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Copying
Author
Hi, (first time poster)
I had a question. When is something considered copying. Obviously stealing code, graphics, etc. is but I am talking about ideas. Lets say you are writing a storyline for your game. Anything anyone could come up with has probably been done somewhere before. If you have something in your storyline that is kind of similar to a movie, game, book, show, etc., is that considered copying other people''s work?
I wanted to hear people''s opinions on this subject.
Thank You,
SD
Copyright protects information, not ideas, the information to be protected by copyright needs to exist in a physical thing like your hard disk or paper, but if you write an idea on paper it would be a copyright violation for example to make a photocopy of that paper but not to read the idea from there an use it.
Except for Hasbro games
Except for Hasbro games
Bad bad news for you. See, if you live in the U.S. and I suspect you do, screenplays and storylines get plagiarism protection, which can and has been enforced against me in the past (but oddly when I push it I just get the shaft)
Author
Edward,
How about a similarity? I am not looking to duplicate a story but something that is somewhat similar.
Also I live in Canada but plan to release the game in the U.S.
Do you think it also applies in my case?
Thank You
How about a similarity? I am not looking to duplicate a story but something that is somewhat similar.
Also I live in Canada but plan to release the game in the U.S.
Do you think it also applies in my case?
Thank You
Copyright is a very complicated matter. There are two clear cases: if you copy a disk, or write a story copied word-for-word, that''s obviously not allowed.
Then, if you think of something original, new, never seen before, then it''s obviously allowed.
There is a very large gray area in between these two extremes. Talking to a lawyer specialized in copyrights would be a good idea.
Basically copyright protects only specific things, and not ideas (like already said). However, if the idea is such that it''s not likely someone would think of it independantly, it is also protected.
This means that you can make a 3D shooter, since it''s an obvious idea, and everyone may come up with it independantly. But you may not make a pacman clone assuming the idea is not something anyone could come up with out of the blue.
The pacman example is already tricky, since how much of it is ''clone'' and how much is new? You will see the main character of a game ''haunted'' by other creatures quite often, so that''s not protected. But the complete look and feel (and of course especially the exact graphics, sounds, etc.) are protected.
So... You might be best off investigating the idea in detail. There are numerous online resources that can help you (perform a websearch for copyright info and you''ll find a lot).
Hope this helps.
Kind regards,
Maarten Egmond.
Then, if you think of something original, new, never seen before, then it''s obviously allowed.
There is a very large gray area in between these two extremes. Talking to a lawyer specialized in copyrights would be a good idea.
Basically copyright protects only specific things, and not ideas (like already said). However, if the idea is such that it''s not likely someone would think of it independantly, it is also protected.
This means that you can make a 3D shooter, since it''s an obvious idea, and everyone may come up with it independantly. But you may not make a pacman clone assuming the idea is not something anyone could come up with out of the blue.
The pacman example is already tricky, since how much of it is ''clone'' and how much is new? You will see the main character of a game ''haunted'' by other creatures quite often, so that''s not protected. But the complete look and feel (and of course especially the exact graphics, sounds, etc.) are protected.
So... You might be best off investigating the idea in detail. There are numerous online resources that can help you (perform a websearch for copyright info and you''ll find a lot).
Hope this helps.
Kind regards,
Maarten Egmond.
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