Can you post the content you were trying to submit to https://shrib.com and share a link with me?
The issue is most likely some control characters in the text of your comment. These characters are often copied when typing text in a separate word processor and pasted into the site's comment box. Some iPads seem to insert certain extra-ansi characters as well sometimes.
@AntumDeluge: Based on your comparison, I agree; the sprites are RPGMaker derivative. Those two submissions should not be used. They have been disabled as well. Let me know what you discover looking at the other assets.
"A modified version of the AngryMeteor.com 141 Military Icons Set originally submitted by qubodup, edited by me to remove the potentially problematic trollface."
Having qubodup simply edit the original would have been an ideal alternative. That way the original link would remain valid, but he is offline for weeks at a time, so XCVG fixed it instead and the old one was taken down.
Hah! that is an interesting side effect. When the whole Duion thing happened, all content was assigned to Anonymous user, which is who you are when you're not logged in. I'll take care of that... [EDIT] ...ok, that collection should no longer appear.
Correct; Galacti-chron has been banned. However, he has indicated he prefers the non-infringing art be left up. Although I recommend caution when using any of his assets (due to his tendency to completely disregard copyright and source material) as far as we can tell at this point in time, all infringing assets of his have already been disabled, so the ones still up should be safe to use.
As always, please feel free to ask questions or state concerns.
Like I said, it depends on the details of the quests. If the quests contain elaborate details like story content (even if it is a side-story) that is basically the same as a chapter of a book. The entire origin of "copyright" was to protect book authors from having their work copied and sold without being reimbursed. Copying a chapter of a book is just as protected as the rest of the book.
The mechanics and gameplay design of a game are not really copyrightable. (they might be patented, but that's a different discussion) Just like it's not possible to say "I'm hereby copyrighting the design of my book, which is words printed on pages, and pages bound together between two covers". But the story itself is definitely subject to copyright. That includes subcomponents of the story, like character concepts, background bio's, and story-involved quests.
I don't know what "Allakhazam" is, but if they are accepting submissions of fan-made quest content for games they don't own, it is derivative. It may be the game publisher allows such fan-contributions. That is up to the publisher; do not assume it will be allowed for you as well without asking first. It may also be they are violating copyright and, if the publisher decides they're worth the trouble, they could get sued.
quest? possibly. depends on how detailed the quest parameters are. "kill 10 snakes" is too general to copyright.
NPC names? not a copyright, per se, but it is possible to trademark character concepts including thier names... or whole races for that matter; "hobbit" is trademarked by the tolkien estate for example. Same basic principles, so effectively, "yes".
The effort it would take to completely redo everything about a game would probably be more work than just making an original game from scratch. If that is not true, I submit you aren't actually redoing "everything".
Still, legally, that would be a derivative. Even if you took Ultima, and changed it so much it looked more like Grand Theft Auto, it would still technically be a derivative of Ultima so EA may be able to shut you down. How would they know, though? It is so different no one would be able to tell in all likelihood. Never the less, if they found out, you could be in hot water.
If you want to make a game inspired by ultima or everquest, that is fine. That's allowed (and the very thing ultima and everquest did; Ultima was inspired in part by Wizardry, which was inspired by Dungeons & Dragons, which was inspired by Lord of the Rings, which was inspired by various folk legends from various cultures, and so on)
However, if you take any graphics, story, characters, sound effects, music, or parts thereof, and change them a bit... it is a derivative and subject to the intellectual property laws of the original works. That may seem like a subtle distinction. If you read about Gandalf and it prompts your imagination to come up with a similar wizard character who is very old, helpful, and a master of fire, that's fine.
...But if you basically copy the description for gandalf word for word and just change his name and the color of his robes, that's going to be trouble. Having identical city names, recognizable geographical layouts, and identical npc backstories, that's going to raise some eyebrows.
If the reason you want to keep some details the same as ultima and everquest, is so players will be able to recognize the places and characters they know and love; it is a derivative, not inspiration.
TL;DR: All fan-art is derivative. All fan-fiction is derivative. If you're making a fan-game, it's derivative... and derivatives are subject to copyright.
LOL! yes, understandable. I feel like migrating the entire site to a new (non-drupal?) platform is the best option, but what platform(s) would that be?
It's the EM dash. (after "and maximize the fun") Replace with hyphen.
Can you post the content you were trying to submit to https://shrib.com and share a link with me?
The issue is most likely some control characters in the text of your comment. These characters are often copied when typing text in a separate word processor and pasted into the site's comment box. Some iPads seem to insert certain extra-ansi characters as well sometimes.
@AntumDeluge: Based on your comparison, I agree; the sprites are RPGMaker derivative. Those two submissions should not be used. They have been disabled as well. Let me know what you discover looking at the other assets.
Edits of what RPG Maker asset?Thank you for the side-by-side comparison. :)Nope. That one is fine:
Having qubodup simply edit the original would have been an ideal alternative. That way the original link would remain valid, but he is offline for weeks at a time, so XCVG fixed it instead and the old one was taken down.
Hah! that is an interesting side effect. When the whole Duion thing happened, all content was assigned to Anonymous user, which is who you are when you're not logged in. I'll take care of that... [EDIT] ...ok, that collection should no longer appear.
Correct; Galacti-chron has been banned. However, he has indicated he prefers the non-infringing art be left up. Although I recommend caution when using any of his assets (due to his tendency to completely disregard copyright and source material) as far as we can tell at this point in time, all infringing assets of his have already been disabled, so the ones still up should be safe to use.
As always, please feel free to ask questions or state concerns.
Like I said, it depends on the details of the quests. If the quests contain elaborate details like story content (even if it is a side-story) that is basically the same as a chapter of a book. The entire origin of "copyright" was to protect book authors from having their work copied and sold without being reimbursed. Copying a chapter of a book is just as protected as the rest of the book.
The mechanics and gameplay design of a game are not really copyrightable. (they might be patented, but that's a different discussion) Just like it's not possible to say "I'm hereby copyrighting the design of my book, which is words printed on pages, and pages bound together between two covers". But the story itself is definitely subject to copyright. That includes subcomponents of the story, like character concepts, background bio's, and story-involved quests.
I don't know what "Allakhazam" is, but if they are accepting submissions of fan-made quest content for games they don't own, it is derivative. It may be the game publisher allows such fan-contributions. That is up to the publisher; do not assume it will be allowed for you as well without asking first. It may also be they are violating copyright and, if the publisher decides they're worth the trouble, they could get sued.
story? yes.
quest? possibly. depends on how detailed the quest parameters are. "kill 10 snakes" is too general to copyright.
NPC names? not a copyright, per se, but it is possible to trademark character concepts including thier names... or whole races for that matter; "hobbit" is trademarked by the tolkien estate for example. Same basic principles, so effectively, "yes".
The effort it would take to completely redo everything about a game would probably be more work than just making an original game from scratch. If that is not true, I submit you aren't actually redoing "everything".
Still, legally, that would be a derivative. Even if you took Ultima, and changed it so much it looked more like Grand Theft Auto, it would still technically be a derivative of Ultima so EA may be able to shut you down. How would they know, though? It is so different no one would be able to tell in all likelihood. Never the less, if they found out, you could be in hot water.
If you want to make a game inspired by ultima or everquest, that is fine. That's allowed (and the very thing ultima and everquest did; Ultima was inspired in part by Wizardry, which was inspired by Dungeons & Dragons, which was inspired by Lord of the Rings, which was inspired by various folk legends from various cultures, and so on)
However, if you take any graphics, story, characters, sound effects, music, or parts thereof, and change them a bit... it is a derivative and subject to the intellectual property laws of the original works. That may seem like a subtle distinction. If you read about Gandalf and it prompts your imagination to come up with a similar wizard character who is very old, helpful, and a master of fire, that's fine.
...But if you basically copy the description for gandalf word for word and just change his name and the color of his robes, that's going to be trouble. Having identical city names, recognizable geographical layouts, and identical npc backstories, that's going to raise some eyebrows.
If the reason you want to keep some details the same as ultima and everquest, is so players will be able to recognize the places and characters they know and love; it is a derivative, not inspiration.
TL;DR: All fan-art is derivative. All fan-fiction is derivative. If you're making a fan-game, it's derivative... and derivatives are subject to copyright.
Let me know if that answers your questions. :)
LOL! yes, understandable. I feel like migrating the entire site to a new (non-drupal?) platform is the best option, but what platform(s) would that be?
Pages