Also note that copyright infringement is not a criminal offence -- you don't commit a crime at some point and then get arrested for it. It's a civil offense -- other citizenry take you to court to try and prove that you've done harm to them.
Your obfuscated-with-delay distribution hypothesis just moves the point in time where you get caught. Maybe the copyright holder doesn't find out for years anyway, at which point they try and prove that you've harmed them with your game...
Infringement of remakes and their component parts (engine, plugins, data)
The same can apply to any creative work that ends up creatively arranged or portrayed.
Of course you are correct. Apologies for my clumsy writing! :)..
The distinction I was trying to make was that for music, even a bad, awful rendition that could in no way be mistaken for the original recording would be copyright infringement So if I were to record Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" with a kazoo band, it would be open and shut copyright infringement of her song, even though no one could possibly mistake my version for the original. But if I were to make a game, with the gameplay mechanics of Tetris, but the art was all kazoos, the sound was kazoos and the playfield was kazoo-shaped, based on Xio, it looks like the makers of Tetris would have a much harder time winning a copyright infringement claim over "Kazoo-tris", since although the gameplay was copied, the "expression of gameplay" was very different.
it looks like the makers of Tetris would have a much harder time winning a copyright infringement claim over "Kazoo-tris", since although the gameplay was copied, the "expression of gameplay" was very different.
But they could make a case for trademark infringement since the cloner kept the "tris" in the title "Kazoo-tris," with a clear intent since the gameplay was clearly Tetris-based.
Author
Thanks for all the informative responses; that's a lot of good reading. :)
That being said, it's a shame when people waste so much time, talent, and work trying to copy someone else's work. Especially when they do a good job, and could have had an awesome project of their own.
To be honest, the engine and its editing tools are my project, which is where my real interests lie. The game is just a "case study", if you will, to stress and test the sanity and flexibility of the engine.
Also note that copyright infringement is not a criminal offence -- you don't commit a crime at some point and then get arrested for it. It's a civil offense -- other citizenry take you to court to try and prove that you've done harm to them.
Your obfuscated-with-delay distribution hypothesis just moves the point in time where you get caught. Maybe the copyright holder doesn't find out for years anyway, at which point they try and prove that you've harmed them with your game...
Copyright infringement is a federal criminal offense in certain circumstances.
Copyright infringement is a federal criminal offense in certain circumstances.
Best to define the country you are referring to when you mention a specific.
it looks like the makers of Tetris would have a much harder time winning a copyright infringement claim over "Kazoo-tris", since although the gameplay was copied, the "expression of gameplay" was very different.
But they could make a case for trademark infringement since the cloner kept the "tris" in the title "Kazoo-tris," with a clear intent since the gameplay was clearly Tetris-based.
Name a name Scrolltris. What could possibly go wrong?
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