Questions tagged [legal]
As a business, game development is fraught with legal concerns and issues, especially on copyright, terms of service, and licensing fronts.
267
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1answer
5k views
How can I create an exclusive asset for multiple clients who all want basically the same thing?
This is more of a legal question than for example a coding question, but I hope that it's allowed as well. I recently started working as a freelance VFX Artist and do a lot of work with shaders and ...
0
votes
1answer
79 views
Game Similarity Legal Consecuences
Im already half year planning Turn Based Strategy (4X) for mobile phones. Recently I tried to play Civilization 6 and while playing, totally horrified I realized, that my idea and Civ 6 is very, very ...
1
vote
1answer
140 views
When does a Reference become Copyright Infringement?
I've seen quite a few posts on here similar to my question, but I am still having doubts about my implementation of an Easter Egg.
In the background of my game, There is a bookshelf, purely for ...
1
vote
0answers
27 views
Is It Okay To Use Real Designs In My 2D Game? [Cars and Weapons] [duplicate]
I am making a 2D mobile game that includes cars and weapons (like GTA let's say). I am using real car and weapons designs to make 2D images, however, I use made-up names for the both cars and the ...
5
votes
2answers
322 views
My game got stolen, what do I do?
I recently released my first game on the Google Play Store (yay!), and a few days later I found my game had been reuploaded to two different shady-looking sites (Softonic and Fibonapps). Needless to ...
0
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1answer
74 views
Should I get an official content rating, like from the ESRB, or just rate my game myself?
I'm developing a game out of my garage basically with the intention of selling it on my own website and hopefully on Steam, and I've been wondering if I should try to get it rated by an official ...
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0answers
44 views
Legal status of games with similar titles [closed]
I've been working on a game for around a year and a half named Planetfall, in which you build a colony on a new planet.
I've bee working on it with that title since before the announcement of Age of ...
0
votes
1answer
145 views
How do I get rights to an game? [duplicate]
I' looking to get rights to an game called Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the Nintendo DS. I am a Nintendo 3DS Developer trying to make a remastered version for the Nintendo 3DS. How would I go ...
0
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2answers
50 views
Can I sample audio sources from others without asking?
As the title says, would it be considered legal if I take a part of an audio source (any media like music, dialog, video, etc.) to use in a project, whether it is for commercial or non-commercial ...
3
votes
4answers
183 views
How can I open source my Unity project when I use third party assets?
I know you are not allowed to open source a Unity project that contains asset store items that are either paid or under the default license. I am just wondering if there's any way to make my git ...
1
vote
1answer
95 views
Is it ok to remake a 2D game into first person and then releasing it for free? [duplicate]
I saw a video online where someone made a first person version of flappy bird, so I was wondering...
If I were to remake a 2D game into a 3D game and change the perspective to first person, and then ...
5
votes
1answer
255 views
Is it legal to develop a game using software which is unavailable in my region due to legal reasons?
I was wondering: what would happen if I published a game while the software I used is not available in my area?
I was planning to make a game using Unity Personal, and it just happened that it's not ...
0
votes
0answers
26 views
Can I give vehicles its real names? (e.g. Skoda, Tatra) [duplicate]
I'm working on a simulator of old USSR transport.
But my boss is telling me that I can't put real names on vehicles, but don't get me any proofs of it. I know that you can't put real human names and ...
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votes
2answers
101 views
Is it legal to make a fan game but only publish the gameplay?
If I make a fan game that uses copyrighted material, sounds, dialogues etc. from other games but only ever upload the gameplay/walkthrough of the fangame to Youtube without publishing it anywhere else,...
3
votes
0answers
118 views
Now that Articles 17 & 11 have passed, what should indie developers do?
Since on the 26th of March 2019 the EU has voted in favor of Articles 17 (previously known as Article 13) and 11, what should an indie developer who is based in the EU do to setup a game and a website ...
0
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0answers
40 views
Can I legally use mechanics from a game that is removed from the store? [duplicate]
There was a mobile (android, ios) card game that I really liked playing. Last year, the game was removed from the store and noone were able to play it. The company is still up.
That game had a really ...
1
vote
1answer
77 views
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 "...
2
votes
2answers
156 views
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 ...
2
votes
1answer
74 views
Could I get in to trouble for “rickrolling” users in my commercial game?
Not sure if this question is too stupid but, theoretically speaking...
Could you get into trouble for using something like Application.OpenURL in a commercial game to rickroll a player or would that ...
0
votes
1answer
554 views
Converting copyrighted song to 8 bit. Is it legal? [duplicate]
I would like to get a copyrighted song, convert into a 8 bit song and use it in my game. Is that legal?
8
votes
1answer
7k views
Can I sell a game made with OpenGL?
I love creating games, and I've always made games using OpenGL and not with game engines such as Unity or Unreal. Can I legally sell the games I made with OpenGL?
1
vote
2answers
116 views
Is it legal to publish a Noughts and crosses (tic-tac-toe) game? [duplicate]
Is it be legal to publish a Noughts and crosses game?
3
votes
1answer
76 views
What legalese is required in a game installer?
So I've seen a lot of installers, and on almost (if not every one, I don't keep track), all of them, there is a EULA, and specific items that are seen on all installers. However, I'm going to be ...
0
votes
1answer
67 views
Extracting gamefiles from a game, modify it, then use it commercially, would it be illegal? [duplicate]
I kinda get a chance to extract gamefiles from the game fortnite(assets, sounds, etc), and then I want to use them for my animation, would that be illegal.
If it is illegal, what if I alter the ...
3
votes
1answer
146 views
What are the legal considerations with using spritesheets? [duplicate]
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 ...
0
votes
0answers
26 views
Copyright of concept? [duplicate]
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 ?
4
votes
3answers
368 views
If a game is made for Windows or MacOS, and sold for profit, is Microsoft or Apple entitled to royalties, even if it's sold on a different website?
I.e. sold on some website some game developer made, and NOT sold on Apple Store or Microsoft Store.
2) Also, for any game made and sold for their platform, does Apple or Microsoft look at the game/...
2
votes
1answer
88 views
Licensing classic (vintage) car models for game
I know that I cannot use real car models in a game without permission. However, I am interested in a classic (vintage) cars from era before 1950. Some of the companies no longer exist, or were bought ...
1
vote
1answer
108 views
When I use a font in my game, do I have to include its license in the credits?
For example, if I use this font from Google Fonts:
https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Open+Sans
This font is licensed under Apache License 2.0
But regardless of the license, if it allows commercial ...
0
votes
1answer
121 views
Do you need special permission to personify companies as characters?
in the Hyperdimension Neptunia series a number of human characters are personifications of games companies ie.
Compa = Compile Heart
Red = Red Entertainment
Tekken = Namco
Falcom = Nihon Falcom
Cave =...
2
votes
2answers
440 views
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 ...
2
votes
1answer
185 views
Could you create a game for an older system (say, SNES) and sell it with an emulator as well as the game?
I was looking into development for the SNES in assembly, as programming in assembly is my hobby. I then had the thought: what if I could sell my native SNES games for modern use (on steam, bundled ...
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0answers
39 views
Licensing for assets in a game but it is free for commercial use
In my game, there is this music that I use and of course before releasing anything for commercial use, I have to have a license for what I dont create for my game for example ( game engine, music, ...
0
votes
2answers
79 views
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 ...
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votes
1answer
576 views
Is it legal to use formulas from a professional game?
The Pokémon series uses a total of 5 different formulas to determine how much experience is required to get to the next level. Likewise, in RPG games, each character has a formula for determining when ...
1
vote
1answer
201 views
Is it a legal thing to do to sell fabricated accounts of your game?
For example, say I create an online mass multiplayer game with in-game purchasing system and with randomness factors as well (the point is that game accounts have actual value and there is a somehow ...
61
votes
10answers
20k views
Why is account sharing so bad?
In games where you have to use an account to sign in or otherwise authenticate yourself (e.g MMO games), it is often prohibited to share your account with other people.
For example in the World of ...
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votes
1answer
197 views
Is it legal to mod a MMORPG game to make it look like another franchise and profit from it?
Let's say I take World of Warcraft and I mod it to make it look like a Dragon Ball game and I obtain profit from it, would it be legal?
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1answer
176 views
Using real-life names in fantasy league
I am looking into creating a fantasy soccer league, where users can create their own virtual team of real-life soccer players. The performance the virtual team depends on how those soccer players ...
7
votes
1answer
188 views
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, ...
44
votes
7answers
8k views
Licensing (or similar) for my fan-game?
For the past 8 years, I've been working on a Pokémon 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 ...
0
votes
2answers
1k views
Unity remove logo in splash screen
Heavily related to this question, as of now, Unity's TOS has changed dramatically. And searching in the TOS, it looks like I'm allowed to remove the Unity logo in my exported game. Looking at Section ...
2
votes
0answers
59 views
How to be sure that a name we came up with for an evil corporation is safe to use in our game? [closed]
I need your advice. We are currently developing a pixel art point and click adventure game. We have an evil corporation in our game and we also came up with a name for it. Now, to be sure that the ...
1
vote
1answer
53 views
Art Style Guide - External Image Sources?
I've been looking into how to structure an art style guide (ASG); it's a document which helps guide artists how a project's visuals should look. They often have sketches and illustrations from artists ...
1
vote
1answer
93 views
Can I make the project files/source code of my comerical Unity game avalible as a DLC or with the game?
Is it legal and/or a good idea to let the players download the source code/project files of a comerical Unity game with the game or as a DLC?
3
votes
1answer
240 views
What are the legal implications of creators streaming their development?
Is there any question of losing ownership of their work if people stream themselves coding? I can understand that streaming modeling, animations, and game design would be fine because even if you see ...
3
votes
1answer
589 views
Is it illegal to decompile Unreal Engine maps from games?
I am currently in the process of learning to use Unreal Engine 4, and want to learn how certain games design their components. I know about the issues with decompiling Unreal Engine 3 to Unreal Engine ...
4
votes
3answers
376 views
Should I talk about my game concept?
I have what I think is a great idea for a small android game. It might be crap, but for the sake of the discussion, let's assume it is potentially good. I'm currently learning game development as a ...
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votes
1answer
74 views
Legal - Will code-naming a project after Marvel property be a problem?
I am developing a game, and since I haven't decided on a name yet, I've named it say, Project Deadpool. I plan to release the game as a beta. Will this cause any problems. It is just a name until a ...
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0answers
30 views
Can I make my sprite design very similar to Pokémon's sprite design? [duplicate]
I'm making a 2d RPG and I'm having trouble designing a sprite, so I downloaded an image of Pokémon Leaf Green's player sprite and copied how it looked. I didn't copy it completely, only how it looks. ...
