From hobby -> selling: avoiding legal issues?

[d000hg]

If you start a game which you know you are going to sell, then you can write contacts for anyone who helps out specifying the profit-sharing or other payment options for their time.

But what if you start on a hobby project? You probably just got some people to help you out here and there - maybe one modeller did a few and then got bored and another joined, for example.

Then you realise the game has potential and you want to sell it. But you've no written agreements with anybody. If you sell the game you're open to who knows what problems. Must you aquire a complely new set of assets?

[Laser Lou]

You can always negotiate agreements with those who contributed in the past.

[GBGames]

If you do not own the copyright, you do not have the right to distribute those assets, commercially or otherwise. You would probably do well to request that the copyright gets transferred to you and get it in writing. If you can't do it for some assets, replace those assets to be on the safe side.

[Game Producer]

But what if you start on a hobby project? You probably just got some people to help you out here and there - maybe one modeller did a few and then got bored and another joined, for example.

Then you either negotiate the deal with the person or get new art from someone else.

And learn: next time you start a new project you have written contract where you state that contributed work can be used even if the team member leaves ;)

[d000hg]

It's a bit of a problem though. When starting a hobby project, talking about profit-sharing seems like you're deluded. But asking people to volunteer and "by the way you must give me, in writing, the rights to the work you did for free" sounds a litle suspicious - like you mean to sell but you're hiding this fact.

[Game Producer]

It's a bit of a problem though. When starting a hobby project, talking about profit-sharing seems like you're deluded. But asking people to volunteer and "by the way you must give me, in writing, the rights to the work you did for free" sounds a litle suspicious - like you mean to sell but you're hiding this fact.

Ah, no no no :)

You should have a statement like "if a team member leaves, then rights for the work are owned by the project" AND "profits are calculated based on work" (you could divide royalties via hours or you could make rough estimations about the work load, like: "art 30%", "music 10%", "code 60%" - which would work as a guideline for defining exact royalties.) And also to put: "to get royalties, you must complete the work you were meant to do".

It's true - it's complicated. But to have some guidelines will help little...

[d000hg]

I can see that if you start a project with the intention of going commercial then you know in advance that this stuff needs sorting out.

[GBGames]

I can see that if you start a project with the intention of going commercial then you know in advance that this stuff needs sorting out.

I know what you mean. When you are starting a project with no intention of selling the result, why would you even deal with the legality? It makes no sense. Bringing up the legal would just seem like overhead that you shouldn't have to deal with. "Check out this guy! He's acting like CEO here! What a goof!" Now you've gone from acting professionally to looking amateur. Who'd want to work on a for-fun project with someone like that around?

Of course, here you are about to sell, but you can't due to legal concerns.

In the future, you'll hopefully know beforehand that the project is supposed to be created for commercial purposes. If you find yourself in a similar situation in the future, just point out that it has happened to you in the past, referring to the current game, and that you'd just like to be covered in the event it does sell.

[NothingLikeit]

so would the general consensus be to let your team know what you're thinking up front. Case and point my IGF Entry.... I can't decide if I want to try for the actual prize competition or just the student show case. I sold everyone on the IGF Showcase but my thinking is why not just go for the whole thing?

And on top of that I KNOW I wanna at least attempt to sell the game.

So should I outline my intentions and present them with something upfront?

[GBGames]

Obviously there is nothing wrong with changing your mind, so if you come up with a plan or goal and present it to the other people in your "group", I think it should work out fine (legally anyway). That way, everyone knows what you're doing and has a chance to disapprove.

[robleong]

You can always negotiate agreements with those who contributed in the past.

So what's the problem with doing what Laser Lou recommended? I think it is only fair for whoever contributed to get their share of any profits you make.