[casual_games] RE: It's about time!

[Thomas H. Buscaglia]

If I recall, the standard for infringement in the 
music industry is an identical 4 bars.  This is, 
if a melody or even a bass line is note for note 
identical, it does not matter how  different the 
rest of the song is, it is deemed an infringing 
derivative work.  But it took years of 
litif\gation to establish this "bright line" test.

Unfortunately, we do not have a mature enough 
history of case law to establish any bright line 
tests for what is and is not an infringing or 
impermissibly derivative game.   But, Neil is 
right, the gameplay, genre, idea behind any game 
is not protectible (if that is even a word...if 
not, maybe I'll TM it!).  It is only the tangible 
expression of an idea that can be protected, not 
the idea itself.  But even without a bright line 
test, there are some cases of infringement that 
are so obvious that we all know its wrong and, as 
US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said 
about pornography..."I know it when I see it!"

Tom B

  At 02:57 PM 8/17/2006, you wrote:
>OK, so I'm not a lawyer and Tom is, but I think I still recall basic IP stuff.
>
>What we are really talking about is copyright infringement, no?
>
>So, a "pixel perfect" copy is clearly 
>infringement.  Even coming close is enough to 
>get you into "need a lawyer and courtroom" 
>territory.  Art, text, and actual code are 
>protected by copyright.  And thank goodness for 
>that, or most of us would never get paid.
>
>But correct me if I'm wrong, basic gameplay 
>isn't copyrightable, is it?  Basic gameplay is a 
>process description, and that can only be 
>patented.  I seriously doubt that is the case 
>here, so let's just say that for all intents and purposes it doesn't apply.
>
>DOOM and Duke Nukem 3D had IDENTICAL gameplay 
>and practically identical internal world 
>representations (2.5 dimensions).  They had very 
>different art, code, and text.  Similar claims 
>can be made for Quake 3/Unreal death match modes.
>
>Basic gameplay is NOT protected unless it's patented.
>
>The actual instantiation of any game IS protected by copyright.
>
>[Trademarked elements are protected by those 
>trademarks. The John Deere Company will sue you 
>and win if you use their color of green on your 
>own brand of lawn gear, and they will sue you 
>and win if you use their color of green with a 
>yellow accent stripe on almost everything else.]
>
>So cloners who clean room their own code and use 
>their own *different* artwork are free to do 
>what they do even if it feels to us like a 
>rip-off.  A game where an electrician is dodging 
>bowling balls might be different enough from a 
>game where a plumber is dodging barrels to be 
>legal, but all of would call it "lame."
>
>---
>Neil Kirby              +1.614.367.5524        Hope is not a strategy
>Lucent Technologies     nak at lucent.com         Prayer is not a process
>6100 E. Broad St.                              Tuning is not a plan
>Columbus, OH 43213      USA                    Chaos does not scale
>
>
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Thomas H. Buscaglia, Esquire
The Game Attorney
T. H. Buscaglia and Associates
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