copyright?

[xC4RN4G3x]

this isnt about editing, but i want to know if it is illegal to construct a model based off another game. let's say the warcraft 3 abomination. if i created my own high poly version(which might be slightly different so its not a total rip), would it be illegal or will it be fine since i created it?
another question. would it be illegal for me to copy a skill that a custom map in warcraft 3 has? for those of you who play DOTA, what if i copied the abomination's skills in DOTA. would this be illegal? i mean the guy didnt make warcraft 3, he just made the map...so...would it be alright? the set of skills are completly different than what comes with the original warcraft 3(because its a custom map).

 

[63]

Go for it.

 

[xC4RN4G3x]

Go for it.

i uhhh was asking if it would be ok...not if i should do it...lol :rolling:

 

[kirschtorte]

Is this for a hypothetical custom map, or a mod? If it's something large scale like a mod, then you might run into problems. Even if you made all the models and textures from scratch, sometimes you're still infringing on the copyright of that intellectual property. I know that a mod for Battlefield was supposed to be a port of Halo to the Battlefield engine, but they couldn't call it Halo so they had to call it Homefront, I think. So you can pretty much take the same concept that you want from warcraft, and make it entirely yourself, but if it's a mod you shouldn't name it as having anything to do with Warcraft unless you get specific permission to do so. If you are going to be making all the new content yourself (no ripped content) then I don't see a problem with it, but I think it's always better to come up with your own ideas rather than taking them from other games, movies, etc.

 

[sabre0001]

it is quite possible that you be asked to stop production - always better to ask the company that owns the rights...Otherwise a lot of time and effort could be wasted on this (as opposed to wasted on pr0n )

 

[xC4RN4G3x]

lol, well i wasnt gonna make a warcraft 3 mod, but if i was making a totally unique mod and one unit from warcraft 3 just seems to fit in with my mod(fitting in as in looking good with it; not like ur playing hl2 and u see an abomination pop outta nowhere). an example. you make a medieval mod(with castles and such) and one of the units from warcraft 3(lets say the footman, or knight), would look good in your game. so you use the warcraft 3 units as your reference as you model your own footman / knight. would this be ok? i mean your not making a warcraft 3 mod, ur simply using them as a reference to model something that would fit in with your mod.
EDIT: now the second part. would it be ok to copy the skills from a map that somebody else made for warcraft 3? i mean the guy didnt make warcraft 3 so technically is it ok to copy the skills he incorportaed into the map? the skills are custom that have been built into the game but he just re arranged them so different units have different skills.

 

[sabre0001]

right sorry - yeah you could - a knight or footman is pretty generic so its not solely in Warcraft3...no probs there.

 

[Angry Lawyer]

this isnt about editing, but i want to know if it is illegal to construct a model based off another game. let's say the warcraft 3 abomination. if i created my own high poly version(which might be slightly different so its not a total rip), would it be illegal or will it be fine since i created it?
another question. would it be illegal for me to copy a skill that a custom map in warcraft 3 has? for those of you who play DOTA, what if i copied the abomination's skills in DOTA. would this be illegal? i mean the guy didnt make warcraft 3, he just made the map...so...would it be alright? the set of skills are completly different than what comes with the original warcraft 3(because its a custom map).

Illegal definately on the count of copying the abomination. The name's not protected (you can call anything an abomination), but the image, shape and general concept of one is protected.
Copying a skill depends on how vague the skill is. If it's something like super-speed - pressing a button makes you run faster - obviously you're not going to run into dificulties. If you directly copy something more unique, the creator can bring down some pwnage on you if he so chooses.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[Ti133700N]

And if im not mistaken there are copyrights on some "moves" or skills like the Bullet time© in Max Payne (I guess Remedy owns the rights).

So basically, before copying anything you should ask the author if you have the permission to use it.

 

[Pesmerga]

If you're not making money off of it, I doubt Blizzard cares.

DOTA is a non-Blizzard custom map, so copying skills from it would generate no problems because the author of DOTA isn't going to give a shit.

 

[xC4RN4G3x]

Illegal definately on the count of copying the abomination. The name's not protected (you can call anything an abomination), but the image, shape and general concept of one is protected.
Copying a skill depends on how vague the skill is. If it's something like super-speed - pressing a button makes you run faster - obviously you're not going to run into dificulties. If you directly copy something more unique, the creator can bring down some pwnage on you if he so chooses.

-Angry Lawyer

yeah...but what if i altered that shape to make it somewhat unique? are you saying that nobody has had the idea of a fatass zombie before? was blizzard the first to think of having a fat zombie included in their game? also if i dont make money then will it really matter?
my example: i wanted a fat zombie(who was previosuly a butcher) to be a character. the model in warcraft 3 is perfect, since the guy had butcher knives and a meat hook. now for his skills i want the skills in DOTA since they make him known as "the butcher" and therefore he has skills related to a butcher. Warcraft 3 has no skill whatsoever that makes him a butcher or basically anything with meat. so if i shape my character to be like a butcher(although it has about the same shape and form of the abomination but has various skills) will it be illegal since it has a shape and form similiar to an abomination? i mean isnt that like saying....if a game had a knight and you took that knight and made him into a roman calvalry, that it would be illegal?

 

[johnshafft]

in determining a violation the lawyers and courts will look at the look and feel of the item infracting on the copyright. In this case a straight rip of a model would be in violation, but a model that exist is parody or is at least 70% unique in it own nature (made from scratch, model, with unique skin, etc.), and does not harm the integrety of the model would not be prosecutable (this doesnt stop them from claiming violation though, or trying to bully the small guy).

So looking at the butcher example, you cant copyright an undead butcher, but you can copyright the look and feel of your undead butcher. That is to stop others from trying to pass off thier works as your content using what appears to be your work in a way you didnt want, Like makeing the butcher a swedish cheif or a rapist. Thats something that you might not want to be associated with, and/or see somebody make money off of. A great example of IP theft was the stargate mod that got foxed .

Levels that are direct rips, even if they have diffent texs are in violation. But just being inspired by level is no violation. Kia would be guilty of stealing Mercedes front clip design. additional example Id styled Doom/q3a vs some of the maps that Epic put into ut04.

In the end it would probably be very doubtful that just one model, or level would get the lawyers in an uproar.

<-- Not a lawayer

 

[xC4RN4G3x]

in determining a violation the lawyers and courts will look at the look and feel of the item infracting on the copyright. In this case a straight rip of a model would be in violation, but a model that exist is parody or is at least 70% unique in it own nature (made from scratch, model, with unique skin, etc.), and does not harm the integrety of the model would not be prosecutable (this doesnt stop them from claiming violation though, or trying to bully the small guy).

So looking at the butcher example, you cant copyright an undead butcher, but you can copyright the look and feel of your undead butcher. That is to stop others from trying to pass off thier works as your content using what appears to be your work in a way you didnt want, Like makeing the butcher a swedish cheif or a rapist. Thats something that you might not want to be associated with, and/or see somebody make money off of. A great example of IP theft was the stargate mod that got foxed .

Levels that are direct rips, even if they have diffent texs are in violation. But just being inspired by level is no violation. Kia would be guilty of stealing Mercedes front clip design. additional example Id styled Doom/q3a vs some of the maps that Epic put into ut04.

In the end it would probably be very doubtful that just one model, or level would get the lawyers in an uproar.

<-- Not a lawayer

well obviosuly its gonna be made from scratch. ok so i'm just gonna have to change it around a little. would adding chains around his body be enough to make it unique? i need examples on how to change something so its not considered copying.

 

[crackhead]

why dont u make the model and then change it alot to make it look different and unique? also u should try and get in contact with whoever owns the copyright cuz u never know they may say yeah go for it.

 

[Angry Lawyer]

in determining a violation the lawyers and courts will look at the look and feel of the item infracting on the copyright. In this case a straight rip of a model would be in violation, but a model that exist is parody or is at least 70% unique in it own nature (made from scratch, model, with unique skin, etc.), and does not harm the integrety of the model would not be prosecutable (this doesnt stop them from claiming violation though, or trying to bully the small guy).

So looking at the butcher example, you cant copyright an undead butcher, but you can copyright the look and feel of your undead butcher. That is to stop others from trying to pass off thier works as your content using what appears to be your work in a way you didnt want, Like makeing the butcher a swedish cheif or a rapist. Thats something that you might not want to be associated with, and/or see somebody make money off of. A great example of IP theft was the stargate mod that got foxed .

Levels that are direct rips, even if they have diffent texs are in violation. But just being inspired by level is no violation. Kia would be guilty of stealing Mercedes front clip design. additional example Id styled Doom/q3a vs some of the maps that Epic put into ut04.

In the end it would probably be very doubtful that just one model, or level would get the lawyers in an uproar.

<-- Not a lawayer

You might as well be a lawyer, that's a pretty good synopsis. But the last point is a little shaky - companies are really quite protective of their property.

Making a fat undead butcher with three arms and chains around him is perfectly legit. Creating a large, sewn-together beast with three arms that serves the Scourge and lives in Lordaeron is infrigement.
Take the basic concept - fat angry dead butcher - and just be creative, and you're definately safe.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[crackhead]

yeah you might as well be a lawyer accept for the fact that you dont have a degree in law

 

[xC4RN4G3x]

You might as well be a lawyer, that's a pretty good synopsis. But the last point is a little shaky - companies are really quite protective of their property.

Making a fat undead butcher with three arms and chains around him is perfectly legit. Creating a large, sewn-together beast with three arms that serves the Scourge and lives in Lordaeron is infrigement.
Take the basic concept - fat angry dead butcher - and just be creative, and you're definately safe.

-Angry Lawyer

so if i make a fat undead butcher with three arms and chains thats ok? what if i made him have four arms? or maybe just two? somehow i think i'm gonna need to change it more than that. alot more. :|

 

[Angry Lawyer]

As long as it doesn't actually look like the original piece, you're pretty much okay.

Combining three arms, butcherness, body-fat, and undeadness isn't violating copyright laws. Not until you start building a model that's using the Abomination as an actual reference. If people look at it and say "Reminds me of the Warcraft Abomination", you should be okay, but if they say "That looks like the Warcraft Abomination", you're in trouble.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[xC4RN4G3x]

alright thanks alot

"The purpose of the lawyer is to flip out and sue people."

very funny :cheers:

 

[johnshafft]

The key is you can be inspired with out being an infraction, the extra talk of arms made me think of this .... what about having arms sticking out of the gut seams of the undead cook. the arms are the arms of victims of the cook, and the they will grab on to anything that gets to close, thuse make this an enemy to attack at range because of his short range holding capabilities

 

[xC4RN4G3x]

are u reading my mind? i had a similar idea, but instead of an arm sticking out of his belly, i had the idea of an entire corpse being sewn onto him.
EDIT: i think i like your idea better. i'll see what i can do. thanks

 

[johnshafft]

oh btw thanks (i think ) for the lawyer comments

John Shafft the gamers attorny Kinda like Ace Ventura Pet Detecitve lol

 

[xC4RN4G3x]

guys i got another question. is it ok for me to assemble an image from multiple images and use it as mine? like lets say i search online for a picture of a gun. then a city background. and finally a person. i cut them all out and paste them onto the city background. i add some transparency, black and white, ect. effects to make it look unique. can i legally use this image on a webpage if i made one?
one other question. is it ok to use other people's fonts and create images? lets say i got a custom font off the internet and created some text to add to the image above. would it be ok for me to use that image or is that illegal?

 

[xC4RN4G3x]

here is an example. i made this after getting a city picture, a nuclear bomb picture, the radiation logo, and a custom font. would it be ok for me to use this for a website? i'll post the images i used to create this.
EDIT: would it also be ok to add the hl2 logo in the background? i've seen some mod pages do this...but is there some legal stuff i need to make sure i dont get caught up in?
DOUBLEEDIT: ugh where's angry lawyer when u need him. :|

 

[johnshafft]

That can get very technical. From what I'm seeing their is enough of a change to not constitute a violation. The Biohazard sign is not copyrightable, The nuke blast is probably in public domain, that just leaves the city and font. You can take a look through http://creativecommons.org/ for some Free work that may help you be legal.

Also make sure the Font can be used for profit! some free fonts are ok for personal use but when used in commercial application they require some money. Remember any advertsing on your sight that helps you make money could make you commercial.

 

[xC4RN4G3x]

Also make sure the Font can be used for profit! some free fonts are ok for personal use but when used in commercial application they require some money. Remember any advertsing on your sight that helps you make money could make you commercial.

how do i find out if the font can be used for profit? all it says in the notepad file that it came with is this:

Thanks for actually reading this.

Please do not redistribute this without my permission.
Thanks and have fun!

i'm guessing the redistribution part is talking about the downloadable font file. maybe i'm interpretting this wrong and there are various meanings of redistribute, so could you guys help me out?

 

[Ti133700N]

You can't use something that's not yours if it's not for personnal use. You can't use any of those images if it's not clearly written that they are free. If you are not sure, ask the author if you have permission. The nuclear symbol is not copyrighted, you can do a nuclear symbol in photoshop and use it in your MOD, but that image of the nuclear symbol is not yours, so you can't use it.

Obviously if you don't use it for profit and if you images is almost unrecognisable because you modified them, there is a few possibilities that you'll get warnings of the actual authors of the images.

 

[xC4RN4G3x]

johnshafft says it might be ok and 1337 says hell no i cant use it. hmmmm i dont know which ones right....ugh.....

 

[johnshafft]

You can't use something that's not yours if it's not for personnal use. You can't use any of those images if it's not clearly written that they are free. If you are not sure, ask the author if you have permission. The nuclear symbol is not copyrighted, you can do a nuclear symbol in photoshop and use it in your MOD, but that image of the nuclear symbol is not yours, so you can't use it.

Obviously if you don't use it for profit and if you images is almost unrecognisable because you modified them, there is a few possibilities that you'll get warnings of the actual authors of the images.

The copyright laws apply equally to comercial use and personal use. There is no disclamers for personal use. Personal use is a stipulation that Copyright holders establish (EULA ).

But the question asked was what can be used all depends on the if the works are protected, as the copyright laws only recently changed to have an implied Copyright vs a stated copyright ('94ish and '01). As thier is a lot of content available the web that is void of copyright as it was intended for free distributuion. Then understanding the copyright laws itself the radiation symbol isnt copywritable, the owner of the pic cannot claim that it unique, as the author cannot claim harm/malice/loss since it a generic nuclear symbol, and such symbols are specificly noted as not being copywritable. If it was uniquely stylized the author would have a better claim, but its not.

As for the font you are obeying thier wishes and not redistributing (text in graphic is not distribution). What the font authors worry about more is the software companies that grab fonts and then commercially market them with out paying the author. If you go commercial (more than ads) it would be wise to give the author an email stating that you are using it in your artwork and to give them some recognition. Let the author approach you about paying them as its not listed in thier instructions. Remeber they put it on the web for people to use!

Remeber to protect your own works while your at it before you place any completed works up you might want to establish at the bare minimum a name corporation (or what ever its called when your name is included in the company name)

 

[johnshafft]

oh and ill add this its usally easier ask forgiveness than to ask permission. So dont got crazy worrying about copyright issues if your not activly trying to use somebody elses IP then its probably something that will go under the radar (generally its upto the copyright holder to defend their product) , if not then you can make corrections, adjustments, and/or reconcillation

 

[Angry Lawyer]

oh and ill add this its usally easier ask forgiveness than to ask permission. So dont got crazy worrying about copyright issues if your not activly trying to use somebody elses IP then its probably something that will go under the radar (generally its upto the copyright holder to defend their product) , if not then you can make corrections, adjustments, and/or reconcillation

You've got that very wrong. Companies are MUCH more lenient to people who actually ask first. If you ask for permission first, you'll be talking to a member of the company. If you ask for forgiveness later, you'll be talking to a lawyer. And it probably won't be me.

Nuclear signs and biohazard signs, as mentioned before, are free to use for everyone. If you download a biohazard sign that someone else has drawn, though, and use it in your mod without permission, you're in trouble.

I think Valve are happy for modders to use their work on pages that are dedicated to their mod/game, though. Just remember to state on the page that the images are copyrighted to Valve.

With the fonts - there's always the oppertunity to make your own ones.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[xC4RN4G3x]

With the fonts - there's always the oppertunity to make your own ones.

but what happens if i dont? how do i make my own fonts anyway? and does anybody know a good site with lots of free fonts?
so does this mean i cant use that image i created by assembling the city background, nuclear bomb, radiation logo, and the font?

 

[xC4RN4G3x]

bump...

 

[Pesmerga]

Ehh, please google it.