I have some sprites that an artist made for me. They are in the theme of a well known action game and custom edits based off a classic side scroller from the NES.

the game itself will have only reference the original content vaguely when it comes to gameplay but the names and everything will be different.

they were originally designed specifically for testing out the technology of the engine and were simply for fun but i have decided that i would like to take these sprites and make a game that would be sold on the iphone.

Heres a mockup of what the gameplay might look like with the sprites that i have. You should be able to recognize the references right away.



okay, im a total forum idiot, how do i embed an image (facepalm)

Would i run into any legal issues?

I'm not a lawyer, but generally if you have to ask, yes, you'll probably run into legal issues. The structural basis for the marine sprite is pretty clearly based on Mega Man and the content of the sprites themselves are pretty clearly DOOM stuff.

You can embed images using the standard HTML image tag.

Quote:Original post by awatemonosan
Would i run into any legal issues?

It is not a binary yes/no answer. Instead it is a matter of risk.

What is the risk of a legal challenge, ranging from a simple C&D letter up to having a court-ordered injunction delivered to you? What is the actual risk of various kinds of legal actions? What are the costs of each type of action, if it actually happens? What are the risks/chances of winning or losing or settling any of those actions?

Everything you do in business has inherent risks. Even the simple act of incorporation has a non-zero legal risk to it. Most risks are so incredibly small they can be put out of mind, but it is important to know that you have a large number of non-zero risks with potentially large costs associated.

Evaluating your specific risks depend on tons of factors that are not mentioned in your post, not the least of which include details about the nature of the product and the way the heavily-pixelated images will be used. Those details cannot be reasonably discussed on forum posts.

To get a solid answer you need a lawyer familiar with IP law, preferably one familiar with IP law as it relates to games.

Quote:Original post by Tom Sloper
Frequently Asked Question #61: http://sloperama.com/advice/faq61.htm

Thanks, that honestly helped.

The kid who made these made hundreds of sprites, way more then i asked for or expected. I would really like to do him some justice and use his hard work for something other then just test projects. I'll just keep it internal unless i get permission from bethesda and capcom (not likely)