Can you get sued If you make an online Mario Bros. Game?

If we make an online Mario game, can they sue us for that?

 

Yes they have copyrights to this game and the characters in it.

You unfortunetly cannot copy there work, however as old as it is, I doubt they would do anything, however I dont encourage it.

thanks

 

Mario Bros is a trademark owned by Nintendo of America Inc. Not only can you get sued, I would say there is a high probability that they would do something. It's up to you if you want to take the risk.

 

they will come after you with full guns blazing, since they are launching Super Mario Bros for Wii soon.

 

There are hundreds of Mario games that are not made by Nintendo. As former FGN owner I can say that I never had one problem. That being said they are starting to crack down a little bit ( not a lot ) but more so on the well known sites. You can make it sure why not ( My first game was Donkey Kong ) and its still on the web today ( In Java thou ) I have never received one email telling me I had to pull the game. It would also be very difficult to sue you if it was to go viral ( eg.) on many sites ) but its up to you whether or not you want to take the risk.

One thing I also did was place a Disclaimer in my game and give who owned the rights to the characters and what have you I also didn't have any ads on the game page and it was stated that the development of this game was for educational purposes and I did give contact information ( my email ) in the event that someone didn't like it or wanted to know more. Never got an email besides people wanting it for there site.

Best of luck

Its your choice you take the risk there are thousands of games that are based on characters that the developers didn't have the rights to.

Also you should rename the characters have it similar to Mario but not Mario Call him Zario or something and don't make him a plumber make him a electrician.

( The Simpson did a parody of a Walt Disney movie and claimed fair use and they still haven't been sued... ) but using the exact characters name and occupations would not qualify as fair use you have to make it unique.

 

Mario Bros was a huge game for Nintendo. There is no way they would turn a blind eye to this, no matter how old the game is now. Stay away from that idea buddy.

 

But what if you change the names and design a bit? Atleast that would be on the safer side rather than follow the ori design.

 

What about Creative Commons? I've seen their logo on a few game websites

 

Creative Commons deals with usage rights allowed by the owner. This has nothing to do with what you are attempting to do. The trademark is owned by Nintendo - only they can permit usage. If someone uses their trademark without permission, they cannot legally convey permission to someone else. If you rely on permission given by someone who is not authorized, you are still liable for damages.

 

I see. I mailed the Creative Commons staff and they replied saying I need to ask the copyright owners for permission.

Thanks you guys!

 

I love it when people give examples of people who are breaking the law and infringing on copy write and then follow it up with "..and they haven't been sued" as if that is protection enough for you and your situation or that somehow it means that it is not illegal

The bottom line is, no matter how many people do it and don't get caught or sued, it's still illegal, and you have no way of knowing how many people HAVE been sued for doing the exact same thing.

Plenty of people commit crimes like robbery and car theft and never get caught, but for those that do, the penalty is pretty stiff.

So your answer is.... Yes it's wrong. No you don't have permission. and yes it's illegal.
No one can answer if you will get caught or not just because someone else didn't get caught or sued.

 

There are so many websites that break all these rules that have been running for about 2-3 years. I wonder how that's possible.

 

I know people that sell drugs and have been for years and never get caught. I know people that have set up businesses and scammed people out of money and never seen to get caught. I know people that sell stolen property and bootleg CD's and DVD's and they never seem to ever get caught.

I can't waste time wondering why someone else doesn't get caught or gets away with breaking the rules. My only concern is me. Is that a risk I am willing to take just for money ? Money that I can make legally doing something else.

 

Good point but your examples are hardly relevant. Drugs and scams are nothing do with a website featuring our favorite characters. Don't mix them together.

 

My point is, just because someone else gets away with it, is not an endorsement that is is somehow alright.
I know for me, I never get away with stuff, so I make sure that I don't step on people's toes. Besides, I like it when companies actually respect what you do and want to be a part of it.