How to copyright your games/artwork/music etc?
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Member Posts: 70
Hi All,
in relation to yesterdays ugly thread about a 'developer' (read: 'hairless balls copycat') repeatedly used copyrighted material, or maybe not even copyrighted, but at least material already being legally used by other honest developers.
Does any of you have any knowledge about any options to protect your work?
Are there any 'official channels' to go through?
In the end, I guess not, I mean the copycat I'm referring to even dared to use material from Nintendo for example, who, I'm assuming, are protective of their work somehow..
(so as long as they don't figure it out they risk being taken advantage off?)
Is it a matter of winning the lottery so you can defend yourself in court if needed,
or are there any other ways to protect your work and prevent this from happening?
Honestly, this is something that's blocking me from going forward creating apps (games mainly).. but then again, I might simply be a bit too paranoid..
I'm a longtime professional graphic designer/animator/webdesigner etc etc by trade and never really bothered since I sell my work to clients directly, they pay for the rights eventually anyways (and never give out source files). And until a project is final I do work with lousy watermarks (which of course can be removed by any kid playing around in Photoshop these days)... And of course the trick of sending original sketches to myself by email for future reference as proof.. (never needed it though)
I'm asking here cause you guys + gals are producing mobile apps, which is a whole 'new' discipline where I get the impression there are a lot of 'unprofessional' people (kids?) involved.
Which is OK, but also brings great risk since many unprofessional people tend to care less about artistic property, look at the torrent 'business, where everything is (considered) for 'free'... The mentality has changed, and I'm not sure I'm liking it, or if I fit in even.... (whaa, that's just sad!)
Anyhoo.. long post... I'm off, I could really use a shave ;-)
in relation to yesterdays ugly thread about a 'developer' (read: 'hairless balls copycat') repeatedly used copyrighted material, or maybe not even copyrighted, but at least material already being legally used by other honest developers.
Does any of you have any knowledge about any options to protect your work?
Are there any 'official channels' to go through?
In the end, I guess not, I mean the copycat I'm referring to even dared to use material from Nintendo for example, who, I'm assuming, are protective of their work somehow..
(so as long as they don't figure it out they risk being taken advantage off?)
Is it a matter of winning the lottery so you can defend yourself in court if needed,
or are there any other ways to protect your work and prevent this from happening?
Honestly, this is something that's blocking me from going forward creating apps (games mainly).. but then again, I might simply be a bit too paranoid..
I'm a longtime professional graphic designer/animator/webdesigner etc etc by trade and never really bothered since I sell my work to clients directly, they pay for the rights eventually anyways (and never give out source files). And until a project is final I do work with lousy watermarks (which of course can be removed by any kid playing around in Photoshop these days)... And of course the trick of sending original sketches to myself by email for future reference as proof.. (never needed it though)
I'm asking here cause you guys + gals are producing mobile apps, which is a whole 'new' discipline where I get the impression there are a lot of 'unprofessional' people (kids?) involved.
Which is OK, but also brings great risk since many unprofessional people tend to care less about artistic property, look at the torrent 'business, where everything is (considered) for 'free'... The mentality has changed, and I'm not sure I'm liking it, or if I fit in even.... (whaa, that's just sad!)
Anyhoo.. long post... I'm off, I could really use a shave ;-)
Comments
If you want to sue them for money, you will find it very expensive and even if you win, you may not get money to covert the costs for the case. Also remember that if the developer is in another country you may have to go there.
Maybe this is something that needs some time to evolve since it's such a young and turbulent area, I can't imagine this being something everyone would simply take for granted.. for ever..
Maybe I should look into the matter more closely and see if an international acknowledged solution is even possible... And maybe look into building it from the ground up...
(But I smell paperwork... ouch, YUK!!)
(Although I do understand nothing is ever 100% protected from whoever wants to do bad...
no matter what level of protection is in place)
"imitation is the sincerest form of flattery"
(i'd still tell apple and have the copies yanked, but i don't think i'd pursue legal action)
As in, Angry Birds (Doodle Jump etc etc) might have been first, then came billions of others using the same basic principle.. Fine.. The Angry Birds peeps set a trend, great! But that's nothing like using the exact same graphics or adding a tiny something to call it your own..
@Devils hhmm... you're saying US Copyright... Does this mean you're still covered outside the US though?? I wouldn't think so... (but note, I'm totally guessing here!)
Btw if any, what were the costs involved to go through the US Copyright?
And thanks for your input guys!!