Intellectual property
polycounter lvl 6
I could write a pages on this stuff regarding the music industry but how is the law applied to the creation of a game idea and its contents ?
You have the completed story.
You have a few levels completed and all the assets are self created.
You have created audio for these levels.
! The game engine is licensed for use but not for release ! (CE3, UDK etc) but it can be reproduced on any game engine.
I think it is safe to say that the above is way beyond concept and is in current development so I don't feel that posting a usb stick to myself (the old school way of proof of IP regarding audio) via registered post as viable proof of IP in this day and age. The reason I bring this up is the game idea in general is just not on any of the major devs radars and call me paranoid but it's a dog eat dog world.
What are ones rights as a dev or does one even have rights unless its a completed production ?
Maybe a bit early to worry about IP but I am just voicing my concerns.
cheers
You have the completed story.
You have a few levels completed and all the assets are self created.
You have created audio for these levels.
! The game engine is licensed for use but not for release ! (CE3, UDK etc) but it can be reproduced on any game engine.
I think it is safe to say that the above is way beyond concept and is in current development so I don't feel that posting a usb stick to myself (the old school way of proof of IP regarding audio) via registered post as viable proof of IP in this day and age. The reason I bring this up is the game idea in general is just not on any of the major devs radars and call me paranoid but it's a dog eat dog world.
What are ones rights as a dev or does one even have rights unless its a completed production ?
Maybe a bit early to worry about IP but I am just voicing my concerns.
cheers
Replies
the name can be registered, nationally, internationally, depends on your budget
you want some cheap safety? go public - but as said i don't think gamedesign can be protected
Sucks man I feel your pain, hope you release whatever idea you have anyway.
e.g. Titan Quest and Diablo, certainly very similar in the core gameplay. Warcraft I and Dune II, also very similar. Lucasarts point and click adventurs also have been copied dozens of times.
What's the worst thing that can happen?
Somebody gets annoyed so much you ripped them off, they might start looking for things which really fall under (c) like artwork or dialogue or music.
Your studio gets a bad reputation for simply copying other games, even though you're allowed to do so.
by the way, sending an USB stick to yourself doesn't prove that much. Save the postage.
http://www.snopes.com/legal/postmark.asp (unless you're a brit?)
http://artlawteam.com/copyright-myths-debunked/
Unlike the rest of us, these guys ARE lawyers (not that anyone's been giving bad advices in here--seems quite the contrary, actually).
http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=6109a60e7356ca1f6ead35894&id=c2f8c29663&e=eca44c2c28
MIT 6.912 Introduction to Copyright Law, January 2006
http://www.youtube.com/course?list=ECC5A42FFCB382F2F1
Daniel Cook: What piracy teaches us about market-based solutions to copycats
https://plus.google.com/105363132599081141035/posts/CNApjbcL4kj