want to use characters from another game. I know that this is a copyright infringement so I plan to modify them. The question is , where does a character in the process of modification reveals himself as another character, or, how much modification should I do so that any resemblance cannot be considered copyright infringement

HI,

I have a question to ask, i guess this is the right place to do so.

I am developing a 3d game and want to use characters from another game. I know that this is a copyright infringement so I plan to modify them. The question is , where does a character in the process of modification reveals himself as another character, or, how much modification should I do so that any resemblance cannot be considered copyright infringement

For example, If suppose the original models are green and have short hair, and i make them blue with green and big noose, is that ok from the point of copyright law?

If you base your model on an existing model then your model is a derivative work, if the original work is protected by copyright you will need a license that gives you permission to do whatever it is you are going to do with it, regardless of how big or small your changes are.

If your changes are big enough to make your own work unique it will also be protected by copyright (so others who also get permission to modifiy and distribute the same original work can't legally make the same modifications you did).

Making really extensive changes can make your crime harder to detect but it doesn't change the legality of the issue

There are plenty of permissivly licensed humanoid models (and even permissivly licensed motion capture data for humanoids) available that you can use as a base for your own work, use those instead.

Thank you for the precise and clear responses, so, say I create my own character that resembles the original one very well, is this infringement regarding the brand or association with the company that created the original model?

say I create my own character that resembles the original one very well, is this infringement regarding the brand or association with the company that created the original model?

Are you asking how closely you can steal someone else's work, and still be able to pretend you aren't?

Is there a legitimate reason why you want your model to look close enough to someone else's model? If it's close enough that people recognize the similarities, it's probably close enough that you might get sued. Even if you win the lawsuit, the lawsuit itself costs alot of money.

Are you talking about parody (and is it actually parody)? Risky of lawsuits, regardless of the legality.

Are you trying to ride on another company's coattails? Not good.

Or are you genuinely concerned about accidental similarities? Fine - see moron in a hurry. While applying to trademarks, I think it'd still be a decent guideline for preventing lawsuits.

Also be aware that some characters are covered on copyrights, but others are covered under both copyrights AND trademarks. For example, Mario is sometimes used by Nintendo as a trademark for Nintendo's tech-support.