Copyrighting game art.
As_Of_Latte
Member, BASIC Posts: 343
Hey guys,
Anybody have any experience in copyrighting art/graphics they've made and used for their games? I have no idea where to begin with this step and would appreciate any advice. 
Some questions I have are;
1) Where do I go for copyrighting artwork? Is their a specific website I should check out?
2) How much is a copyright?
3) Can you copyright all your art/graphics for your game at one time?
4) How long does it take to process?
5) Is copyrighting art/graphics even necessary?
6) What are the best practices in protecting my game art?
Comments
@AsOfLatte Unfortunately copyrighting does not prevent people from stealing your art. If someone wants to steal it they are going to do it anyway.
Copyrighting is quite pricy and timeconsuming what I've heard, so as long as you are not Disney, I wouldn't worry too much about it
I actually think your game is automatically copyrighted when you publish to the App Store (someone please correct me if Im wrong)
To add what @Dues stated, even if someone stole your art, it would be difficult to take their app down or even claim money from it
@jsorr2 ...Im a little confused by your comment. If you can prove that another app is using your art, most Appstores will remove the offending app from sale. Might take time...but they normally remove it.
Im not sure how it works with claiming any money/compensation... but having the app removed should be pretty straightforward if you can prove ownership of the assets.
Maybe you've had experience to the contrary though, in which case, could be interesting to hear about it
@AsOfLatte
I ALWAYS send all of my artwork and other creative materials to the U.S. Copyright office: http://www.copyright.gov
The process is easy and can be done online in a short amount of time. Everything is digital and you can upload a file to the copyright office.
The keys benefits are:
1). Only $35 U.S.
2). Protects your work for your lifetime plus 70 years after you pass away. (Your family or next of keen would be given the rights to your work.)
3). Worldwide protection as most countries in the world acknowledge U.S.
Copyrights legally. (However protecting your rights in other countries like China could be tricky.) This is where it would be nice to have Disney money.
4). Can be obtained within a few short months or the better part of a year.
If you feel that your art work and or concept is worth getting a copyright, than do it! Also remember that you can not copyright an idea just a concept in a tangaeable form. You also can not copyright a name or title you would need to obtain a U.S. Trademark for that. Honestly, they are way more pricey than copyrights and more time consuming.
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@AsOfLatte -- In the US, your works are automatically under copyright protection as soon as you produce it in tangible form. There is no legal need to register your work to be under US copyright protection.
If you need to pursue a lawsuit for copyright infringement, you do need to register the (already and automatically copyright protected) work.
Some people do like to register their works with the US Copyright Office. But that does not change the (already and automatically copy protected) work's status. Its just their preference.
What does the word 'concept' mean in this context ?
hmm, I have no idea why I thought of this concept of Socks
That surely is a COSy SIN if I ever saw one. >:)
But thats another game/storyline.......
@Socks
This is perhaps the best explanation of a Copyright that I have read recently. Please note that these aren’t my exact words but I think they best sum up intellectually property rights.
A Copyright protects a particular expression of an idea. The idea is free to be copied by anyone, just not your expression of the idea.
A patent will protect the idea, including many expressions of the idea.
A trademark will protect the commercialization of the expression of the idea under a particular mark.
Lastly, thanks @RThurman for clarifying the copyright process further. I always register just in the off chance that I may need to protect my work legally. Copyright registration just makes the court battles easier as I have a valid legal document giving me exclusive rights to my work.
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I was curious about the idea of a 'concept' (in regards to apps), you said . . . "you can not copyright an idea just a concept in a tangaeable form", what does 'concept' mean in this context, what would be a real world example of a 'concept in a tangible form' ?
On a side note I've heard stories of people creating (for example) 'X', and 'X' proving to be a success, but not having trademarked the name 'X', someone else sees their success and trademarks 'X', meaning the creator can no longer use it . . . ! Which all sounds like a good argument for trademarking.
Writing down on a piece of paper about what your game is about, how its plays, etc. would be considered "concept in tangible form".
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@Lovejoy is right
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Cheers @Lovejoy and @robertkdale
Whoa, thank you all so much for the input!! I'm gone for one day and you guys filled this forum post with valuable info! Greatly appreciated
I will most likely go your route @robertkdale . You can never be to safe, even with an automatic copyright protection in the US.
Correct. And your writings on that paper would be copyright to you. If someone made a game based on your writings, that's the same concept in a DIFFERENT tangible form.
That's what patents are about. You can patent (sadly) the IDEA of something - with some detail - for instance, the idea of organizing digital songs in a particular way (like the recent suit against Apple iTunes) and even though you never actually spend any money making the IDEA a reality or the time it takes to create, test, market and actually make money on the IDEA, you can sue someone for millions of dollars because they actually went through all of the work - it's called patent trolling in a broken patent world. It basically prevents TRUE innovators from innovating because they are so afraid of getting hit by the patent stick. Luckily, the SCOTUS has made some good rulings lately on patent abuse but we need alot more.
To give you an example of what's NOT copyright. You can create a game about someone chopping a tree by clicking on either side of the tree. Your music, art and sound f/x can all be copyright... but I can make a game about someone chopping a tree by clicking on either side and as long as my game does not have the same name, the same art, sound or f/x, it doesn't violate your copyright because you can only copyright the EXPRESSION of an idea... not the idea itself.
As far as trademark, a trademark is a specific slogan/logo/name/etc that is tied to a SPECIFIC industry that helps prevent consumer confusion - that's why there's only one Pepsi, one Coke, etc. If someone created a similiar sounding BRAND, it would confuse consumers and allow the lesser company to ride the coat tails of the bigger company.
BUT... it's specific to an industry. The Beatles had Apple records long before Apple company. Apple could use Apple as their logo because Apple records was into music, Apple computers was into computers. Once Apple got into music (iPod, iTunes, etc), a big fight incurred that resulted in Apple Computers buying Apple Records (actually Apple Corp)'s trademark rights for $500 million.
That's also why you can have a Monster cable company and a Monster sports beverage - though it didn't stop Monster Cables from suing Monster beverage. One of the caveats of having a trademark is that you defend it - I believe that was written into the trademark law by trademark lawyers - and if you don't, your trademark can be declared abandoned. But some companies are more aggressive about it than others.
@ookami007 I was just answering the specific question asked by @Socks .
I didn't feel like explaining the whole shabang since it can get lengthly and confusing. But yes, writing it down does not protect against someone else looking at it, writing it down in their own words or making the app itself since the idea itself cannot be copyrighted. Thats how you can have so many rip off of games.
Im not gonns get into patents because that is a whole nightmare on its own.
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@Lovejoy - No worries, just going into a little more detail since copyrights and patents are a hobby of mine.
Personally, I feel intellectual "property" is horrible idea. Somehow, the copyright lengths are so far out of whack because of Disney and their ubber lobbyists that things can now be copyrighted for 180 years. I don't think that's what the founding fathers meant when they said "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries". I don't see 180 years as limited. (oh... and 180 years comes from oldest person 110 + 70 years... I know, technically, I doubt someone would copyright something at 1-2, so let's say 178 years... though 180 is nice and round.
It destroys the modern public domain which is where things like Aesop's Fables and Grimm's Fairy Tales are... the source for most of Disney's animated films...
Really in actual terms:
An idea cannot be copyrighted because anyone can have that idea,
But an actual image, sound or smell!! even, can, because it is in actual fact an individual's personal production so therefore cannot be COPIED by RIGHT.
A concept is very different from a real product. I have many ideas that have been made into products before I could realise them. Does this give me a right to sue for stealing something I didn't make public?
But there are still a lot of grey areas so the argument goes on.
@ookami007 You are right. 50 years tops and that is being generous.
You can make a lot out of 50 years of royalties if you are good and as for the after death thing, sod your offspring, make their own way in life.
@ookami007 I agree, just look at Wizards of the coast's patent for magic the gathering. Good luck to anyone who even tries to create a TCG, if it ever become popular then you can guarantee that they are going after you. And unless you got the $$, it a lost cause.
Fortuna Infortuna Forti Una
hahaha, funny