I am planning on beginning development on a game idea I've had for a while and was just wondering about the legality of the title. If there is a book by the same name that I want to name my game, does it constitute copyright infringement for me to name my game the same as the book? I'm fairly sure of the answer to this, but I just wanted to make sure. -AJ

Check the thread HERE. While the question in that thread is not identical to yours, there is a link to a FAQ that may be very helpful.

Hope this is helpful.

Regards,

Not copyright infringement, but maybe trademark infringement.

You can't use Dune for example.

Thanks for the replies. I think I will stick with a different, yet horribly unfulfilling title. I want as few legal issues as possible with this game. Thanks again.

-AJ

EDIT: Searched the tradmark website Kwizatz provided the link for. Seems my title is not taken....yet. [grin]

You can use the same name because trademarks only apply in the same business. If Dune were only a book and film you could still make a game under that name (provided that it wasn't a game based on the book). However there is already a game (several in fact) based on the book so that trademark is now taken for games. You could make an original game called The Firm or The Client because there are no games made of these books.

The question though is if you want your game to suffer the potential problem of being confused with the book.

@ Dan,

So, trademarks only apply in the same business. How does this apply to something like the movie "Doom"? Assume for a moment this movie didn't already exist - I want to write a movie called Doom. What are the repercussions?

Could I go so far as to make the movie and even borrow from the game's IP (story, monsters, etc.) ?

Thanks,

Quote: Original post by Obscure
You can use the same name because trademarks only apply in the same business. If DOOM were only a game you could still make a film under that name (provided that it wasn't a movie based on the game).

[Edited by - Obscure on February 15, 2006 10:20:21 PM]

Quote: Original post by Obscure

Quote: Original post by Obscure
You can use the same name because trademarks only apply in the same business. If DOOM were only a game you could still make a film under that name (provided that it wasn't a game based on the game).

I didn't have my "read between the parenthesis" glasses on. Thanks.

Regards,

Quote: Original post by Razorguts
So, trademarks only apply in the same business. How does this apply to something like the movie "Doom"? Assume for a moment this movie didn't already exist - I want to write a movie called Doom. What are the repercussions?

On a related note, Blizzard secured the Diablo trademark for films so no one can make a movie with the title Diablo, even though there is none yet.

Quote:
DIABLO
Goods and Services IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S: ENTERTAINMENT SERVICES, NAMELY, PROVIDING ON-LINE COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES, TIPS AND STRATEGIES FOR COMPUTER GAMES; ARRANGING AND CONDUCTING COMPUTER GAME COMPETITIONS; ENTERTAINMENT IN THE NATURE OF AN ONGOING TELEVISION PROGRAM, AND PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF MOTION PICTURES

Yep, you certainly can pre-register a trademark but at some point you do have to use it.