Hi all. I would like to use old pacman sound effect and some images to make my own game.
Do you know if it's legal? there are problems of copyrights?
pacman sound effects copyrights and ghost image
Hi all. I would like to use old pacman sound effect and some images to make my own game.Do you know if it's legal? there are problems of copyrights?
There was another discussion about copyrights here http://www.gamedev.net/topic/544351-can-you-give-away-free-remakes-of-old-games/ (very polemic, indeed and with opposite opinions), for example:
Names, ideas, concepts and techniques cannot be copyrighted, in other words, the actual game aspect of a game cannot be copyrighted. I don't know why people are implying otherwise to be honest.
The parts of a game that can be copyrighted are sounds (sound effects and music), graphics (photographs, icons, fonts, sprites, etc), literature (instructions, dialogs, etc) and cutscenes.
So you can recreate Pacman without copyright issue provided you don't use the same sound effects and sprites (or sound effects and sprites that have been derived from the originals). If you make brand new sprites and brand new sound effects then you're fine. Though you might not really consider it to be a Pacman clone by then perhaps.
This another website speak about that:
Hi all. I would like to use old pacman sound effect and some images to make my own game.Do you know if it's legal? there are problems of copyrights?
Don't sell, don't distribute, don't share. If you do any one or all of the three, then you need to find your own images and sounds.
To simply answer your question... If you are doing it for you and you alone, even if you work on it with other people, you will be okay. Once you give it or sell it to someone else is where the copyrights come into effect. Doing a Pac-Man game is a very good practice game.
There are many websites where professional game companies post their graphics and sound effects. Normally they will include a staement as to how you will be allowed to use them. If they are clearly labeled with a copyright statement or logo, this would indicate that those items are being made avaiable for your PERSONAL use.
Some will include a statement granting permission to redistrbute, followed by a statement on what you need to do prior to re-distribution.
EXAMPLE : Free to use. Please Credit Me. or Redistribution License Available, meaning you must either registar and / or pay a fee.
They are protected by copyright, and therefore shouldn't be used without permission even if your game is free.
As others have said, if it's for a personal project you don't intend to share or show off it doesn't matter, but otherwise you would be at risk of being taken to court.
As others have said, if it's for a personal project you don't intend to share or show off it doesn't matter, but otherwise you would be at risk of being taken to court.
As others have said, if it's for a personal project you don't intend to share or show off it doesn't matter
Just take into account that this is not always true. It would not be difficult to create a scenario by where your partner after losing their temper chooses to expose the clone's existance publicly or maliciously with the copyright holders. As Tom Sloper constantly observes along the lines of the following: "you can be sued for anything"
FAQ 61, just like the other new post I found here this morning. http://sloperama.com/advice/faq61.htm
If you are using it for educational purposes, I find it is okay just to use it as placeholders to get a sense of what your game is suppose to feel like and it definitely speeds up the game development process.
Just don't use it for any projects that you plan on selling or letting a lot of people play it that has those sounds or art because you will be in trouble.
Use the assets in your game for EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. And you'll be fine. 
. If you are planning to publish your game then that is illegal!
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