An Indie Guide to Copyright Law

[GBGames]

I just posted an article that attempts to summarize copyright law. I figure it might be useful, especially to those just starting out. I don't claim that you won't need a lawyer after reading this article, but at least if you decide to consult a lawyer about copyright, you can be armed with some knowledge. Copyright law is confusing, so hopefully this article will help clarify things, or at least let you know what you don't know.

I am providing a link to the blog entry announcing the article rather than the article itself since you can't leave a comment in the article.
An Indie Guide to Copyright Law (http://gbgames.com/blog/?p=589)

[soniCron]

Blogspam! Direct link: http://gbgames.com/blog/?page_id=580

(I'm kidding! ;) )

[NathanR]

My lawyer pretty much told me this:

"I could do it for you and charge you a lot of money, or you could pay 45 dollars by going to copyright.gov and filling in the VA form, stapling screen shots of your game to it as well as print outs of your art components. Shove it all in a big brown envelope and mail it off."

I dunno, but I think for most indie game companies thats the cost effective solution. When it comes down to it, I just want my art and sound in the copyright archive so when somebody steals it I can prove its mine Otherwise you have common law copyright as soon as you say "Its done!" you just dont have any way to prove its yours when it gets stolen, and arguing in court is a lot easier when you can show the file date on your copyright material in their vault.

Our attorney pretty much said that last part too but Im paraphrasing. Remember that attorney's number one priority is to perpetuate their own profession. Nothing in the world REQUIRES a lawyer. You can do it all yourself, you just might do it wrong and mess up. :)

Also I think your statement that you can copyright your video game is too general. You can copyright the art, the sound, the composition of art and sound. You cant copyright the game, because thats a mechanic. Thats a system. That is a patent, not a copyright. Once again this has been verified by Skill City's team of 4 lawyers.

[GBGames]

Also I think your statement that you can copyright your video game is too general. You can copyright the art, the sound, the composition of art and sound. You cant copyright the game, because thats a mechanic. Thats a system. That is a patent, not a copyright. Once again this has been verified by Skill City's team of 4 lawyers.

Hmm, you're right. That's sloppy writing on my part. I should make it clear, although I am not a fan of software patents. B-)

Thanks for pointing it out!

[Uhfgood]

You can also copyright the program itself.

so I think if there's a story to it, you could copyright the story as well.

[NathanR]

You can also copyright the program itself.

so I think if there's a story to it, you could copyright the story as well.

Yeah the story is part of the text in the game, and the program itself is made of source code, all of which you can print out and submit. Its best to include them in their original form (such as the instruction booklet with the story on it, or the website where the story appears) but digital items are harder. Print your code and file it, and include a copy on CDrom with source code, and an executable build.

Yup, you can archive a CD. Thank goodness too cause my printer doesnt have that much paper!

[zulion]

Yeah the story is part of the text in the game, and the program itself is made of source code, all of which you can print out and submit. Its best to include them in their original form (such as the instruction booklet with the story on it, or the website where the story appears) but digital items are harder. Print your code and file it, and include a copy on CDrom with source code, and an executable build.

Yup, you can archive a CD. Thank goodness too cause my printer doesnt have that much paper! It's true what you say about the storyline and even script. The instructions on the copyright app gives pretty clear instructions on how to proceed and what to include with your app. I shoulda done this when it was $20 instead of now $45:(

[Davaris]

You cant copyright the game, because thats a mechanic. Thats a system. That is a patent, not a copyright. Once again this has been verified by Skill City's team of 4 lawyers.

This is what I don't quite understand. Taking your example the Dungeons and Dragons rule system is a mechanic. So that means unless it is patented, anyone can make a game using their rule set. If that’s the case, why do companies need to buy the D&D license to make a D&D game?

[MrQ]

I think there is a thread about this somewhere. The sega vs Fox is probably the most well known lawsuit over a game patent.
Sega tried to sue fox for ripping off crazy taxi with thier simpsons road rage title.
From what I remember, Fox won and the game was allowed to go ahead. Sega did have a patent on Crazy taxi but it didn't seem to matter.

http://archive.gamespy.com/counterspy/december03/spy15/
gamasutra article on game patents
http://gamasutra.com/features/20070227/sirlin_02.shtml

[papillon]

The specific names and descriptions of skills, powers, and attributes are text and protectable!

Writing your own game system that is very similar to D&D but doesn't use their exact names and information is still allowed.