and that thing finds its way into big bucks publishing house and they end up hoarding million for something whose concept I conceived...

That's not how it works, you have nothing to worry about.

and that thing finds its way into big bucks publishing house and they end up hoarding million for something whose concept I conceived...

That's not how it works, you have nothing to worry about.

Well, even if it would work that way... given that a concept that sells truckloads like that most probably has a prohibitive high upfront cost (modern AAA games cost millions to make... like double to triple digit millions of US$), chances are you as an individual had just as much chances in making this concept a reality yourself as selling it to the big bucks publishing house.

(hint: in 99% of cases, they will NOT buy your concept... they will wait for you to build it and prove that there is a market, then they create their version and flush you out of the market with better execution and bigger marketing budget... see Zynga and all their Copy-Pasta Games (yes, all of them, AFAIK))

So you cannot loose anything as long as you haven't built it yourself and tested it on the market... only then your idea will become something valuable, IF the market reacts in a positive way. Even your crude, untested prototype has not much value yet... let alone the idea in your head or inside your 200 page GDD. Sorry mate, nothing to protect or steal there.

Do you think anybody would have bought or stolen Notches ideas or even prototypes before MineCraft became a big hit? MS wouldn't even have paid him lunch for the rights to MineCraft... yet some years and many millions of players later, they paid him (and the other stakeholders) many, MANY lunches for it.

I find it sadly funny how people will jump through hoops to avoid it.

What is the cost of mailing the thing to yourself? You've got to spend effort making sure it contains what you think it contains, storing the sealed envelope, and only opening that envelope in the presence of a judge or magistrate after undergoing the beginnings of a trial? The postage is cheap, but overall you are looking at hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars. What are the other costs you may have in worry, lost sleep.

Possibly far worse, what are the costs of not being able to enforce your copyright because you did it wrong? If someone stole the work or derived from it and made a fortune, you have no real recourse because you didn't register.

In the US, the cost of a copyright registration is $35, and the application can be completed in under 30 minutes.

The "poor man's copyright" is more akin to the "stupid man's copyright", since it doesn't give you any significant protections, is an enormous risk, all to save a tiny bit of money. If you are concerned about it, skip one date night and spend the $35 on a proper copyright registration.

Edit: Clicky. Read the instructions. Create an account and wait for the verification email. Click the "register a new claim" link, answer three statements as "Yes" (registering a single work, you are the only author and owner, and the work is your own work). Attach a copy of your source code all appended into a single 50-page block, enter your bank card number for the $35 fee. Done. A few weeks later get a fancy-looking letter in the post describing your acceptance.

Nono, I'm not seeking to copyright the game itself, I'm seeking to copyright the features, the mechanic. Sure, anybody can make a game with space ships shooting each other, but nobody else should copy a mechanic that is completely different that everybody else's.

Nono, I'm not seeking to copyright the game itself, I'm seeking to copyright the features, the mechanic. Sure, anybody can make a game with space ships shooting each other, but nobody else should copy a mechanic that is completely different that everybody else's.

Maybe look at examples on how the big boys did it.

There are two patents on game mechanics I am aware of:

Sega patenting parts of crazy taxis game mechanics:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Simpsons:_Road_Rage#Controversy

CCG Tapping being patented by Wizards of the coast

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tap_(gaming)#Collectible_card_games

Here is some additional information on the topic... interesting read actually:

http://patents.stackexchange.com/questions/210/can-game-mechanics-be-patented

Here, the interesting takeaway is "Hasbro dropped their lawsuit against the makers of Scrabulous after they agreed to change the name and the rules of the game, by increasing the number of letter tiles that each player receives from 7 to 8"...

Wow... a pretty big company dropping a lawsuit against a pretty obvious copycat after changing the name, and some lame game mechanic changes that pretty much still make it "scrabble with a different name and 8 instead of 7 tiles"?

I really am not sure how much such a patent is worth if even the big boys seem to have difficulties defending them. If you lack the funds of Sega, or Hasbro, or WotC, you might not be able to even force the infringer to make ridicolous changes like in the example above.

Best thing would be to make sure names and such are protected, to make sure the copycats that will surely pop up if your game is successfull have to at least have to use different names and images/icons. I don't think any patent on game mechanics will really protect you much, even though, if you have enough money, you can at least force them to be just a little bit more imaginative than just blatantly re-use your exact game concept... but is scrabble with 8 tiles really that different from scrabble with 7 tiles? Who protects you from people finding out that the additional tile actually makes the game MORE enjoyable?

Nono, I'm not seeking to copyright the game itself, I'm seeking to copyright the features, the mechanic. Sure, anybody can make a game with space ships shooting each other, but nobody else should copy a mechanic that is completely different that everybody else's.

You don't copyright features or mechanics. What you are looking at there is getting a patent. But for that you need to go through the process of submitting a patent application and having it granted. But a patent by itself is worthless without the legal means to defend it. Even if you did patent a game mechanic, are you willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend it in court?

It also goes against the very thing that helped build the game industry: namely the copying of ideas. If you look at the history of games, game mechanics and ideas are routinely copied. It's precisely that which allows so many video games to be created. If companies spent all their time patenting everything and then suing each other, the industry would be much worse off for it.

And in the end, it's likely that whatever ideas you have that you think are unique probably aren't. The sheer volume of video games that exist or are being created means someone else has probably already thought of your idea. It would not surprise me if it already exists.

The best thing to do is focusing on developing a game and making it the best implementation of your idea you can, and getting it to market.