Hey guys I’m about to commence on a project during this month with the aim of creating a pokemon like game. However when i say pokemon like game i mean a game or demo tutorial which will involve the same type of concept of owning monsters or creatures and being able to train them. Its not going to be a rip off of pokemon but i used pokemon just give you an idea of the direction i’m going in.
Would i have any problems with copyright infringement or trademark with what I’ve just mentioned.
No, unless you explicitly copy art, sound, or code.
The Mon mechanic/trope is in more than just Pokemon; Dragon Quest V has tamable mons during the second ‘generation’ of the game (Slime Knight being the most useful.)
Not to mention Digimon…
Also, if you aren’t even using the name, it doesn’t matter. You can not copyright a game mechanic. Otherwise there would be no new first person shooters, platformers, etc as they would be copyright by now. As long as you aren’t stealing graphics or level design (and even the level design is largely not covered under copyright. Look at moba games. They all have the exact same level design, with only slight variances), or actual story, then they can’t do anything.
Look at how many game Zynga has copied, and haven’t lost a single lawsuit about someone sueing them for stealing their idea practically blatantly. The only thing really changed is the graphics, and since they came up with the code on their own, it’s fair use.