How "closely" is it leagal to clone game - ie make another game that resembles the first one? This could for example be re-writing a game for another platform. My impression is that it is perfectly leagal to make the exact same game - as long as it is made from scratch so none of the source code, graphics, sound effects have been copied. For example someone made an exact copy of Lemmings: http://www.elizium.nu/scripts/lemmings/ Clicking the Disclaimer link reaches the statement that the game is not really leagal as they are using the same graphics. BUT you can download a version with no graphics and that is leagal and under GPL. So they have re-written the exact same engine in DHTML and also release the exact same levels. Any thoughts?

Let me ask your question a few different ways:

"I want to break the law, but I don't want to get in trouble. How close can I come to actually breaking the law before I will be punished?"

"I know some people drive dangerously and other people speed without getting pulled over by police. How dangerous can I drive before I get a traffic citation?"

"I want to harm somebody. How much can I harm them before they will sue me?"



Sloperama link.

Short answer: Don't do it.
Longer answer: Don't do it unless you can afford a VERY expensive lawsuit.

Just because one game doesn't get in trouble doesn't mean its safe for all games to do it. The IP holder may not know or care about that Lemmings game. Whatever game you are thinking about might be a different story.

Using the graphics and or story is certainly illegal, but cloning the game, i.e. reusing the rules is certainly not.

http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl108.html

I was actually surprised to see that the title of the game was even usable.

Edit: Title area is probably a little gray though.

Quote: Original post by Guthur
Using the graphics and or story is certainly illegal, but cloning the game, i.e. reusing the rules is certainly not.

http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl108.html

I was actually surprised to see that the title of the game was even usable.

Edit: Title area is probably a little gray though.

IP law is complex. There are many areas of law, and the law varies by location. Every nation's laws are different. States within each nation have laws that are different. Even local municipalities have laws relating to IP. My lawyer friends tell me that IP law is the most complex area of law, by far.

Using the title is fine for copyright, but is a big violation for trademark.
Cloning the graphics is probably a violation of copyright, trademark, and various authors rights.
Cloning the story is probably a violation of copyright and various authors rights.

Cloning the rules may be a violation of patents, or trademarks, or trade dress, or other laws. It depends on what the rules are, their distinctiveness, and other factors. A lawyer can help you with it, but only the courts get to make the final decision. Can you afford a legal battle in the courts? If so, what will you do if you lose?

frob very few games have ever went through a patent application, it is possible though, clear example of the stupidity of patents but thats another discussion.

And its easy to check, they don't hide the patents. Having to search through every patent before doing anything is another example of the stupidity of patents, again another discussion.

The trademark issue was why I said titles would be a gray area.

So if you want to clone a game just check its does not have a patent and go ahead.

Edit: in the case of lemmings; it seems quite safe to say there is no such patent.

[Edited by - Guthur on November 17, 2009 12:23:53 PM]

Even if you make it from scratch, faithfully reproducing elements that are unique to the original game will still run afoul of copyright law. For instance, even if you make your own artwork from scratch, if your artwork is clearly and recognizably based on the artwork of the original game you're probably committing copyright infringement. Simply "making it from scratch" when you've had access to and have borrowed substantially from protected elements of the original game will not protect you in an infringement claim. At no point has "making it from scratch" constituted a significant element of a fair use analysis.

Furthermore there is no hard and fast rule concerning how much or how little you have to borrow before it's copyright infringement. Even if you borrow what is quantitatively a small part of the game, a court may find that it goes to the "heart" of the work and is therefore infringing.

There are many, many components of intellectual property in a game, and you do not need to use the exact game files or source code for your work to be considered infringing.

There are also issues such as trade dress, unfair competition, counterfeiting, and various commercial state claims that you may have to answer. You don't even need to consider the patent element-- the makers of Tetris certainly haven't.

Any time you make a game that is recognizably based on someone else's you run the risk of that person having a legal claim against you. Even if they wouldn't win at the end of the day, you will still have to defend yourself and pay legal fees in connection with that legal action. Is that worth the risk?

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to make a clone of 'Age of Empire I' just to learn things about game programming. I'm a beginner in this.

I would like to share this project on SourceForge and I'm trying to understand if it's legal.

I know Microsoft gives the opportunity to use his graphics (http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/developer/rules.htm).

I've been inspired by these projects: Transport Tycoon Deluxe (http://www.openttd.org/en/) and Theme Hospital (http://www.mobstar.biz/openTH/). They made a clone of the original game but it needs the original CD in order to play. I thought this was the correct way to avoid legal problems.

I implemented a Java Class to read graphics from the original CD and this class is part of my project. AOE's graphics are stored in a proprietary formats (DRS and SLP).

Can I share these classes as open source? Is that legal?

Thanks in advance.

This is why I wrote about it. Repeating myself sucks.

Just take it easy...

Let me annoying you a little bit more... What do you think of this: http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl108.html

Thank you anyway.