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| Bomberman Copyright? |
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Richard Phipps
Member #1,632
November 2001
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I'm wondering is the idea of Bomberman copyrightable? I don't mean the characters, music, name, etc.. But the gameplay idea of dropping bombs, having chain reactions and blowing up walls. I thought I read a thread on here in which someone said that ideas cannot be copyrighted. However I seem to remember reading that Hudson caused some problems for the people who tried to release BlitzBombers for the Amiga. Any idea? |
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X-G
Member #856
December 2000
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No. Gameplay ideas are not copyrightable. If that were the case, there wouldn't be the plethora of clones that exist today. Yes, there are a few cases of people trying to claim copyright to an idea, but in the long run as you can see these have mostly fallen flat. Names are, however, copyrightable, as far as I know. Oh, and the original Hudson game was called Dynablaster, IIRC. -- |
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Matthew Leverton
Supreme Loser
January 1999
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In general, no the concept of a game is not copyrightable. In reality, the line is a bit more blurred. If all the characters look like the original and it's a close enough spinoff, then I would expect the original game makers would prevail in court. A lot of times the companies simply target the trademarked names of the game. Example, if you are going to make a falling block clone, don't name it -tris. |
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Richard Phipps
Member #1,632
November 2001
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So say you had a bomberman game with say, penguins instead of bomberman and the game was called penguin panic (I just made that up..) then it should be ok?
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Matthew Leverton
Supreme Loser
January 1999
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Yes, assuming you used original graphics, sounds, and level designs. |
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X-G
Member #856
December 2000
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How much level design is there really in Bomberman, though? I mean, to me most levels look the same. -- |
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Richard Phipps
Member #1,632
November 2001
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The original game just has a grid layout if IRC. Later games added different level designs as well though. |
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23yrold3yrold
Member #1,134
March 2001
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Nevertheless. You can't copyright gameplay. Everything said above is true. -- |
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ReyBrujo
Moderator
January 2001
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Hmm... however, in USA you can patent algorithms... so, be careful with your algorithm to increase the strength of the blasts! -- |
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Krzysztof Kluczek
Member #4,191
January 2004
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if(picked_powerup) blast_range++; ________ |
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da_flo
Member #1,907
February 2002
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In USA you can patent almost anything... geez... human stupidity again |
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23yrold3yrold
Member #1,134
March 2001
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Quote: In USA you can patent almost anything... geez... human stupidity again No, I don't think you can patent that ... -- |
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mEmO
Member #1,124
March 2001
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Quote: In USA you can patent almost anything... geez... human stupidity again
What a brilliant idea! You'd become a multimillionaire --------------------------------------------- |
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Archon
Member #4,195
January 2004
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Well what if you wanted to make a clone of a game and make it really similar but say 'This Game is a Clone of the original *********'? And if its free and all, is it still copyrighted? |
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Krzysztof Kluczek
Member #4,191
January 2004
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Quote: In USA you can patent almost anything... geez... human stupidity again
You have patented human stupidity? You have to be millionaire! ________ |
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da_flo
Member #1,907
February 2002
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Well, I did not say that one could patent that [EDIT] And BTW, human stupidity is obviously public domain |
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Krzysztof Kluczek
Member #4,191
January 2004
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I agree. You can't even exercise your cat without breaking a patent. ________ |
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Chris Katko
Member #1,881
January 2002
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Quote: Well what if you wanted to make a clone of a game and make it really similar but say 'This Game is a Clone of the original *********'? And if its free and all, is it still copyrighted? You still might get sued. Depending on whether or not the original "artist" feels your stealing from him/her or not. Whether you win or not depends on the lawyers, judge, and so on. I'd say you couldn't be sued. But it's happened before quite a bit. Like the makers of the GTA3-like simpons game. They got sued. But then again, the simpons game was a commercial game. -----sig: |
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Rash
Member #2,374
May 2002
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I guess you guys haven't heard about the case of The Great Giana Sisters. |
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Zaphos
Member #1,468
August 2001
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I have not. Would you care to explain? A quick google was not terribly helpful, or maybe I'm just blind ...
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Chris Katko
Member #1,881
January 2002
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Quote: I guess you guys haven't heard about the case of The Great Giana Sisters. Other than the song by Machinae Supremacy, I have no idea. -----sig: |
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Matthew Leverton
Supreme Loser
January 1999
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Quote: I guess you guys haven't heard about the case of The Great Giana Sisters. Do you care to link to a respectable source that shows the case even went to court? I thought Nintendo simply threatened, and the company just gave in. The GGS makers were dumb for a few reasons: Super Mario Brothers = Great Giana Sisters Play on words. Ok, probably not close enough to warrant a case by itself, but they could have at least tried to be creative. Some of the graphics looked to be lifted straight out of Mario, namely the bricks. Again, probably not enough to warrant a case. Had they had sufficient financial resources, I'm sure they would have won. |
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Richard Phipps
Member #1,632
November 2001
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Is there any legal info on this subject of not being able to copyright ideas that you know of? I would like to make a full bomberman style game sometime in the future as Shareware (If I am successful in the business). But obviously I don't want to get into legal problems with this. |
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X-G
Member #856
December 2000
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Quote: Had they had sufficient financial resources, I'm sure they would have won. Yeah, that's the US legal system in a nutshell... the ones with money win. -- |
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Richard Phipps
Member #1,632
November 2001
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A few Google searches reveals there are already a few bomberman shareware games on sale. Although I don't like the look of any of them. This does seem to be an option for the future then.. |
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