As a business, game development is fraught with legal concerns and issues, especially on copyright, terms of service, and licensing fronts.
36
votes
4answers
3k views
How closely can a game resemble another game without legal problems
Majority of games build on successes of other games and many are downright clones, so where goes the limit of emulating before legal issues come into the field. Is it down to literary or graphic work ...
16
votes
3answers
942 views
Legal issues for a “fangame” of a commercial franchise?
I've played around in the past of the 2D Flash fan-made version of the popular Valve game Portal. It has basically the exact same mechanics, but as a 2D side-view flash game.
Lately I've toyed ...
16
votes
6answers
3k views
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 ...
10
votes
5answers
1k views
How to protect a developed game?
I have developed some small games which are my own creation and each is having different gameplay. Now i want to showcase it using the internet. But I'am a bit worried about
the concept getting ...
10
votes
1answer
183 views
Where can I find legal or business resources for a game production company?
Where can I find information on the legal or business aspects of running a game production company?
14
votes
4answers
794 views
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 ...
9
votes
3answers
572 views
Splitting profit - Equal share vs equity investment (work & money spent = share)
Coming up with an appropriate one-liner question was so hard I wrote the body before the header...
So we're a team of 4 developers; two designers, two coders to put it simply (naturally we don't tie ...
18
votes
3answers
1k views
Is Tetris public domain? [closed]
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?
...
6
votes
7answers
1k views
Can I use copyrighted sprites for a demo?
I just had a quick question and wanted everyone's opinions.
I'm making a 2D demo game for a resume which I want to post online. I'm applying as a programmer position so I don't really have my own ...
9
votes
1answer
420 views
What to consider legally when cloning an old game? [duplicate]
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 ...
8
votes
8answers
1k views
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 ...
5
votes
2answers
1k views
Are fonts covered by copyright?
I want to use the font Trajan Pro, but I'm not sure that it would be legal. I've read a bit on fonts and copyright, and the only thing I could get was it depends on the license and where it was ...
4
votes
4answers
264 views
Who has ownership of publicly developed projects?
After seeing the comments on selling an idea to developer for a game, the general concencus is that without a game, or atleast a demo, it’s not going to happen. So…someone (yes, Noctrine, I am looking ...
-2
votes
2answers
205 views
Is there a way to legally create a game mod? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How closely can a game resemble another game without legal problems
Some questions about it:
If I create a funny version of a copyrighted game and sell it (crediting ...
4
votes
1answer
305 views
When do I need to ask for permission to recreate an old game? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicates:
How closely can a game resemble another game without legal problems
Legal issues for a "fangame" of a commercial franchise?
I want to do a mobile version of ...
3
votes
2answers
678 views
Can I reuse the name of an old arcade game?
I've done an indie remake of an old arcade game from 1980.
Can I use its name? I thought copyright expired after 25 years but I could be wrong, hence this question.
3
votes
5answers
848 views
Is there any level design copyright?
I am planing to develop a game, in fact a puzzle game, I have changed the graphics but the level design is all the same. For example, the original puzzle game have five aliens as the obstacle in the ...
2
votes
2answers
607 views
Does it require any license to use soccer players and teams names in a paid or free game?
I would like to know if any license is required to use Fifa registered team names and player names in paid or free games (e.g. Spanish League teams, Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo names etc).
I'm currently ...
1
vote
2answers
264 views
Using Copyrighted Images
I was thinking about developing a sidescrolling platformer very similar to an old Mario and Luigi game for NES. To start out I was thinking about taking the images from a site like this:
...
1
vote
6answers
1k views
Using a particular font in a commercial game
I'm working on a game I intend to sell, and I want to use this font. The license says:
"You may NOT copy or distribute the font outside of the licensed
household, company, school or institution. ...
0
votes
2answers
386 views
How legal would it be to use some elements of the Half Life universe in my non comercial, indie game?
I'm planning to make a simple, HTML5 game, that would use some elements of the Half Life universe. Basically, it would be a 2D Portal clone, but it would have it's own story, and portals would be ...
-3
votes
5answers
3k views
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 ...
