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Legal Issues in Games

Legal Issues in Games - -Patent granted when you have an...

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Legal Issues in Games FOR THE MIDTERM, UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN EACH BOLD TERM. - Copyright: protects original expression (i.e. software, game characters, storyline, design docs) - Characters in games are copyrightable (a.k.a Sonic the Hedgehog) - Not a good idea to share your game ideas before copyrighting them (classic Mark Zuckerburg case) - If you have copyrights on your unique characters, it adds value to your game (to a publisher) - Copyright laws say, upon creation, the creator is the owner of the idea. If more than one person creates it (collaboratively), the creators are joint owners - Trademarks: protects consumers from confusion. - In the game business, companies usually trademark the title of their game and company and possibly major characters (such as Mario or Sonic) - Trademarks are created depending on the country (you could get a trademark in the US but not in Japan while using a Japanese word for your
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Unformatted text preview: -Patent: granted when you have an invention that is new, useful, and non-obvious-If you get a patent, you can exclude anyone from using your idea for 20 years-Enforcing patents is very costly-Nondisclosure Agreement: says “what’s ours is ours and what’s yours is yours”. Protects your trade secrets and prevents other people in a business transaction from stealing your ideas after you pitch them-Trade Secret: an idea that is disclosed between multiple parties, however only belongs to the owner-WHEN YOU GO TO WORK FOR A COMPANY, DISCLOSE YOUR INDEPENDENT PROJECTS. After you leave a company and release your product, the company could claim that it is their property (if its in the same field video game industry)-Cloning: creating similar products to already-popular SIMPLE products-Fruit Ninja was ripped off by many clones because it was such a simple idea (slashing fruit with your finger)-...
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