Hi guys, this is the thing:

A friend and i are developing a videogame, this is our first videogame and we wanna make it special. We've a history, sprites and a lot A LOT of swords that we wanna put in the game. Additionally, we wanna use some famous and legendary swords from Movies, Videogames and Anime. Would be that a legal problem? I mean, obviously we're not going to name those weapons as the original ones, but the colors will be the same, Should we change them?

Thanks.

In short, yes. Expect trouble.

The first thing is asking for trouble, in particular because you not only copied the tell-tale design, but even call the swords "Ryuko" swords so even people who do not immediately recognize it have no trouble finding it on Google. You can bet the owners of that, what's it hentai, anime (?) will surely get aware. If you are lucky they don't care, but the vast majority of IP owners does care.

You were cautious enough not to call the lightsabers by their name (you call them laser sable), but Star Wars is owned by Disney now, and they are most certainly a company you do not want to test for being forgiving on IP issues. Using a Disney-owned element that can justifiably be seen as "product identity" is outright crazy.

For the second thing, Mario... well, that's Nintendo. This is even more crazy.

In short, yes. Expect trouble.

The first thing is asking for trouble, in particular because you not only copied the tell-tale design, but even call the swords "Ryuko" swords so even people who do not immediately recognize it have no trouble finding it on Google. You can bet the owners of that, what's it hentai, anime (?) will surely get aware. If you are lucky they don't care, but the vast majority of IP owners does care.

You were cautious enough not to call the lightsabers by their name (you call them laser sable), but Star Wars is owned by Disney now, and they are most certainly a company you do not want to test for being forgiving on IP issues. Using a Disney-owned element that can justifiably be seen as "product identity" is outright crazy.

For the second thing, Mario... well, that's Nintendo. This is even more crazy.

Yeah yeah, those are not the name of the swords, not the names we will use in-game. I mean, i wanted to use a "keyblade" with another colors, and call it "Key Sword" as an example. Its just a key-shape sword MAYBE inspired in the original keyblade. U know what i mean?

Btw, where i copied the Telltale design? LOL they're not owners of the 8-bit sprites, pls.

Btw, where i copied the Telltale design? LOL they're not owners of the 8-bit sprites, pls.

Btw, where i copied the Telltale design? LOL they're not owners of the 8-bit sprites, pls.

He said tell-tale, not Telltale.

I mean, i wanted to use a "keyblade" with another colors, and call it "Key Sword" as an example. Its just a key-shape sword MAYBE inspired in the original keyblade. U know what i mean?

The thing is, you can be sued (or C&D'd) for any reason. Using somebody else's intellectual property without their permission, including creating derivative works thereof, is against the law. Does your stuff count as derivative works? Does it infringe on somebody else's intellectual property? It's hard to say where the line is. I'm not a lawyer.

But you know who does say? The courts. Even if you aren't violating anybody's intellectual property rights, for example if your work would be covered under fair use laws, you will need to go to court or to prove that (fair use is a defense). Or at least become engaged in an unpleasant legal back-and-forth. So the less you toe the line between your own creations and "wink wink nudge nudge that's totally not a Covenant sword am I right?" the better. Maybe that "Halo sword" is totally fine. But if MS takes offense to it, whether or not you are ultimately in the right, you're not going to be in for a good time. Probably a good rule of thumb is "if you think you need to ask if this is okay, don't do it." Especially for the IP of particularly litigious companies, like Nintendo.

Great answer, i needed this. Thanks.