Good afternoon.

I've stumbled upon one little issue. I wanted to use art and background "world" in my little project from another game. Tried emailing that company, but got no response (for like two months), wanted to make a call (as FAQ states), but... calling to America from a little post-soviet country is A BIT expensive.

So now i stand upon a crossroad... go on, and use what i need i pray for no law suit.
...or spend year or so learning pixel art and do my own stuff.

Either way, project is made for study purposes and no financial income is expected.

Could somebody give me an advice? Or any guidance...

Neither "for study" nor "no profit" nor the fact that you got no reply on your email is an excuse, using art from another game (without license/permission) is a copyright violation.

If "for study use" means that you do it for learning how to write a game, privately in your dark cellar, and never show it to anyone else, you are probably OK, because nobody will know. However, it's of course still illegal.
It's problematic even more so as you've already asked about it and thus factually admitted that you know what you're about to do is against the law, which makes it impossible to talk yourself out of it, if it ever comes to the worst. In many places, the penalties are considerably higher too, in this case.

Thanks for your responses.

Since i work in partially law company (we rarely have any cases of IP at all), I wonder how the law suit would look like and where court would take place. Would they buy me a 1st class plane ticket in order to come to America or bother coming to my place? IP is very unpopular problem in my country, i saw like 4 or 5 cases at all, and USA law does not work here.

I bothered checking Curia database with simple request "Intellectual Property", yet nothing worth attention rose up.
http://curia.europa....for=&cid=223995

It's not like i'll go any further with this, i'll have to do my own art, but i wonder how would procedure look like.

Read Mr. Gerhard's comment in paragraph 8 here. No, they won't buy you a ticket. Basically nobody cares whether you defend yourself at the court or not, this is your problem. They don't care that you're not in the US either.

And no, the above article is not an april fool's prank :-)

[quote name='Sollum' timestamp='1350248972' post='4990152']
i work in partially law company

Then why don't you ask the partially lawyers at your company for their advice -- and their definitions of "fair use."
[/quote]

As i said, sir, - "IP is very unpopular problem in my country, i saw like 4 or 5 cases at all, and USA law does not work here.". Our lawyers are not partially lawyers, we are just partially law company.

Read Mr. Gerhard's comment in paragraph 8 here. No, they won't buy you a ticket. Basically nobody cares whether you defend yourself at the court or not, this is your problem. They don't care that you're not in the US either.
And no, the above article is not an april fool's prank :-)

Thanks for that interview!

What i got from my sources

"Often, famous foreign companies have their representatives - lawyers, experts of patenting, in other countries. And its their duty to bring bad guys to justice. Furthermore, court happens in the country, where crime took place."

But as i said, we don't have such cases here, so we don't have practice with it. It would be quite interesting hearing from professional lawyers from countries that are out of USA influence, how such matters are taken care of.

It's just a matter of curiosity.

Furthermore, court happens in the country, where crime took place.

Criminal court happens in the country where the crime took place.

Civil action happens where the guy sueing you chooses to go to court. Which is usually a) a place in "comfortable" reach for his attorney, but not for yours and b) a place where the complainer expects the best possible outcome.

For US patent and copyright lawsuits, that usually means "Texas" because judges in Texas have a bad reputation for being biased against foreign people and/or companies.

Again, they don't care if it's difficult for you to show. That's your problem, and if you don't show, they'll just rule without hearing you. Don't you think Mr. Gerhard would have said "Huh... what? Who gives a fark... we don't do business in the USA." otherwise, instead of spending millions on a lawsuit in a far away country that he doesn't need to bother about?

[quote name='Sollum' timestamp='1350309102' post='4990375']
Furthermore, court happens in the country, where crime took place.

Criminal court happens in the country where the crime took place.

Civil action happens where the guy sueing you chooses to go to court. Which is usually a) a place in "comfortable" reach for his attorney, but not for yours and b) a place where the complainer expects the best possible outcome.

For US patent and copyright lawsuits, that usually means "Texas" because judges in Texas have a bad reputation for being biased against foreign people and/or companies.

Again, they don't care if it's difficult for you to show. That's your problem, and if you don't show, they'll just rule without hearing you. Don't you think Mr. Gerhard would have said "Huh... what? Who gives a fark... we don't do business in the USA." otherwise, instead of spending millions on a lawsuit in a far away country that he doesn't need to bother about?
[/quote]

Quite interesting, ill try to gather some information on this matter tomorrow

What makes me wonder is:
A) Why should i be obligated to pay the bill to some foreign company, that has no jurisdiction here whatsoever.
B) So... i can go to my local court and TRY to sue... lets say Relic Studio, because they have similar artwork to what i made when i was 5. And then they are obligated to come to my place...

I kinda see it as Aprils fools joke

See... there is this Austrian parachuter who broke the world record for the highest jump a day or two ago. You may have heard of that Mr. Hogan who actually sued Baumgartner's sponsor for stealing the idea of breaking the world record in skydiving... and then remember about 10 years ago when that guy sued McDonalds for serving hot coffee (which he clenched between his legs while driving, with a foreseeable result at the next traffic light). And don't forget that Korean company being sued for selling a black phone with a touch display.

There are very few things that are too absurd to sue someone for in the USA, and sadly it's no joke. I'd laugh if it couldn't possibly affect me as well.

Either way, copyright infringment as in "using some other game's artwork for my own stuff" is not something that's solely actionable in the USA. There are very few countries where this is seen as a trifle (China might be such a place, the government seem to be quite relaxed on that field). In the vast majority of places on this planet, you'll be getting yourself into serious trouble with that.