So, during my hiatus regarding games programming, I have been keenly following the debacle on laws and companies cracking down on what would not long ago have been considered Fair Use. For those not informed, websites, especially Youtube, are being flooded with companies demanding that anything containing their intellectual properties be removed. Sure, piracy is always an issue, but this has already started hitting lets plays, reviews (mainly bad ones, of course), commentary, game analysis and journalism, and a ton of other things. Many content creators are becoming frightened of uploading things like clips of them playing games or talking about game lore, for fear that their channels or websites will get punished. On Youtube, demonitization and having a channel forcibly shut down because of companies abusing content guidelines is apparently becoming a real issue.

So I got this... idea...

What if someone made a game engine. It doesn't have to be amazing, just good enough for people to easily make some fun games. Maybe just 2D or old school 3D. The big diff is, part of the user agreement reads something like as follows:

"Upon the publication, commercially, free or otherwise, of any product created with this software, the creator agrees that any fair use is permitted, including showing content from the product for the purposes of entertainment, commentary, or education. Any individual or company trying to infringe on a third party's right or ability to apply such fair use to the product will be seen (if doing so on basis of ownership over the product) as in breach of the user agreement and stripped of all rights to the product, or (if an outside party) as harassment of whoever applies the fair use. This does not extend to content included without proper rights to the IP, which would be a breach of IP law by the creator of the product."

So the one thing that sets this engine apart from the rest is that anything made with it can be used freely in lets plays, reviews, and the like. Nobody can punish you for making videos or articles on and with it, on pain of DEATH (or just basic legal consequences). My thought is that the safety this provides would make people do videos and the like on games from this engine, even if they are just silly little games. And maybe that would make bigger publishers think twice, because it would essentially be free promotion that draws attention, however much or little, away from commercial products.

Ideas? Criticism? Comments? Threats?

What incentive is there for anyone to use this engine?

The big guys already have Unreal, Unity, etc. and if you’re an indie who cares about fair use, then just don’t issue take downs?

On 10/13/2018 at 9:33 PM, ChaosEngine said:

What incentive is there for anyone to use this engine?

Game engines don't need flash to get used, just see the tons of games made with rpg maker, construct or even inside Minecraft. Make it easier to do something fun and let the hopefully greater attention from lets players, streamers, journalists etc. garner free press.

4 hours ago, Embassy of Time said:

Game engines don't need flash to get used, just see the tons of games made with rpg maker, construct or even inside Minecraft. Make it easier to do something fun and let the hopefully greater attention from lets players, streamers, journalists etc. garner free press.

That’s my point. There are already plenty of ways to make great games and easier than ever before. Why would anyone use this one over one of the other ways?

On 10/15/2018 at 10:43 PM, ChaosEngine said:

That’s my point. There are already plenty of ways to make great games and easier than ever before. Why would anyone use this one over one of the other ways?

Attention due to exposure? Irritation due to anti fair use BS? Even easier making of games? I honestly do not know how much all this "this game cannot be played on youtube or twitch" stuff bothers people, I am just wondering if it has potential uses in promoting an engine. Maybe, maybe not?

Edit: Actually, maybe some psychology. Streamers etc. may soon start to hesitate streaming, and thus promoting, games that they suspect will be content blocked or demonitized. They might prefer games they know cannot be that. Indie creators especially may use the engine simply to make streamers etc. feel safe streaming them, a vital promotion for many indies...

On 10/14/2018 at 12:30 PM, Dramolion said:

It might be nice to add this legal stuff to an existing free-to-use engine.

I agree. But will anyone do that, you think? Seems like they already would have, right?

On 10/19/2018 at 3:19 PM, Dramolion said:

So you're saying you believe people already had your idea ??

Apparently not. Maybe people making engines aren't that into experimental EULAs? Dunno, just seems like a hole in the market as things look right now... Who knows, when my schedule opens up for real, maybe...

Also, thinking about it, maybe it's a bit too big a leap for many engine developers. I mean, dictating things that people can do with games made with an engine might be a bit too... intrusive? At least for people making software for an already very volatile market. But again, I don't run a publisher for any big engines, so all I can do is guess...