Hi, I notice that there is a few people on the Web that has made a few games like tetris, pacman, snakes, etc. I would like to do the same and then other them to other webmasters for free so that they can put my games on their site and I will then get credit by having my sites links in the games content. I was just wondering that if I made a game that is based on the old tetris, pacman, snakes, asteroids, etc. Will this be against the law or will it be alright to do.
Yes, it would be against the law since all those games have copyrights. would be better to create your own original game.
I thought that it may be against the law. But what about games like Miniclip and things. They have games on their site that are based on older games like tetris. So by the looks of things this site and many others must be breaking the law. The games are not exactly the same as tetris as they have added a few extra bits to them, but they are generally based on the same idea. Does this still mean that they are breaking the copyright laws. What about if I think of a game and make it and then find out that a game that is based on my idea already exists. If I wanted to make a game like tetris, what should I do so it does not break the copyright laws. If I changed the name of the game and also added a few extra things in the game like having a few larger blocks and things will this make it alright. Or will it still be breaking the laws as it is still based on the tetris idea where rows get removed once a line is formed.
What you are doing is creating a "derivative" work, which violates the US Copyright Act. As to "others do it." For all you know, they have special permission. Also, many companies push legal boundaries because they are fully prepared to to deal with the consequences. Maybe they have hundreds of thousands of dollars available for legal fees, do you? Additionally, I think rarely is a whole work under copyright, patent or trademark. There may be parts that are open. This is why having a good IP lawyer is a must.
Are you all sure that it is breaking copyright laws. I have asked on a games developer forum and they say the oppersite. I really don't know what to believe. I am not entirely copying the original copy of the game. I would be using my own scripting code and images, I will be adding extra features to it and I will also be renaming the game. Also, tetris was an idea thought up by someone, which they then changed to a game that you could play. If doing something similar to this is against the law, then what about the other things on the web. Would making a search engine be breaking the copyright laws as I will be copying someone elses idea. What about using green in my site. Wouldn't that be against the law as someone else have already used that color, etc. Why would recreating tetris, with a different name, using different scripting code, and images, be breaking the law and the other things aren't. I will not be sealing and then selling the original game. I would just be using the games idea and I have heard that ideas can not be copywrited. If I am right or not, I am not sure. I would have thought that if I used the games name, the exact same coding of the game and the exact images used in the orginal game, then it would be breaking copyright laws. If you are making an original game, how do you know that someone around the world have not already done a game similar to that. What about if you make a flying type game, would that also break the laws as there are other flying type games that have been previously made. Is there any body that knows more about this topic. Please could you reply and help me out. Thanks!
This is why you need a lawyer. If you build off another person's idea, you are making a derivative work. You can read the US Copyright Act to see this. Your derivative work also infringes on the exclusivity rights of the copyright holder. That would be a PATENT and it depends on what is part is under patent. For example, Amazon patented one-click buying. Therefore, if you put one-click buying on your website, you would be violating their patent. I am not sure if their patent still stands or if it was defeated at some point over these years, but that's just an example. Doesn't apply. If someone has a particular shade off green in their logo (custom made) and you made a similar logo, you could be violating their trademark, if they hold one. Ideas are protected all day long. Copyrights are not the only way for protection. When it comes to Intellectual Property, there are three parts: Copyright, Trademarks and Patents. Additionally, don't confuse criminal law with civil law. In criminal law, breaking the law means you get arrested by the government and can go to jail. In civil law, specifically IP violations, it is up to the work holder to defend their copyright, trademark and/or patent. So let's say I have a work under copyright and Joe makes a derivative, which violates my copyright, it is up to me to go after Joe. Let's say you see this and do the same. Now I come after you. Why no Joe? Perhaps I like Joe or he can fight a legal battle better or you are just easy pickings. Compare this to criminal law where everyone who is indicted on murder goes to trial. That's a falsity many people, unfortunately, believe. You do research. Again, this is the IP lawyers job and why you need one. You can't do it, accurately, on your own. A flying game is just a "style" or genre and is not protected. For all you know the style of the Tetris game is fair play. Only good research would reveal this. To bring everything back home, you may very well be allowed to make a Tetris oriented game as long as aspects x,y or z are not in it. Going it alone without a lawyer is risky.
If you make it your own game style i cant see there being any problems. People copy other peoples ideas but change slightly all the time. If i started a chess website, would yahoo or ICC sue me because they had copyrights to chess, no ! Because they dont, they could only sue me if i copied there exact layout and used all there hard work to show of as my own. If you want your own game that so happens to be like Tetris go for it
You use obtuse examples for acute problems. Protections have time limits. If someone made a game 2000 years ago, it would be in the public domain today. So quoting a game that is thousands of years old is hardly relevant. All of these arguments are flawed ("If others do it, it's ok"). But I digress. It's your life, do as you wish.