Sequel to the Point&Click-Adventure "Day of the Tentacle" · By
Hi, I just want to know if there is any legal (copyright or intellectual property) issues for you releasing this fan project. Did you have any problems using the characters? Did you use the original characters or replicate them yourself? Did you ask for permission first to use them?
I'm asking because I'm doing something similar with another old game, and I haven't done any search yet about this legal issues that may come if I publish it, even for free.
Thanks in advance.
Unfortunately, companies can easily ask for takedowns of anything with no repercussions and many people don't have the money to fight anything in court (plus the companies have teams of lawyers) and are scared even by the thought. If this project gets too big (especially close to anything planned by the parent company for a new DotT release) I don't doubt that it'll be seen and taken down.
Luckily, most fan projects are removed because of they're stupidly-low low-hanging-fruit... by which I mean they use trademarked names/logos.
This project doesn't do that so likely isn't going to get removed by a simple bot (one that just searches for keywords or searches for a copy-paste of an entire logo) but when it comes to more advanced AI for image recognition (especially with neural networks) it becomes more likely that they could detect it early. Although the AI wouldn't even really need to be that smart, as the logo (particularly the 'of the tentacle') is extremely close even if it's not a 1:1 copy. If anyone is using or will use AI for stamping out anything remotely resembling infringement, it'd be Disney (who owns LucasArts and thus DotT).
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Even if you think to yourself "MY corporation wouldn't do that to fans, they're cool!" remember that they want money, don't always have fans' best interests in mind, and can end years of work with less effort than a finger snap (in relation to the collective of the organization). Just because you (possibly) can, doesn't mean you should (risk it).
So you should distance yourself from any existing designs (design things as if you were given description alone). Use the core ideas (in spirit, that is) and incorporate your own ideas as well. If you absolutely have to make things similar, make names/designs original-but-close in an "everybody knows what you mean" sort of way (Mikey Mouse, Polkamen, McDarren's, Burger Lord, Harold Sampson, Harvey Potter and the Alchemist's Stone, Lucas Cloudrunner) and design your game to allow players to rename characters or even specific story elements (places, events, concepts etc) via options or via data packs for people who want the names from the inspiring work (also resource packs for the assets themselves).
I would be even more paranoid than that: I wouldn't even mention the inspiring work in any official capacity. Much like renaming/resource packs mentioned above, fans as free to do what they want. If others make comparisons, that does not concern the project itself. It wouldn't even give keywords for bots to latch onto, just like I'd try not to give even a shred of legal justification in the work itself.
Thank you very much for the detailed explanation. I get what you said, and agreed with all. People doing fan versions of games should try not to give any chance for the original IP owner to ask for a takedown. Specially if they are doing a new version of the original IP, and they think it might affect their sales. It would be a shame to take down a project like this, because all of the hard work put in to it, and for what I seen so far it is a good fan project.
That said, what I'm doing is not a fan project per se, is more like a remake for modern computers of Warcraft 1 and 2, but seeing this opens possibilities for me to create maybe new fan campains and stories. I'm doing it because Blizzard has said publicly that they will not do a remake/remastered version of Warcraft 1 or 2, and I just want to play those games in modern computers without DosBox and with somewhat modern standars for RTSs. I know it's not very logical, specially because there are others projects (wargus project here http://wargus.github.io/) and remakes of these games on the internet, but the main reason I'm doing it is because I think I will learn a lot (also the nostalgia of doing one of my first games I played). If in the end I can't publish it (I would always publish it for free) or I receive a takedown notice, well, the project will remains with me. In that case I'll decide what to do with the graphics and logos and trademark names, and maybe create a whole new game, I don't know.
Let's see how it goes.
Well, I do not think so, I never participated in the development of FreeCraft, I wish I had been involved, because I love the games (War1, War2 and Starcraft) and I want to learn how to make them. Do you have any insights from that time I will probably need? Don't know for sure if the Stratagus engine is still in active development. When I get some more knowhow I would love to help in the development of the engine.
There is probably nothing really of value that I can share with you about that. It's been ages since I was involved, and I was more or less just a permanent resident in the freecraft irc channel. I haven't heard about any updates from Stratagus in forever. Some other games branched off the Stratagus engine, but I have never heard from them either, so they're not exactly breaking news.
I was pretty much gone when the name change to Statagus occured.
I'm studying laws in Europe, and I'm 100% sure about it :
Yes, it will be taken down as soon as they see it.
Let's say they choose to be kind with it, and they allow those characters use for free...
In France & Germany (and probably Spain, UK, Italy...), that's a failure to enforce exclusive rights.
And it's a highway to a trademark abandonment :
Any other companies (even EA Games...) will be free to use those characters, and free to release a DotT sequel commercially.
It seems stupid, but companies have to prove, at some point, that they did defend their trademarks.
That's why Ferrero is striking some Facebook pages titled "My Nutella cake recipe" :
If they want to block other food companies to use the "Nutella" brand, they have to strike the fan-pages too.
They are'nt allowed to be selective.
No, that's not (always) about money, and that's not (always) some kind of evilness.
That's about "not losing characters".
The only way to be safe is to sign some uage agreement with LucasArt. Even for a symbolic $.
For what I know, some editors, like Valve, are quite kind with that.
I'm saving this game preciously, and everybody should.
Internet will remember it anyway.... Internet always remembers.
Cheers from France, and congratulation with you game !
While I don't doubt takedowns are swift, unquestioned/undisputed, and can have a chilling effect (intentional or not)...
it's not entirely cut-and-dry. See http://www.inta.org/INTABulletin/Pages/NotAllIsFair(Use)inTrademarksandCopyright... and http://www.betalaw.info/can-lose-trademark-rights-dont-sue-infringers/
Particularly, simply using a name is not necessarily infringement (people aren't going to assume association of Nutella just because it's the centerpiece of a recipe, and if anything it will boost sales of the trademark holder) and intellectual property doesn't need to be protected like the last thin-shelled egg of an endangered species that's largely undocumented.
I'm sure if fan games are ever attempted to be used as a defense to claim abandoned intellectual property that defense would be stricken down. Certainly if said fan game is gratis (and non-commercial to a certain degree, especially if the difference of revenue vs profit is taken into account), non-competing, not intended to cause confusion, and not causing significant damage to the brand. And heck, if EA match all of that, then more power to them (considering their track record, I doubt they can accomplish any of that).
I read the articles and yes, it's probably like you said, there are a grey area in which not suing an infringer does not neccesarily lead to trademark abandonment. However it will probably apply differently in different countries or states in the US.
Well, I hope these guys from RotT had got the appropiate permission from Disney and avoid all the trouble.
