How to go about copyrighting a game?

Posted By: willjones

How to go about copyrighting a game? - 01/12/10 20:10

I am curious about what process should be followed to protect a game in general. I mean for example suppose I create a unique game and post it to the projects forum. Then someone else saw it and thought, 'oh that's pretty cool, only I could do it better' and then takes the same idea but makes their own version and then ends up selling it. Or, suppose I finish my game and decide it's commercial ready and start selling it. Someone sees the commercial version and decides to make their own version but using the same ideas or story line etc. What is the standard process of copyright protecting against this type of thing? Is it something to be concerned about in early stages of game ideas or just in the final stages of game completion? Is it expensive to protect or worth it? Also, what ways are there to do it?

Thanks.

Posted By: Landixus

Re: How to go about copyrighting a game? - 01/12/10 20:42

you need a patent and a trademark(Worldwide)

and much money to pay for this

i know what you mean, but it will be hard to do that, what you think about.

sry for my bad english.

Posted By: DJBMASTER

Re: How to go about copyrighting a game? - 01/12/10 21:03

Isn't a patent for something that is invented as a new process, machine or method? Don't think games come under that category unless maybe they bring a unique algorithm/method, eg MegaTexture.

Posted By: Redeemer

Re: How to go about copyrighting a game? - 01/12/10 21:18

Just declare the copyright for your game, ie:

This game is copyright (c) <insert year> <insert name of person, group, or company>, all rights reserved.

This statement declares that you hold all rights for your game, and may protect them if you need to.

Posted By: Pappenheimer

Re: How to go about copyrighting a game? - 01/12/10 21:47

Originally Posted By: willjones

I mean for example suppose I create a unique game and post it to the projects forum. Then someone else saw it and thought, 'oh that's pretty cool, only I could do it better' and then takes the same idea but makes their own version and then ends up selling it. Or, suppose I finish my game and decide it's commercial ready and start selling it. Someone sees the commercial version and decides to make their own version but using the same ideas or story line etc.

Even with a copyright, you are not able to protect this of your game.
You can protect its name, its graphics and protect it from reverse engineering, but you can't protect the ideas for example of the gameplay itself.

But, that doesn't mean that you have a big risk when you go public because it is quite seldom that someone grabs your ideas and makes a commercially successful game.
And, if someone copies your game ideas, this won't be the reason if your game is no success. There is so much more than just finishing a game with a nice concept that you have to do to have success in selling your game.

Posted By: Quad

Re: How to go about copyrighting a game? - 01/12/10 22:15

trademark is only grants you the right of using the name and logo of the game as your... well, trade mark. It doesnt protect the contents of your game. For that you need to put the statement that redeemer is talking about.

Posted By: Lion_Ts

Re: How to go about copyrighting a game? - 01/12/10 23:10

agreed, we cannot copyright every thing including pure ideas; I think, copyrighting ideas (gameplay itself, for example) will stop the progress

I like PopCap's Jason Kapalka answer:

Quote:

Brandon Sheffield:
Within the casual space, I've been having to revise my idea of what a "clone" is, because there's a lot of them. You could describe a lot of PopCap games that way, as well. Like AstroPop and Zuma. Since the casual space has a narrower focus, it seems really tough to know whether you're using a similar mechanic and tweaking it -- which happens all the time in larger games -- or functionally cloning.
Jason Kapalka:
We've been accused of ripping off of some games. At the same time, you don't usually hear people saying that World of Warcraft ripped off EverQuest. Or that Half-Life ripped off Quake. The similarities are pretty close; you can't imagine how World of Warcraft could have existed without EverQuest. It's not possible. Or any of games now, without World of Warcraft.

I don't know; it's kind of a tricky thing. Personally, I like if games borrow stuff from our games, then add something new to it. I'm usually pretty happy about that. Puzzle Quest or Jewel Quest, or some other games where they've taken the Bejeweled mechanic and done something interesting with it, I generally feel pretty cool about that.

And I hope that when we do things that are building on earlier game mechanics, that we also at least add something new to it. What sucks is if you make a clone or a derivative game that is worse than the original, and doesn't really add anything.

If you're iterating on it, and adding something that wasn't there before, if it enhances the field of game design, I think that's worth doing. That may be different from what a legal definition would be, but, [it's] the moral/ethical [definition]. If you actually make the game better, you could argue that you have a right to do it.

Posted By: Damocles_

Re: How to go about copyrighting a game? - 01/12/10 23:24

Anything (specific) that you create will automatically have
your copyright.
Whenever you create something on your own, you own the interlectual property (ip). You dont need to declare it.

But its good to add somewhere, that others require permission to reuse it.

But a general gameplay idea cant be copyrighted. Only
specific things like art-assets, sourcecode/binaries or
characternames (when they are genue) etc.
But not unspecific things like "athmosphere" or
an "action-puzzle-fashion" game.

----

If you have a good idea that you want to keep from
beeing cloned, (and not a finished product),
and you want others to see/work on it,
you can set up a non-disclosure agreement with them.

Posted By: Pappenheimer

Re: How to go about copyrighting a game? - 01/12/10 23:25

Doc_Savage, your question doesn't belong here, not in this thread and not in this forum, it belongs to Starting with Gamestudio, okay?

Posted By: Lion_Ts

Re: How to go about copyrighting a game? - 01/12/10 23:25

lol. to Doc_Savage

like type in skype to wife: "kissing you" but into a wrong window

Posted By: Damocles_

Re: How to go about copyrighting a game? - 01/12/10 23:32

(related to a removed post)

This does not give you the right to spam into other peoples discussions.
This is a user-forum, and not a callcenter.