Kickstarter and Copyrights.

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4 comments, last by bschmidt1962 11 years ago

If I put my Project up on Kickstarter to try and get some money to help pay for developing the project further, would someone be able to steal my idea because it Isn't Copywritten? and if so, is there a solution that I could use for this? Since the primary funds for early development need to come from a place like Kickstarter or IndieGoGo.

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If I put my Project up on Kickstarter to try and get some money to help pay for developing the project further, would someone be able to steal my idea because it Isn't Copywritten? and if so, is there a solution that I could use for this? Since the primary funds for early development need to come from a place like Kickstarter or IndieGoGo.

ideas aren't covered by copyright, the exact implementation is, don't worry about someone stealing your idea, if its unique its risky and if its not unique it doesn't matter.
[size="1"]I don't suffer from insanity, I'm enjoying every minute of it.
The voices in my head may not be real, but they have some good ideas!

would someone be able to steal my idea because it Isn't Copywritten?

Every copyrightable thing you create IS copyrighted. Copyright is automatic. http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html

-- Tom Sloper -- sloperama.com

ideas aren't covered by copyright, the exact implementation is, don't worry about someone stealing your idea, if its unique its risky and if its not unique it doesn't matter.

The main thing on the Kickstarter page will be a proof of concept, and I wouldn't call my Idea original, since it has been done before, just not quite in this way, which is why I'm worried about it being stolen.


ideas aren't covered by copyright, the exact implementation is, don't worry about someone stealing your idea, if its unique its risky and if its not unique it doesn't matter.


The main thing on the Kickstarter page will be a proof of concept, and I wouldn't call my Idea original, since it has been done before, just not quite in this way, which is why I'm worried about it being stolen.


Don't worry about it, most developers have more ideas than they have time to implement.
[size="1"]I don't suffer from insanity, I'm enjoying every minute of it.
The voices in my head may not be real, but they have some good ideas!

To answer your question, the answer is yes. if you put something up on Kickstarter, there is nothing to keep someone else from implementing your idea. They can not use any of your art, or words, sounds, etc. But an idea is not copyrightable. If you think your name is very unique, you could trademark it, for some protection of the name, but that would not cover the idea, just the name.

That said, it's a truism in game development that game ideas are worth vastly less than game implementations. That's where the real hard work is, and frankly is the only way to truly see if the idea is really good or not

Game companies that want to keep their ideas secret during development are of course free to do so, but if you are going to ask the general public to give you money for your project, then you'll probably have to tell them enough about the game to entice them to do so. Of course you could withhold a key idea if you are worried, though that might cause less people to fund your game.

Brian Schmidt

Executive Director, GameSoundCon:

GameSoundCon 2016:September 27-28, Los Angeles, CA

Founder, Brian Schmidt Studios, LLC

Music Composition & Sound Design

Audio Technology Consultant

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