Quote: Original post by Bovine13
I don't have a lawyer, and as I'm a college student, I can't afford one.
If I were to change it to ... "FireLight: The Savior" (that's just an example). Would I be in any possible trouble still?

That's a question you need to ask a lawyer. If you can't afford a lawyer, you may not be ready to enter the minefield of the game industry as a publisher. Can you afford a book on trademark and copyright? Recommend Nolo Press.

As others have pointed out, either your project is not worth getting a lawyer for, in which case you're not likely to each reach a point when a lawsuit would be something to worry about. Or it is a very serious project in which case the price of a lawyer will be negligible.

Thanks everyone. I'm going to change the name, just to be safe.

What about if you change the spelling? I have a project that also has the same name as a movie, but my game name is spelt differently, is this OK?

[Edited by - PowerPython on March 29, 2007 2:26:40 AM]

Quote: Original post by PowerPython
What about if you change the spelling? i have a project that also has the same name as a movie, but my game name is spelt differently, is this OK?

Exactly the same thing applies.

What does your lawyer say?
Legal issues are cheaper before troubles than after. If you don't have the money now, do you think you'll have even more money later?
Are you willing to risk the huge cost of a lawsuit?
Are you willing to risk the cost to change your name later?
Are you willing to abandon your project completely rather than face the prospect of a law suit?


It's a business risk, and it depends on your tolerance. Without talking with a lawyer, you can't fully understand what the risks are. Personally I would not take that risk.

I was actually about to make a thread about this same subject, but maybe since this is already here I will just bring it to the discussion. I've got a couple examples of similar situations. I do game programming as a hobby and I wanted to make a website to post my work on, and one of the names I came up with was "Speed of Dark Studios". I googled it and found that there is a science fiction book called "Speed of Dark". I was wondering if it's okay to use since I added studios on the end, or if it's too descriptive. Another one is that one of the character classes I planned on having was a Technomancer. I googled that as well and there is also a book, and some sort of tabletop game called Technomancer. I wasn't sure if it would be okay to use as a character class or not, since I wouldn't be using it for the game's title or anything. Of course it's not a big deal to me if I'm not allowed to use these things, since I can always just change names, it's the content that counts. Perhaps once I get more of the project done though I will talk with a lawyer, as suggested.

Jack wrote:
>found that there is a science fiction book called "Speed of Dark". I was wondering if it's okay to use since I added studios on the end, or if it's too descriptive.

What does your lawyer say? (By the way, did you READ the entire thread above?)

>one of the character classes I planned on having was a Technomancer. I googled that as well and there is also a book, and some sort of tabletop game called Technomancer. I wasn't sure if it would be okay to use as a character class or not, since I wouldn't be using it for the game's title or anything.

Again: what does your lawyer say?

>I can always just change names

What a concept!

>Perhaps once I get more of the project done though I will talk with a lawyer, as suggested.

Oh. Never mind my previous questions about what your lawyer said, then. When you find out what he says, other folks with similar questions would love to hear what he tells you! (Not that their lawyers would tell them the same thing, because everybody's question is a little different, and every lawyer has a different slant on things.)

Quote: Original post by tsloper
Jack wrote:
>found that there is a science fiction book called "Speed of Dark". I was wondering if it's okay to use since I added studios on the end, or if it's too descriptive.

What does your lawyer say? (By the way, did you READ the entire thread above?)

>one of the character classes I planned on having was a Technomancer. I googled that as well and there is also a book, and some sort of tabletop game called Technomancer. I wasn't sure if it would be okay to use as a character class or not, since I wouldn't be using it for the game's title or anything.

Again: what does your lawyer say?

>I can always just change names

What a concept!

>Perhaps once I get more of the project done though I will talk with a lawyer, as suggested.

Oh. Never mind my previous questions about what your lawyer said, then. When you find out what he says, other folks with similar questions would love to hear what he tells you! (Not that their lawyers would tell them the same thing, because everybody's question is a little different, and every lawyer has a different slant on things.)

I'm sorry, but I can't tell if you are being sarcastic or not. Is talking to a lawyer a serious suggestion, or were you being facetious? I don't mean to be rude, but I really can't tell... I just want to be certain before I make a fool of myself heh :/

[Edited by - CandleJack on April 7, 2007 3:00:16 PM]

Jack wrote:
> I can't tell if you are being sarcastic or not. Is talking to a lawyer a serious suggestion, or were you being facetious?

I can't tell for sure, but I'm thinking perhaps you didn't read the entire thread above. If you had read it, you wouldn't ask me if I was serious in suggesting that asking your question of a lawyer was the best way for you to go. You'd know I was - me, and the others who all advised the OP to do exactly that. You say you will talk with a lawyer, and I say excellent, that's exactly what you should do.

The first two times I asked "what does your lawyer say," I hadn't yet read the last sentence of your post saying you will go to a lawyer. I could have deleted those words of mine before posting my reply on the forum, but I left them in for effect, to hammer home the importance of getting professional legal advice.

The only part of my post that was sarcastic was the part where I wrote "what a concept" when you said you could always just change names to avoid any possible problems. Clearly, changing the names couldn't get you into any legal trouble (unless the new names you chose turned out to also be used elsewhere), and would be cheaper than hiring a lawyer. Then again, maybe that was sardonicism rather than sarcasm - or even irony.

Quote: Original post by tsloper
Jack wrote:
> I can't tell if you are being sarcastic or not. Is talking to a lawyer a serious suggestion, or were you being facetious?

I can't tell for sure, but I'm thinking perhaps you didn't read the entire thread above. If you had read it, you wouldn't ask me if I was serious in suggesting that asking your question of a lawyer was the best way for you to go. You'd know I was - me, and the others who all advised the OP to do exactly that. You say you will talk with a lawyer, and I say excellent, that's exactly what you should do.

The first two times I asked "what does your lawyer say," I hadn't yet read the last sentence of your post saying you will go to a lawyer. I could have deleted those words of mine before posting my reply on the forum, but I left them in for effect, to hammer home the importance of getting professional legal advice.

The only part of my post that was sarcastic was the part where I wrote "what a concept" when you said you could always just change names to avoid any possible problems. Clearly, changing the names couldn't get you into any legal trouble (unless the new names you chose turned out to also be used elsewhere), and would be cheaper than hiring a lawyer. Then again, maybe that was sardonicism rather than sarcasm - or even irony.

Ok thank you for clarifying. It was the "what a concept" bit and leaving the original replies in that threw me off and made me a bit unsure, but I understand your intent now, and I'll make sure to speak with a lawyer before making any final decisions. When I do I'll be sure to tell others here with similar questions what I leanred.