Re: Debian Gamers/Developers
On Mon, Oct 21, 2002 at 04:00:25PM -0500, Jamin W. Collins wrote:
> So, you're telling me that a game with a yellow circle chomping little
> dots in a blue maze being chased by ghosts can be created without
> infringing upon Pac-Man? I don't claim to be a lawyer and don't recall
> ever having done so.
That is correct, just so long as you don't use any of the original
author/publisher's code, artwork, etc. If you create everything from
scratch, you're completely clear on copyright (unless their lawyers
can convince the judge that you did use their code, artwork,
whatever).
However, if you duplicate the look and feel too closely (to the point
that someone might think that your game is the "real" Pac-Man), then
you can get busted for swiping their trademark. OTOH, trademarks get
diluted if they're not defended, so I doubt that Pac-Man is a
defensible trademark these days anyhow.
IANAL, TINLA, etc., but I've kicked around enough discussions of
copyrights, trademarks, and patents that I have a pretty good idea of
what's going on...
--
When we reduce our own liberties to stop terrorism, the terrorists
have already won. - reverius
Innocence is no protection when governments go bad. - Tom Swiss
Reply to: