officially registered company I'm thinking of releasing my iOS game without formally registering a company at all. I'm not sure I even want to create a company. ITunes wants to know the copyright holder of my title. I have 2 questions regarding this 1) Can I use my (already decided upon if will exist) company name and just register it later (if the need arises)? 2) Or should I just use my NAME as the copyright holder, regardless if I plan to formally register the company later or not? |
25 | Copyright of concept? There is a game that I really like to play when I was young. But there are some features that are not implemented that would be cool. How can I find copyright database from games editor ? |
25 | Can I include a public domain book in my game? Just for fun, I want to include a bookshelf in my game with a real book (or few) that you can actually read. Would I run into any legal trouble if I included an out of print book in the public domain, such as Pride and Prejudice or Alice in Wonderland? |
25 | Will using similar exact name to a current Marvel superhero name for your game be a problem? I have heard that the word 'superhero' is trademarked by marvel and DC and thus we can't use superhero as part of the name of a game we develop. But I wonder do they also have exclusibe rights to all the names of their super hero characters? For example will people get in trouble if they name their games 'premagneto', 'superwolverine', 'exbeyonder' or 'the cyclop'? |
25 | To what extent it is legal to declare support of third party commercial products' assets? Is it legal to say that MyGame supports other (specific) games' textures, sounds and models? I'd like to get involved into an open source game project and implement support for Quake's weapon models (for example), but the owners of the project don't know about the legal aspect of it, so I'm asking here. |
25 | Can I use fictional city country names from public domain fiction etc. in a potentially monetized browser game? I'm currently developing a browser game with a focus on economy, trading and industry. For that I'm building a fictional world with countries and cities. To avoid political drama within the games player interactions, I'd like to avoid using real countries that currently exist are recognized. I tried to come up with several fictional country names, but I'm reaching the limitations of my creativity where they are still OK sounding... My questions are now... Can I use fictional countries e.g. from movies comics etc (e.g. Sokovia from the Marvel universe)? Maybe with slight adjustments? Can I use older country or empire names (e.g. Babylonia)? Maybe also with slight adjustments. Can I use city names from the real world? I need a lot of them, so coming up with thousands brings me to my limit and there may probably be overlaps without me knowing. Based on the following question that should be fine, also since they have nothing to do with the real life equivalents. Do I need licensing to use real city names in my game? What about using planet or galaxy names which are public domain (or how are they protected, if at all)? I found some generators in the internet which are helpful to a certain degree, but I'd rather write my own to be honest. Since the game might be monetized, are there any licensing issues involved? I'm pretty new to this from a legal perspective. Another thing are the fictional company names the users can choose. I guess I can set certain restrictions there to exclude real world companies and provide a "report" button for real companies to request the removal change to be on the safe side. Thanks in advance PS Since I also needed flags, I already found a nice generator, in case someone is interested https www.reddit.com r vexillology comments 4ha19q flagmaker 20 ?st jb6e4qyk amp sh c1544079 |
25 | Does using a Community Script with Creative Commons Attribution NonComercial ShareAlike prevent me from selling the game? So I have been building a game in one of the RPG Makers with the end goal to sell it. while I have been working hard coding up my own scripts one in particular is a complex Active Battle System like that of Zelda which gives me more options for enemy verities and attack patterns. The script has in the comments a Creative Commons Attribution NonComercial ShareAlike license. I asked about NonComercial and I get 2 kinds of answers I can not sell the game at all if the script is in there as such I either have to replace the script or give the game away for free I can not sell the script or remixes of the script for others to use as such in a compiled game which isn't open source (ie. you have to hack decompile it to get it's scripts) it's fine to sell the game with the script now I am a long ways away from completing the game and it might be possible that later on my scripting skills get to the level that I can rebuild the Battle System to be similar but of my own code (or even hire someone to do it for me) however, in the situation that I complete the game and I can not replace the script, does it prevent me from selling it? or does NonComercial prevent me from selling the script for others to use for themselves? |
25 | Can I include a public domain book in my game? Just for fun, I want to include a bookshelf in my game with a real book (or few) that you can actually read. Would I run into any legal trouble if I included an out of print book in the public domain, such as Pride and Prejudice or Alice in Wonderland? |
25 | What should I do about legal considerations for an indie game? Apologies if there's a bit too much background information here, not sure what's relevant but figured I needed to outline the financial situation to differentiate this from other questions whose answers aren't applicable here. I'm making an indie game, to be sold online (ie, to any country that can use PayPal). My current situation is underemployed unable to find enough work to make ends meet over the last couple of years, I'm now looking to use some of that free time to top up my income by making a little extra money from my hobby. Primarily, I look at is as art rather than a business, but with cash flow and employment prospects limited, I need to make a little money. My question is what should I do about the legal problems that can arise out of selling a game? I've read up general advice on small businesses, so I should be fine with the usual issues like copyright, limited liability and tax it's game development specific ones that worry me. I've also checked the licenses of any libraries used thoroughly (it's all open stuff anyhow). Software patents are currently scaring the hell out of me they might not be legal in my country, but if I'm going to get any sales at all with my small scale project I'm going to have to cast a broad net. As far as I understand, there are so many and so broad or poorly defined, that I can't in practical terms make a game without violating them in at least some countries. The other thing that bothers me is if there's legal issues I've never heard of and wont hear of until I get a nasty letter threatening to take everything. I've obviously searched for related questions here and elsewhere, but had no luck the answers always seem to say either consult a lawyer, or buy expensive legal reference materials whilst well intentioned, given the financial situation outlined above, well this advice isn't really applicable. I have no money, and the total amount I hope to make from this game is less than one hour of legal consultation. Given the amount of researched involved in patents, and the numerous jurisdictions that my sales might come from well, I can't think of a way that sufficient help from a lawyer will ever be within my means. So, given those considerations, can anyone suggest a sensible course of action for such a small scale business that'll prevent me from being shut down, and from losing my creative rights to the game the moment some large company with software patents decides to sue? And further, any other steps I need to take to protect myself against legal problems specific to this industry that general advice sites wouldn't cover? |
25 | Is Tetris public domain? is the concept for Tetris in the public domain or is there someone who is still collecting royalties on the concept? I mean, if I were to write a variant of Tetris would I owe somebody some money? Thanks. |
25 | Is there a legal option for writing Nintendo 64 games? Recently, I've been looking into developing games for Nintendo 64 emulators, and modding existing ROMs. I wanted to know if there is the possibility for any legitimate tools out there which can be used to write the code for the emulators or if all of that is off limits. I heard that the Nintendo 64 SDK has always been sealed by an NDA limited to the game studios, years ago however, I'm curious about where all the current ROMs that are available came from. Mainly because, unlike discs, cartridges are not typically supported by standard hardware. |
25 | How common are game engine bugs, and can I claim damages for them? Are game engine bugs (in popular ones like Unreal and Unity, not some unknown ones) common? I know engines like Unreal, Source and Unity3D are well tested and maintained, but, for example, is there any threat like I create a game, the engine programming is fine, so is everything I do, but I get a bug in the game because of a bug in the engine? And as most of you guys here are game developers, has any one had such an experience? Also, can I take legal action on the creators of that engine incase I am under loss because of their bug? |
25 | Can art syle proportions have copyright? I like the art of a mobile game called Battleheart. Is it copyright infringement if I copy only the proportions of his characters? Obviously the clothes, style of the brush, and all the rest of the art will be my own style. The gameplay of the game will be different, too. |
25 | Can I name a team with the name of their city to avoid trademark issues? I was wondering, if you want to make a NBA game on smartphones, without the license held by EA, the first solution seems to name your teams with a different name, such as "Chicragro Brulls" (this is just for the example), but would it be possible to just call your team with the name of the city, such as "Chicago vs. Dallas" ? I know the first solution was chosen by Pro Evolution Soccer, would you know any other game that don't use a license? |
25 | Is it legal to use car manufacturers' names in a game? Is it legal to use car manufacturers' names in a game? For example to describe Audi's quattro drive system? to display a rendering of an Audi? to include a photo (to which I have rights) of an Audi? |
25 | Workflow for accountable file transfers between freelancer and developer I'm an indie game developer and I often hire freelancers for artwork. We sign an agreement to basically state that I'd get ownership of the resources they produce. I'm a fairly picky person when it comes to formalities in these agreements, and I can't find a good system to document file transfers between freelancer and client. What I'm looking for is A way to track a relationship between their email account and mine, and document file exchanges, like a quot timeline quot Freelancer uploaded X file at 16 50 UTC 03 00, download button Freelancer uploaded Y file at 17 43 UTC 03 00, download button Client uploaded Z file at 18 35 UTC 03 00, download button And files are permanently kept in the timeline for documentation purposes it should be impossible to delete an entry (unless both parties agree to delete it). The point of such structure is to quot vouch quot that this person transferred a file at some point and neither party can deny it. Technically, e mail attachments do exactly this. However, if it is a relatively large file, Gmail will ask them to upload to Google Drive. The problem with this is that Drive lets them keep ownership of the file (so if they delete it, I cannot get it back unless I had downloaded it) we would lose the whole quot record quot thing as there will be no guarantee that the file that I have is in fact the file that they uploaded. How we've worked with a few freelancers in the past is that they will transfer a bulk of files (zip) to us using whatever convenient method, and then, in written, state that they have produced and transferred a zip with some MD5 hash. So if it is ever necessary to prove that such a file was given to me by a freelancer, we'd just compute its hash. However that's understandably inconvenient. |
25 | How to handle a Google Play game's privacy policy I am trying to release a mobile game (insert obligatory sellout statement for Chunk of Space) on Google Play, and I'm worried about their privacy policy system. Basically, if you mark your game as "directed primarily towards children," you need to include a privacy policy (mostly to adhere to COPPA regulations). Now, my game isn't primarily for children, but because it's made to appeal to all ages, it's likely that I might have children playing it (or, I might have nobody play it. Hooray for insecurity). The question is, do I need to make the app say that it is "Designed for Families," or can I leave that option unchecked? Will the game not be marketed available to children if I do not do so? And if I do need to set that option, how might I go about creating the privacy policy? I know there are several privacy policy generators online, so if you've used one or more in the past, could you recommend it to me? And how would I need to modify the policy to allow children to use it? As for information the app uses, here's a short list Anything needed for Unity analytics, IAP, and ads Anything needed for Google play IAP and ads That's all that I know it uses, although there might be some additional information that each uses, along with any hidden Google Play and Unity stuff. |
25 | Where can I find affordable legal advice for game software related inquiries? I am working on simulation middleware which is applicable for game engine implementations. What I would like to do is to make it freely available for use for all non commercial purposes, while at the same time imposing some percentage of royalty on revenue (above a certain threshold) that is derived from my work. Something very similar to Epic's UDK licensing model. To facilitate the use of my software, I plan to offer binaries (static libs) for several platforms, as well as obfuscated source code which I will freely distribute, in addition to documentation of the API. I simply want to impose the restriction that if you try to make money from it, I get a cut eventually. I'm wondering if there are online forums and such where I am likely to find people who are willing to assist me in terms of learning what sort of things I have to do to get things down on the right kinds of documents. So far a site like this seems to be the most promising. |
25 | What are the implications of not owning the IP of a character graphic in my game? I'm currently talking with a design studio for the artworks of my game. They are saying they want to still own the IP of their chracter graphic in my game as they want to sell merchandise with my character idea and their artwork. I'd like to know what kind of stuffs should I look out for in such an agreement. Does owning the character graphics mean, later they can come up and say me I can't use it in my game? |
25 | Alternatives to the GPL I made a game, and I am currently making a game engine. I want them both to be completely free and open source. What license should I choose? I was reading a bit on GPL, but that seems to be more suited for system code and libraries, AFAIK, as it doesn't permit the use of code for proprietorial software which, in turn, implies that the code can be used in the first place. I can see that, obviously, game engines can be considered libraries, and therefor be used, but what about game code? Is there an alternative to GPL? |
25 | Where can I find True Type fonts that are free for commercial use? Possible Duplicate Where can I find fonts for my game? Does anyone know of fonts that are true type and unicode that can be used in a commercial game for free? |
25 | Am I allowed to name a game after some song? Just to ask a quick question, which I don't know where to ask If I were to make a game, would I be allowed to call it "Buffalo Soldier some more words "? Since it's a song by Bob Marley I am not sure if this would get me into all kinds of legal trouble because of copyrights, which I obviously want to avoid. By the way, the game doesn't have anything to do with Bob Marley or the music industry. I just thought a game about a buffalo soldier would be nice! |
25 | Which open source licenses can address these concerns for an open source game engine? I am on a team that is looking to open source an engine we are building. It's intended as an engine for Online RPG style games. We're writing it to work on both desktops and android platforms. I've been over to the OSI http opensource.org licenses category to check out the most common licenses. However, this will be my first time going into an open source project and I wanted to know if the community had some insight into which licenses might be best suited. Key licensing concerns Removing or limiting our liability (most already seem to cover this, but stating for completeness). We want other developers to be able to take part or all of our project and use it in their own projects with proper accreditation to our project. Licensing should not hinder someone's ability to quickly use the engine. They should be able to download a release and start using it without needing to wait on licensing issues. Game content (gfx, sound, etc.) that is not part of the engine should be allowed to be licensed separately. If someone is using our engine, they can retain full copy right of their content, including engine generated data. Our primary goal is exposure, which is why we're going open source to start with. Both for the project and for the individuals developing it. Are there any licenses that can require accreditation visible to players? Update As per comments, I mean this to be a requirement for either a splash screen or placement in the credits. Not a constantly visible logo. While I'd put our primary goal as exposure, for licensing the accreditation is less of a concern. From what I've read through (and have been able to understand) it doesn't seem like any of the licenses cover anything that is produced by the licensed software. Are there any that state this specifically, or does simply not mentioning it leave it open for other licensing? Are there any other concerns that we should consider? Has anyone had any issues using any of these licenses? |
25 | Version Not Final, Does Not Represent Actual Game Footage? Just curious about this. Frequently, a lot of gameplay videos from big studios have small subtitled text at the lower part of the screen, reading something like Pre Alpha Gameplay Footage not Final Game Footage not Final Pre Alpha, Game here is not final Is there some sort of reason they do this? Is there some sort of legal ramification that they need to go through by adding this? I have especially seen some gameplay vids whose titles are "Alpha x.x.x", yet still, in the video itself, it always something like "footage not final, game may change". |
25 | What resources can I use to determine if the name of my game violates any copyrights or trademarks? I'm a indie hobbyist game developer. How do I check that I'm not infringing any copyrights or trademarks when I release my game? I'm not making megabucks so it's not financially feasible to get professional legal help for each game. I asked recently if I can reuse the name of an old arcade game (Crazy Balloon), but this got me thinking about future games where I might not even be aware of something similar that existed before. So, are there any tools or resources that you can recommend to check myself (due diligence I think it's called). |
25 | How or when to add a copyright notice in published games? I've seen lot of videogame title screens show a copyright notice together with the company name. I'm about to publish my game and I am looking for possibilities or requirements on how or when to add such a copyright notice (including date or year published). Does it apply to both indie game makers and larger companies? |
25 | Are references to other games considered an infringement of copyright? My team frequently reminisces about the games we grew up with in the 1990s, and we'd like to include references and Easter eggs that pay homage to this decade and that will invoke nostalgia or even make players smirk. One example would be a character calling out another character "Dude, why on Earth are you hiding in a stupid box?" (a reference to hiding in cardboard boxes from Metal Gear). Think of it as being similar to when the characters from Bad Company 2 teased the snowmobile level from Modern Warfare 2. Would these sorts of references be considered copyright infringement? As far as I'm aware, this falls under parody and fair use, as it is neither used to capitalize on a specific game element (like basing our gameplay on people hiding inside cardboard boxes) nor does it directly reference a game character. To me, it seems more like paying homage to the companies making those games. Of course, when the time comes, we will consult with a lawyer and are willing to go as far as asking direct permission from the copyright owners. But until then, I'd like to be informed on the topic. |
25 | Licensing (or similar) for my fan game? For the past 8 years, I've been working on a Pok mon fan game. It's been awesome, well received by players, and I'm very proud of the community we've built. But, as with all things "fan game", there's always that looming grey cloud of "will a C amp D arrive tomorrow?" Now, I've taken some steps to ensure we're as respectful as possible towards Nintendo's property We stay as true as possible to the source material. While we have added our own variants and original characters ("Fakemon"), we've made great efforts to keep them consistent. We make it clear that we are a fan game, not affiliated with Nintendo, and that it is entirely unofficial. I also include a link to a shareholder Q amp A (Q14) where Satoru Iwata confirmed that they are not interested in treating people like myself as criminals. Our game concept is original. It's not a clone of any existing game, and I like to think it fills a nice little hole for fans of the series. I (briefly) met C level people from Game Freak and Nintendo, including Junichi Masuda and Tsunekazu Ishihara, and given them "business cards" for our game. However, it wasn't a formal meeting, rather they were signing autographs at the Pok mon World Championships, so for all I know I was probably just some fan and they didn't pay much attention to the card (they've got enough to do already, right?) But, all that being said, we're still unofficial, using intellectual property that doesn't belong to us. My friend and I quit our jobs to work on this game full time. If we do get shut down, we're going to have to seriously struggle to put our lives back together. So for now, the game has mostly been kept "under the radar", with basically zero marketing and only word of mouth of players to keep it populated. The biggest thing here is that I want to give back to Nintendo. Thanks to them, and to my project, I've made incredible progress as a developer, designer and just as a person in general. As mentioned earlier, my biggest fear is that one day they'll shut us down. And we'd have no choice but to do so. But it's been 8 years now... So I'm trying to figure out what options I have, if any. I think what I want to do is to reach out and ask about some kind of licensing, but I don't want to draw too much attention. I don't want to lift my head over the parapet only to have it blasted off, you know? I'm not looking for Pok mon GO levels of attention, or even Magikarp Jump. (Our single server would melt either way I'm working on it!) Just some way of having actual "permission" to do what I'm doing. I expect the answer will probably be along the lines of "IANAL, get one", but what kind of lawyer would be best? And any insights or advice besides that would be helpful too. |
25 | Using name of real products in games My friend and I are creating a Computer Tycoon game. We're using graphics cards and other real CPUs in the game. So can we use names like GeForce 210 in the game without issues? Also, if the above doesn't work, can we just change a little bit in the name like LeForce and will that work? |
25 | Licensing Theme Music from other games As part of my game, I thought it would be fun to make a hidden level that pays tribute to Mario Bros (one of the earliest games I ever played). It would be themed in that way with 8 bit graphics and question mark blocks and completing the level would say "Thank you but the princess is in another castle" or such. For the sound track, I'm thinking of just overlaying the standard mario theme music by playing it on a virtual keyboard using a different instrument timing or something. My question is, am I legally safe? I'm not using anyone else's actual music, I'm just playing the same tune in a different way myself. Do I have to get licensing for this? |
25 | What are the implications of not owning the IP of a character graphic in my game? I'm currently talking with a design studio for the artworks of my game. They are saying they want to still own the IP of their chracter graphic in my game as they want to sell merchandise with my character idea and their artwork. I'd like to know what kind of stuffs should I look out for in such an agreement. Does owning the character graphics mean, later they can come up and say me I can't use it in my game? |
25 | Can I use my self made piano version of a popular copyrighted song as my game background music? I am making a game, the theme of the game is kind of romantic, and I, myself, have made a piano version of a modern pop song that would fit with that theme. The song in question is still under copyright, and I'm not the owner of the copyright. Can I use it as a background in my game? Would there be any legal issue regarding copyright IP etc? |
25 | Is it illegal to use a commercial song in your game (that you intend to sell) If I were to buy, say this song http www.youtube.com watch?v 3fumBcKC6RE, strip find get the instrumental, and use that instrumental in a game I'm making, as a theme, say for a recurring boss fight, and then sell this game, would this be illegal? This is hypothetically speaking. |
25 | Is it legal to imitate a game without publishing it If you're developing a game that's very similar to a game that's already published, both the game mechanics and the graphics but you're not publishing it, instead you're keeping it in your own computer. Is it legal to do so? |
25 | Does using an licensed game engine prevent you from open sourcing a defunct work? I'm curious as my previous company is asking us (people who developed the game) on what to do to the game since it's no longer financially viable. My suggestion was to open source it so people can still enjoy the game at the same time it could at least be improved. But we did use a licensed Torque engine which was mostly recoded reworked. Not sure if their license allows for the move though. (Also not sure if this is an appropriate question to ask here) |
25 | What to consider legally when cloning an old game? Possible Duplicate How closely can a game resemble another game without legal problems I'm going to make a game in the form of a 100 free Android phone app that will be basically a clone of an old arcade style NES game, but with a few modifications to make it better. Now the game I am inspired by was released in 1985, so I'm not exactly shitting bricks about being sued, but I just thought I'd ask on here first about what kind of legal considerations developers go through when copying others' games. |
25 | How do I publish to Google Play if I'm under 18? I've finished my first Unity and want to release it on the Google Play store but can't because I am under 18. The main issue is that Google Wallet requires you to be over 18. How could I work around this? |
25 | legal disclaimers and lisence type for a free multiplayer browser game I have created a multiplayer browser game. The game is completely free (donations are welcome) but I would like (a) to protect my concept in some way. (b) to provide legal notes that the user should accept before registering. In some games (i.e. Travian) there are legal notes such as Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy. Should I include things like these? Where can I get create such legal texts? I can barely afford hosting, not to mention a lawyer to write all those things for me. What should I do? Chris |
25 | Questions on the legal protection of games and their parts (assets, sounds, title) we started new pirate game, and I just want to ask some questions about rights. So I am new in game dev, I guess there are a lot of answers, but I guess professionals can advise something for first steps. So we started some things like concept arts sounds we are working on the name of the game (just use temp one for now) we develop some models of ships and characters I have question what's my step to protect everything I listed above. Do I need to protect everything separately? Do I need to register a game somewhere? Can I use my already made domain and subdomain for the game? Or do I need to register unique one domaine. |
25 | Is a game based on a specific cellular automation a copyright infringement? If one creates a game which is based on some cellular automation algorithm like Conway's Game of Life or Langton's Ants would that be a copyright infringement? Are such famous algorithms protected by intellectual property rights, or as long as they aren't mentioned by their official names, the actual effect they create is free to be used? |
25 | Using real football player photo in a trivia quiz game, is it legal? I don't know whether this question was already been asked before, but my team is currently developing a trivia quiz game about football (soccer not NFL). And we want to put player's images or club emblems as part of the questions and answers. My question is, is it legal? Or should we just put text without the images? Please your help is much needed. Thank you. |
25 | Set up indie game studio (UK) how? I am UK based and am looking to set up my own game studio essentially, just myself working from home, looking to build casual game apps. I want to ask you guys what steps or process i need to go through and do to make this happen, specifically the legal side of things. Will be great to hear from those who have been through this themselves! Need to register with HRMC as self employed is the only thing i know i have to do but what else? Do i need to register trademark my own company studio name? If so, where do i do this and does it cost money? Or can i just simply start using a name as is? Do i need to also do this for any games apps IP i make? Or is copyright automatically assumed? I gather acting as sole trader is more appropriate at this stage? At what point, if ever, should i consider moving to an actual limited company setup? Is it wise to open a new bank account solely for this business? I think my plan was simply to 1. Find a suitable domain name and create website based on my company name assuming available and different enough from similar competitor names 2. Register as self employed with HRMC 3. Sell my game on app store And thats it! Is this ok or do i need consider other stuff as well such as the questions above? Thank you for reading and any advice you have! |
25 | How not to break licence laws? I have an idea for a game. Also I have almost everything worked out considering coding. What interests me the most is how can I know if that game can be published. As it would be for iOS and android, these markets are of the geratest interest for me. I found on apples store something similair to what I would make and it's published by some big game developer. How can I be sure I am not breaking any laws when publishing the game? Can I make a game like board game 'Risk'? I don't have any knowledge considering licencing. This game would be avaliable for free, with an option to donate, so money isn't my objective (but it won't hurt) |
25 | Will my "Block Buster" game infringe on the Blockbuster (movie rental) trademark? I'm developing a small puzzle game called "Block Buster" and I was wondering if there will be any collision with already existing "Blockbuster" (movie rental company) registered trademark. Does the space or case difference in the trademark mean something? Or is there any difference in that Blockbuster is a movie renting company and I will just be selling a game? Do I really have to change the game's name? |
25 | Copyright notices on a web game portal I notice that for several games on Kongregate, the copyright notice either uses the author's handle name (login name), the name of the group that produce it or a domain name. Are all those valid copyright notices? |
25 | Help with legalese for an HTML5 contest This contest looks pretty interesting but I'm having some concerns about the wording in the rules Once submitted, a prize winning Submission becomes the exclusive property of Sponsor and will not be acknowledged or returned. You expressly agree that by entering into the Contest any rights you may own in respect to a prize winning Submission shall be transferred to Sponsor by means of this Agreement. You shall be obliged to perform any measures necessary in order to vest any intellectual property rights in the name of Sponsor in case required by any law or regulation. In such case, Entrant shall at Sponsor s first request execute any deed or transfer or such other document as required in that effect. For the avoidance of doubt, Sponsor shall have the exclusive right to make any kind of sequels, spinoffs, changes and translating the prize winning Submission in any language , all in relation to the exploitation of the prize winning Submission on any kind of media now known or hereinafter developed, without territorial or time limitations. The responsibility to implement localizations made by Sponsor in up to 19 languages will be that of the developer. So it sounds like they get full IP rights, but I can't read this law stuff. Anybody have any insight? Much appreciated! |
25 | Would making a satirical version of someone else's character get me sued? Licensing the rights to a popular character is definitely a hard process. Rather than licensing the rights to (insert hero here), what if I were to make a satirical version of the IP owner's character(s) like Spaceballs did? What sort of legal trouble could I face for making a satirical rip off of a character? |
25 | Showing "Please buy" screen to pirates I recently saw this and this, and that got me thinking When publishing a commercial game without DRM, would it be a good idea to upload a slightly modified copy of the game that shows a screen like this at startup to, say, The Pirate Bay Hello pirate! Looks like you downloaded this game from The Pirate Bay! That's okay, but Making a game costs time and money. If you like the game, please buy it so we can continue to update this game with new content! You buy it for only xx.xx at www.example.com! In the meantime Have fun! Press Enter to continue And then continues to the title screen and from there is identical to a legal copy. The point is that it will probably (very, very, VERY high chance that it will) be uploaded sooner or later anyway, so this may decrease the harm. Would that be a good idea? |
25 | Using real football (soccer) names from the past? Is it legal to use really old names in a manager style game? It there an expiration on name license rights? |
25 | How not to break licence laws? I have an idea for a game. Also I have almost everything worked out considering coding. What interests me the most is how can I know if that game can be published. As it would be for iOS and android, these markets are of the geratest interest for me. I found on apples store something similair to what I would make and it's published by some big game developer. How can I be sure I am not breaking any laws when publishing the game? Can I make a game like board game 'Risk'? I don't have any knowledge considering licencing. This game would be avaliable for free, with an option to donate, so money isn't my objective (but it won't hurt) |
25 | Can i use the same name for a spell in my game that already exists in another game what does trademarks and copyrights contain. how similar can a name be to a name that already exists. |
25 | List of all games names? Is there any list of game names anywhere, so i can choose a name for my game and avoid (legal) conflicts with other games as much as possible? |
25 | How do you fully publish a game under your name, under 18? This has been a week of stress in trying to get things done correctly. It's all tied with keeping things legal and making sure I don't lose out on benefits of any kid. I have just recently finished up a game and now adding the final touches into it so I can make some sort of income. I am incredibly sorry if I asked this on the wrong site. I felt that this is still relative to game development because it is the final step of developing your game preparing yourself for distribution. If there is a better site to ask, or if some one has experience in this field please notify me. Problems I am having I do not own a company, but just about every service I am trying to make use of is asking for a company name I do not know where I can find straight facts about owning, buying, or even keeping up with a name. I am using my full name to publish my works because I read that in similar words, every one was born with a trade mark known as their name. I can not afford a company in the first place, I read some where that this can cost from 150 and higher. I have no income like said before and the only way I can think about making money as of this time is through my games which apparently requires me to already have at least a couple hundred dollars or more. I don't know the most efficient and cheapest way to acquire a Tax ID I don't know where I can read up on this subject, and apparently I am finding that I need an actual company name again and I'm not entirely sure I can just use my name. I'm not sure if there is an age limit on this, and as I currently stand I don't even have a documented signature. This also costs a couple hundred dollars as I have read and I have no money. I have no a clue what steps I should be taking for any of this. I just want to publish games I make without feeling like I'm losing my hard worked time. I want to be able to publish games without feeling I did something illegal. I'd like to be able to have advertisers host on my game so I can make little revenue from people who can't afford buying full games. Edit In Detail I am currently trying to publish games to the google play store for android entertainment applications. I am trying to use the advertisement service known as "mopub" http www.mopub.com . This is more like a linker than a direct advertiser that way you can get more benefits of multiple advertisers through your game. I am living in the U.S I don't want to quit making games because of issues like so. I can't publish my games right now if I don't have a legal representative name or a way to make money and not have others steal my rights of owner ship to the games I create. |
25 | Using real football (soccer) names from the past? Is it legal to use really old names in a manager style game? It there an expiration on name license rights? |
25 | Intented name for my game already exists as a book title I have found that the name I have planned for my game have been already used for the title of a book. After checking the trademark database, this is the description they have used "Paper Goods and Printed Matter" Would I be infringing the trademark if I use the same exact title for my game ? (Looks like the owner wanted to trademark the same name as a videogame in 2006, but they didn't complete the proccess Abandoned failure to respond or late response) |
25 | Can I use popular classical music as my game's soundtrack? Can I use popular classical music in my game as a soundtrack? I'm concerned about copyright protection. I don't plan to make money off of my game. Will I break some law if I do that? |
25 | Will using similar exact name to a current Marvel superhero name for your game be a problem? I have heard that the word 'superhero' is trademarked by marvel and DC and thus we can't use superhero as part of the name of a game we develop. But I wonder do they also have exclusibe rights to all the names of their super hero characters? For example will people get in trouble if they name their games 'premagneto', 'superwolverine', 'exbeyonder' or 'the cyclop'? |
25 | How do you fully publish a game under your name, under 18? This has been a week of stress in trying to get things done correctly. It's all tied with keeping things legal and making sure I don't lose out on benefits of any kid. I have just recently finished up a game and now adding the final touches into it so I can make some sort of income. I am incredibly sorry if I asked this on the wrong site. I felt that this is still relative to game development because it is the final step of developing your game preparing yourself for distribution. If there is a better site to ask, or if some one has experience in this field please notify me. Problems I am having I do not own a company, but just about every service I am trying to make use of is asking for a company name I do not know where I can find straight facts about owning, buying, or even keeping up with a name. I am using my full name to publish my works because I read that in similar words, every one was born with a trade mark known as their name. I can not afford a company in the first place, I read some where that this can cost from 150 and higher. I have no income like said before and the only way I can think about making money as of this time is through my games which apparently requires me to already have at least a couple hundred dollars or more. I don't know the most efficient and cheapest way to acquire a Tax ID I don't know where I can read up on this subject, and apparently I am finding that I need an actual company name again and I'm not entirely sure I can just use my name. I'm not sure if there is an age limit on this, and as I currently stand I don't even have a documented signature. This also costs a couple hundred dollars as I have read and I have no money. I have no a clue what steps I should be taking for any of this. I just want to publish games I make without feeling like I'm losing my hard worked time. I want to be able to publish games without feeling I did something illegal. I'd like to be able to have advertisers host on my game so I can make little revenue from people who can't afford buying full games. Edit In Detail I am currently trying to publish games to the google play store for android entertainment applications. I am trying to use the advertisement service known as "mopub" http www.mopub.com . This is more like a linker than a direct advertiser that way you can get more benefits of multiple advertisers through your game. I am living in the U.S I don't want to quit making games because of issues like so. I can't publish my games right now if I don't have a legal representative name or a way to make money and not have others steal my rights of owner ship to the games I create. |
25 | Can I take a finished game based on a licence to the holding company? Ok so I went through 11 pages on here and have done a decent amount of Google searching, but found nothing specific to my question. I'm working on a game based on a movie. For the purpose of this I'm going to use a different movie as my example. Let s say I'm making a game based on "Driving Miss Daisy" (because why not?). Now I've seen plenty of questions about taking an "idea" to a company (both game and rights holders) and trying to get funding but I have no reputation and this is a side project at this point so that's probably not a good idea. But let s say I work on my "Driving Miss Daisy" game for a year or so and at some point call it "finished". It has good art, co op, a campaign, and achievements (because, why not?) all made 100 by me and me alone. Does anyone know the process or the likelihood of me going to Warner Bros. and their games division with some kind of deal splitting profits if they allow the release or help with it etc etc. Even if I hear "There s no way, Driving Miss Daisy the Game , while awesome, will never see the light of day", I'll probably keep working. I just wanted an idea of what kind of outcome could come from this and this is a different situation than I've generally seen asked. Like I said, most are about getting money for the development itself or trying to re release old games that have been abandoned. Thank you to anyone who might have information about this. |
25 | Is it legal to use car manufacturers' names in a game? Is it legal to use car manufacturers' names in a game? For example to describe Audi's quattro drive system? to display a rendering of an Audi? to include a photo (to which I have rights) of an Audi? |
25 | Where can I find True Type fonts that are free for commercial use? Possible Duplicate Where can I find fonts for my game? Does anyone know of fonts that are true type and unicode that can be used in a commercial game for free? |
25 | Is a programmer liable for copyright infringement in other people's mods to his games? If a programmer (P) releases a game, and a modder (M) releases a game modification which includes copyrighted content, can P be held liable for the copyright infringement in the mod? |
25 | Purchasing a TV show adaptation rights, how does it work? Basically, I was thinking about a game based on a TV show, just for fun, and ended up thinking "well, it's not like it can be made anyway". Or can it? In the present situation, developing a game by myself ourselves on my our free time, and then using crowdfunding to purchase the rights is not that crazy, if the show is really popular... and the rights not too expensive. Purchasing the rights of the whole show is obiously a sh!tload of money, but what about adaptation rights? What is the range of price it can be? Is it a percentage of the full rights? Does it depend on the kind of adaptation (novel vs. toy vs. game)? ps if it can help answer, I was thinking about a MLPFIM retro RPG. Please don't laugh at me. |
25 | Will using similar exact name to a current Marvel superhero name for your game be a problem? I have heard that the word 'superhero' is trademarked by marvel and DC and thus we can't use superhero as part of the name of a game we develop. But I wonder do they also have exclusibe rights to all the names of their super hero characters? For example will people get in trouble if they name their games 'premagneto', 'superwolverine', 'exbeyonder' or 'the cyclop'? |
25 | How common are game engine bugs, and can I claim damages for them? Are game engine bugs (in popular ones like Unreal and Unity, not some unknown ones) common? I know engines like Unreal, Source and Unity3D are well tested and maintained, but, for example, is there any threat like I create a game, the engine programming is fine, so is everything I do, but I get a bug in the game because of a bug in the engine? And as most of you guys here are game developers, has any one had such an experience? Also, can I take legal action on the creators of that engine incase I am under loss because of their bug? |
25 | What to consider legally when cloning an old game? Possible Duplicate How closely can a game resemble another game without legal problems I'm going to make a game in the form of a 100 free Android phone app that will be basically a clone of an old arcade style NES game, but with a few modifications to make it better. Now the game I am inspired by was released in 1985, so I'm not exactly shitting bricks about being sued, but I just thought I'd ask on here first about what kind of legal considerations developers go through when copying others' games. |
25 | Cloning a Game Dev diary while using original assets I'm currently cloning a game and still using the sound and graphic assets of the original. I know that I may not distribute those assets but what about publishing a video of my progress as part of a dev diary, is that allowed? Thanks. |
25 | Adding actors musicians famous people in a videogame Let's say I want to make a videogame with several famous characters in it, you can't copyright a name and a face, right (I'm talking about names and surnames, not branded ones)? How does it work? Are there any royalties to pay? To whom? If there are royalties, can I get away by making my names similar to original ones? |
25 | Would making a satirical version of someone else's character get me sued? Licensing the rights to a popular character is definitely a hard process. Rather than licensing the rights to (insert hero here), what if I were to make a satirical version of the IP owner's character(s) like Spaceballs did? What sort of legal trouble could I face for making a satirical rip off of a character? |
25 | Set up indie game studio (UK) how? I am UK based and am looking to set up my own game studio essentially, just myself working from home, looking to build casual game apps. I want to ask you guys what steps or process i need to go through and do to make this happen, specifically the legal side of things. Will be great to hear from those who have been through this themselves! Need to register with HRMC as self employed is the only thing i know i have to do but what else? Do i need to register trademark my own company studio name? If so, where do i do this and does it cost money? Or can i just simply start using a name as is? Do i need to also do this for any games apps IP i make? Or is copyright automatically assumed? I gather acting as sole trader is more appropriate at this stage? At what point, if ever, should i consider moving to an actual limited company setup? Is it wise to open a new bank account solely for this business? I think my plan was simply to 1. Find a suitable domain name and create website based on my company name assuming available and different enough from similar competitor names 2. Register as self employed with HRMC 3. Sell my game on app store And thats it! Is this ok or do i need consider other stuff as well such as the questions above? Thank you for reading and any advice you have! |
25 | Am I allowed to name a game after some song? Just to ask a quick question, which I don't know where to ask If I were to make a game, would I be allowed to call it "Buffalo Soldier some more words "? Since it's a song by Bob Marley I am not sure if this would get me into all kinds of legal trouble because of copyrights, which I obviously want to avoid. By the way, the game doesn't have anything to do with Bob Marley or the music industry. I just thought a game about a buffalo soldier would be nice! |
25 | Can i use the same name for a spell in my game that already exists in another game what does trademarks and copyrights contain. how similar can a name be to a name that already exists. |
25 | Legal issues around forming an international game dev team A friend and I have been wanting to collaborate on a mobile app game. It's a 'start small but dream big' kind of venture, where neither of us has much experience, but we're hoping that if we succeed, we could build on it and become a proper full time game dev studio in the future. The main issue here is that we're both from different countries, and neither of us wants to risk personal liability in releasing a game without having first formed a LLC. I know the odds of ACTUALLY being personally sued for damages are very low, but it's just not a risk that we want to take. There seem to be a lot of problems with forming a LLC when both people are in different countries, though. There are multiple laws against having a co founder, director, or even an employee being someone from a different country. How do game dev teams or studios consisting of people all around the world get around this problem? |
25 | When should I talk to a lawyer about intellectual property for an indie team? Let's say you have a team building a decent game and all is well technically and people wise. You feel pretty sure you'll get to a product that can be sold. How does an indie studio (with good practices in this domain) typically manage the IP, esp. trademarking and copyrighting? When's the right time to do this, early or later? |
25 | What constitutes satire? For business reasons, I would like to know what constitutes satire in a game. Also, is there a better place to ask questions like this on the business side of game development? |
25 | Where can I find affordable legal advice for game software related inquiries? I am working on simulation middleware which is applicable for game engine implementations. What I would like to do is to make it freely available for use for all non commercial purposes, while at the same time imposing some percentage of royalty on revenue (above a certain threshold) that is derived from my work. Something very similar to Epic's UDK licensing model. To facilitate the use of my software, I plan to offer binaries (static libs) for several platforms, as well as obfuscated source code which I will freely distribute, in addition to documentation of the API. I simply want to impose the restriction that if you try to make money from it, I get a cut eventually. I'm wondering if there are online forums and such where I am likely to find people who are willing to assist me in terms of learning what sort of things I have to do to get things down on the right kinds of documents. So far a site like this seems to be the most promising. |
25 | Which open source licenses can address these concerns for an open source game engine? I am on a team that is looking to open source an engine we are building. It's intended as an engine for Online RPG style games. We're writing it to work on both desktops and android platforms. I've been over to the OSI http opensource.org licenses category to check out the most common licenses. However, this will be my first time going into an open source project and I wanted to know if the community had some insight into which licenses might be best suited. Key licensing concerns Removing or limiting our liability (most already seem to cover this, but stating for completeness). We want other developers to be able to take part or all of our project and use it in their own projects with proper accreditation to our project. Licensing should not hinder someone's ability to quickly use the engine. They should be able to download a release and start using it without needing to wait on licensing issues. Game content (gfx, sound, etc.) that is not part of the engine should be allowed to be licensed separately. If someone is using our engine, they can retain full copy right of their content, including engine generated data. Our primary goal is exposure, which is why we're going open source to start with. Both for the project and for the individuals developing it. Are there any licenses that can require accreditation visible to players? Update As per comments, I mean this to be a requirement for either a splash screen or placement in the credits. Not a constantly visible logo. While I'd put our primary goal as exposure, for licensing the accreditation is less of a concern. From what I've read through (and have been able to understand) it doesn't seem like any of the licenses cover anything that is produced by the licensed software. Are there any that state this specifically, or does simply not mentioning it leave it open for other licensing? Are there any other concerns that we should consider? Has anyone had any issues using any of these licenses? |
25 | How common are game engine bugs, and can I claim damages for them? Are game engine bugs (in popular ones like Unreal and Unity, not some unknown ones) common? I know engines like Unreal, Source and Unity3D are well tested and maintained, but, for example, is there any threat like I create a game, the engine programming is fine, so is everything I do, but I get a bug in the game because of a bug in the engine? And as most of you guys here are game developers, has any one had such an experience? Also, can I take legal action on the creators of that engine incase I am under loss because of their bug? |
25 | When do I need to ask for permission to recreate an old game? Possible Duplicates How closely can a game resemble another game without legal problems Legal issues for a quot fangame quot of a commercial franchise? I want to do a mobile version of an old game I used to like called Bow And Arrow (video, game). There's a project already port it in Ruby. I'm wondering if I can do a remake of this game. Do I have to get permission from the creator, or does it only matter if I use the same resources (graphics and sound)? |
25 | Can I use someone else's music midi? The music in question is not exactly owned by the other individual either, as it's simply an arrangement of a game's soundtrack as a midi or music sheet. Am I allowed to use these in my videogame? Should those persons be given credit or should it go to the original composers of the track in the original video game? Should I ask for permission for the authors of the rearrange? What if the file and site list no author? What if it lists an author but I have no means to reach and ask? |
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