So...
Somewhere on the horizon, I've got plans to market Murder Mansion outside of BYOND (perhaps not going so far as to submit it to Steam, but at least spreading the word to gaming sites and other related communities) Obviously, the game is still not quite polished enough for this to begin, but it's getting there.
At any rate, this notion left me wondering about some of the content in the game that might raise issues of copyright infringement.
Now, I know (or at least strongly assume) that no one here is a lawyer (copyright or otherwise), so I'm not expecting solid legal advice; but I know that there are a lot of bright people (some of whom might be well-versed in this topic), so I'm hoping to at least get a feel of where I stand.
Here's my list of potential sticking points:
1) The name "Murder Mansion" was apparently used as the title of a 1972 movie (appears to be a film of Spanish and/or Italian origin) I wouldn't expect any trouble on this front, but perhaps.
2) The game uses a lot of BGM midis, many of which are based on themes from commercial horror franchises (including a copy of the BGM from the NES Friday the 13th game; though I believe it is an original sequencing, and not the exact file from the game). This one is likely a very tangled web. Could there be any trouble from the original copyright holders of the music they are based on? Might the sequencers/composers of the midis themselves have a claim? (even in the case of the ones based on songs that are likely public domain?)
3) Clue.
Hasbro may have several reasons to come down on me. I mention the boardgame several times in passing (even describing the game as a sort of real-time Clue), which shouldn't be a problem. However! I've also gone a step or three further and included a map that very accurately recreates the Clue game board, and a specific game mode that is a pretty close adaptation of the actual Clue gameplay.
I'd hate to lose these, but this one is my biggest worry. There may actually be a copyright case against me for this. But, what do you think?
4) Related to the above, is the name generation system. It randomly creates names by combining a first name picked from a list, and a last name picked from a list. These lists, however, contain elements of character names from Clue, some horror movies, etc. And it is entirely possible that copyrighted names will be created ("Colonel Mustard", "Jason Voorhees", etc.) Am I safe hiding behind the "random generation" aspect?
Again, I'm aware that no one here is legally qualified to assert anything on the above, but I'd at least like to get some opinions (or maybe you know of related cases?).
And yes, I know that I have better options available to me to find information on this problem (Google, writing to the copyright holders for clearance, etc.), and those are still open to me, but I wanted to check it out here, too.
ID:1365253
 Aug 30 2013, 6:04 am
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Aug 30 2013, 6:18 am
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Ter13
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Nobody here is going to be qualified for this question. You are going to want to talk to a real lawyer, or at the very least, take this question over to reddit, where someone claiming to a lawyer could at least making a convincing argument.
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Your clue concerns are pretty moot, though. Your game falls out of the category of derivative work due to it being a completely different medium. I wouldn't worry about Hasbro. I would worry about the name generator, though. That's where they can at least try to make a claim.
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I am not a lawyer, etc. Not even American. But with my understanding of copyright and trademark law:
1) shouldn't be a problem. The reasonable person shouldn't be able to confuse a spanish/italian horror film from 1972 with your game, despite the name being the same, even if the trademark is still active. 2) is, I think, an issue. A MIDI intended to represent another copyrighted track is a derivative work, even if sequenced from scratch. Even if it didn't, the person who sequenced the MIDI would own the copyright. If you want to avoid that issue, replace the music with something original or public-domain, or at the very least make sure that all the MIDIs you use were explicitly allowed in things like your game by the sequencer/contact the sequencer and ask. 3) describing your game as 'sort of a real time Clue' shouldn't be an issue. Accurately recreating the Clue board... I'm not sure on. My suspicion would be that it couldn't be considered a derivative work - the Murder Mansion maps are substantially more detailed than the Clue board game. There's objects placed around, furniture, functional lights, etc. More inspired-by than derivative, I think. You can't copyright game mechanics. I don't think an adaptation of the clue gameplay counts as a derivative work, although it'd be a good idea not to call it 'clue' or something like that to avoid potential trademark issues. Tetris clones, for example, are legal to produce, despite exactly copying game mechanics. 4) I don't think this is likely to be a problem as long as only a small subset of your list of names is inspired by other works. If most of your names are ripped from other works, they would have some grounds to claim that your names are derivative of theirs. If only a small subset of your names are taken from other sources, it's a homage or inspiration or what-have-you, and is legally defensible. Again: not a lawyer or a copyright expert, this is merely my impression of how copyright/trademark law works. And, of course, anyone can bring a case against you, regardless of whether they're likely to win, so being just this side of legal isn't necessarily a defence against being sued. | |
I am not a
I don't think '1' will be a problem, as you're in different industries and you aren't intentionally alluding to said movie (it's just a coincidence that things named "Murder Mansion" tend to involve murders in a mansion, eh?) For '2', just because the song itself is in the public domain, doesn't mean that the author can't copyright their recording or sequencing of it. So you're on shaky ground there. It seems unlikely that any of the midi sequencers would A) notice or B) care enough to bring a law suit against you, but there's always the chance. For the Friday the 13th music, Wikipedia seems to suggest that (unless significantly reworked and altered) remixes often fall under the "derivative work" heading, and are subject to the copyright of the original. So that's an issue, too. For '3', I don't think you can copyright a "floor plan" of that nature, but that doesn't mean Parker won't try. For '4', it doesn't seem like they've trademarked the names. That said, according to the second answer to this question, Parker has gone to extraordinary lengths to protect its trademark on "Clue" (as I understand it, you have to to keep the trademark), so you might not want to reference the name directly. The only thing that I would like to add, is in most cases, you'll get a Cease & Desist letter if a company believes you've violated its rights. They aren't required to send you such a letter before suing you, but it's usually in their best interest as it allows them to avoid unnecessary court costs. Again, I am not lawyer (nor have I studied law, beyond the occasional Google search). | |
Ter13 wrote:
Your clue concerns are pretty moot, though. Your game falls out of the category of derivative work due to it being a completely different medium. I wouldn't worry about Hasbro. I would worry about the name generator, though. That's where they can at least try to make a claim. Looks like they have a Clue video game, so I don't know if you can claim it's a different medium at this point. | |
Still can't copyright game mechanics. Patenting... Well, that's a different story.
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I typed this out and then scrolled down to realize that Jp already answered the questions pretty much the same way. Oh well!
I'm well versed in copyright law as it pertains to media, as it was part of my education and I deal with it pretty frequently in the work that I do. I'm not a lawyer, but these are pretty basic concepts that you're covering here: SuperSaiyanGokuX wrote: 1) The name "Murder Mansion" was apparently used as the title of a 1972 movie (appears to be a film of Spanish and/or Italian origin) I wouldn't expect any trouble on this front, but perhaps. Not an issue. SuperSaiyanGokuX wrote: 2) The game uses a lot of BGM midis, many of which are based on themes from commercial horror franchises (including a copy of the BGM from the NES Friday the 13th game; though I believe it is an original sequencing, and not the exact file from the game). This one is likely a very tangled web. Could there be any trouble from the original copyright holders of the music they are based on? Might the sequencers/composers of the midis themselves have a claim? (even in the case of the ones based on songs that are likely public domain?) This is tricky. The answer is that it's very likely that no one will ever come after you, and if they do then it will probably just mean that you'll need to remove that track from the game. Even if a song is in the public domain, the composer has a right to protect his/her version of that track. Anyway, I'd recommend taking some time to either find new music or get permission from the composers of the music that you did use. If you're looking for new music then hiring someone online to compose midi tracks for a game is actually dirt cheap - usually about $25/track or less. SuperSaiyanGokuX wrote: 3) Clue. Comparing your game to Clue when describing the game won't be an issue, but I'd remove any references to the name "Clue" within the game (if there are any). So long as you're not using any of their art assets or directly referencing Clue character names for the map and game mode, you're fine there. SuperSaiyanGokuX wrote: 4) Related to the above, is the name generation system. It randomly creates names by combining a first name picked from a list, and a last name picked from a list. These lists, however, contain elements of character names from Clue, some horror movies, etc. And it is entirely possible that copyrighted names will be created ("Colonel Mustard", "Jason Voorhees", etc.) Am I safe hiding behind the "random generation" aspect? Again, it will probably never be an issue but I'd say at least change the spelling on some of the more unique names just to be safe. Or do so some or obvious parody ("Ketchup" instead of "Mustard", etc.). | |
1. You cannot copyright a name, only trademark it. Trademarks are specific to each industry. IE, a film is not a game, it's fair game name a game the same as a film (but not a game the same as another game).
2. You don't own the rights to these. Replace them. This is effectively the same as someone making a DBZ game and claiming they are legally allowed to use things like Goku because they drew the graphics. 3. I doubt they can do anything to you. They might try, in which case you're screwed because they have more money and lawyers than you, but I don't think they can legally do anything about this. The concepts are similar, but unless they patented it, then I don't think they can do anything, but you might want to check for patents on this concept first. 4. Once again, names cannot be copyrighted. | |
Like I said, I realize that I should be seeking proper legal advice on this sort of stuff, but I figured I could get some reasonably well-informed knowledge out of my fellow BYONDers, and my hunch was right! Obviously, there is a definite consensus on many of the points (which also more-or-less match my own semi-educated assumptions/half-assed research), so I think that I'm settled on those points (or at least well enough that I wouldn't mind throwing the dice on them)
It certainly seems that the music is the point on which I'm on the shakiest ground, so I'll definitely have to consider how I want to proceed on that front. It will be problematic tracking down the original sequencers for most of the songs used, because these are all very old files that are now currently up for download on hundreds of 90's-era midi music listing pages (the kinds of sites with animated gif banners and auto-playing sound effects, and a hundred font faces, sizes, and colors; you know the ones...) Of course, that might serve to shield me a little (not that the "but everyone else was doing it!" defense is any good, but there's reason to believe that the original composers do not care and/or may have actually released them to public use) At any rate, it'll take some further research and consideration, which may or may not ultimately result in a soundtrack change. For good measure, I believe I will be removing the specific word "Clue" (and "Cluedo") from the game. I guess that map and/or mode will be called "Whodunit" or something similar! Thanks, everyone! | |
Im sure you already checked all the needed websites, but i would just write to some organizations like www.iael.org with your music questions :) Also, wikipedia explains a lot about music copyrights. Just saying :P
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