At the risk of sounding totally ignorant on copyright law…
Thinking of giving myself a summer project and make a game based on a TV show, using its soundtrack, concept and assets from the show, I don’t really know much about copyright but I’m guessing if I were to put it up onto the internet, for free download, that’s going to cause me copyright problems? It’s something I’d perhaps like to show to developers in the future as I kind of “hey I made a thing, look how many people downloaded it”…but I wouldn’t want to go to all the time for it to turn out it’s not something I’ll be able to do…
Yes you can create a fan game for free. Yes - you will be violating copyright and probably trademark if you use the soundtrack and assets from the show.
If the creation stands on its own - the number of downloads won’t be directly linked to the IP which the content is originally from.
Copyright violation is a contentious issue in the entertainment industry. Suggest not even ‘going there’ to avoid the risk of being associated with it.
Instead consider creating something original “inspired by” the TV show. You will not be in violation of copyright or IP infringement - and you can still use it legally to show developers “hey look what I made and look how many people downloaded it”.
“it doesn’t look like the game, which was reportedly in the works for over eight years, will see the light of day” Yikes, that’s pretty brutal, then again nintendo have always been weird like that lol, Thanks for the info, pretty much I was expecting but thought I’d ask anyways
Nintendo is very inconsistent with their take down though, it’s very unlikely the aren’t aware of teh vast community of fan game round their IP, yet they are rather chirurgical in their targeting.
I don’t know, what are the chances of your game going viral? They’re very low. And if your game goes viral, what are the chances of being incarcerated or a simple cease and desist?
You could just do the game, and if you start noticing your game gains too much popularity and attention, pour gasoline on your desktop, set it on fire, and run away to México … and live a rogue life, drinking margaritas and dancing with the senioritas …The risk is up to you!
Do it. Just dont attach it to yourself in any way. Make sure you are completely clean & untraceable when you upload it.
Evil corporations like Hasbro cannot sue you if you dont exist. (Re: My Little Pony fighting game)
So yes, as long as you dont want money or fame, you are fully allowed to do it. If the game is good, it will be publicly available.
Although you could accept donations via a secure, untraceable, anonymous cryptocurrency.
Also in the future, this copyright nonsense will all be water under the bridge. Secure & anonymous cryptocurrency along with secure & anonymous web hosting & torrenting will mean it will be literally impossible for anyone to enforce any laws, as long as the user is anonymous (and with digital cash, they will be able to sell the game to the masses without any repercussions).
Although that creates a huge problem with taxes in society, so governments will fight it…but they cant do much…
But all of that is still for the future. By then, we likely will have done away with copyright nonsense long before we do away with fiat. Younger generations support Copyleft, not Copyright. And they are our future lawmakers.
I am perplexed why people feel the need to make a fan project, when they can make an “inspired by” game that is literally the same thing but with different names.
The former guarantees the chance of being sued. The latter guarantees the chance of personal profit (fame, street cred, money, selling a full game, etc.)
Plus inspirational works are more awesome anyway. You could improve or give it your own twist.
Unless you are ripping art assets from a game to recreate it for cheaper (or something like that?) then I see absolutely no reason anyone would even want to do a fan game over an “inspired by”.
I was basically thinking of making a battlestar galactica fan game, and a huge factor of that (as anyone who’s seen the show will agree) is the soundtrack, flying the fighters, acting out the battles in the show while the corresponding music plays, my brain’s kind’ve been thinking up ideas for this according to the soundtrack, “oh this piece of music would be great for the title menu, the loadout screen, the post battle screen” etc, so in this sense using those copyrighted assets would be kinda crucial, look at games like house of the dying sun, with all the reviews saying “it’s great cos the music reminds me of BSG!” that kind of thing
Completely perplexed along with you. There is a GORGEOUS Halo fan game in the wip thread. I posed this exact same question - made the same suggestion to the participants - although a little less eloquently.
It’s clearly a bad idea to use copyrighted or trademarked anything without the right permissions, but it’s certainly understandable that fans would want tap into something with actual cultural impact and that they have a real passion for.
“Generic Space Opera Adventure 417” starring Mark Spacerunner, Stan Rogue, and Princess Lulu is never going to have the same resonance or inspire the same level of passion as the characters and sights and sounds of 40 years of Star Wars.
So I get where the desire comes from, but yeah, “don’t go there.”
The fair use mark at the beginning of the YouTube videos also has no legal use (or fair dealing in my case, just found out recently that I’m not covered by fair use here in Australia. International copyright law is fun). It does however give you a preemptive shot at discouraging random take down notices.
But the OPs game won’t come under fair use in any case.
It’s a way like another to immerse yourself in something you love. To participate and prolong the feeling it give you.
To paraphrase you:
I am perplex people than people would immerse in copyrighted paid content when they could use their own free imagination and do something awesome, instead of using someone else’s imagination to feel good …
See how that works? I agree with the paraphrase oups
Obtaining “permission” to use copyrighted material is pretty much the same as obtaining “permission” to take groceries from the shop. You pay for them (if they are willing).
You can also pick them up once they expire and can no longer be sold. Did that for a while. You would be surprised how much good food gets dumped just because its passed a fairly arbitrary use date.
