Hey, That’s MY Game! Intellectual Property Protection for Video Games. Hey, That’s MY Game! Intellectual Property Protection for Video Games By Steve Chang,Ross Dannenberg So you’ve created a video game. Naturally, you’re proud of the result after months of all-nighters spent programming and debugging the source code. Your game includes ideas, puzzles, game concepts, and user interfaces that no game has ever had. You’ve created artwork and graphics that are sure to enthrall even the most skeptical of gamers. Too bad someone stole it and published it before you did. You disagree? Patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets each serve to motivate innovators to create new and exciting games by providing various protections for their efforts. Without copyright protection, there is little incentive for authors and artists to create new creative works, because they naturally would be hesitant to create works that others could copy willy nilly without compensation to the artist (those ramen noodles sure are tasty, huh?).
How does this affect your video game? Www.nmmlaw.com/pdf/CandT.pdf. In General (FAQ) Video Games and the law: Copyright, Trademark and Intellectual Property | New Media Rights. Planning on creating a video game, or created one already? This guide will help you understand some the frequent questions about copyright, trademark and intellectual property when it comes to video games. Learn how video games are protected under copyright and trademark law, how to respond when your game is removed from the web or a mobile app store by a DMCA takedown notice, and the many ways the law affects the creative process of making a video game.
Find a question you're interested in below and click it to get some answers. Frequently asked questions about video games and the law: What is copyright? What parts of the video game are copyrightable? Is my artwork copyrightable? How will a court determine if a video game infringes another video game? Speaking of sports video games, does this mean I can include real life athletes and sports statistics in my game? Can I create a game with a similar concept to another video game? Are video game titles copyrightable? How do I make money? Images: BRAND INSTITUTE, INC. | PHARMACEUTICAL BRANDING | NAME DEVELOPMENT | BRAND NAMING | OUR SERVICES. U.S. Copyright Office. Trademark, Patent, or Copyright? A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, and/or design that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others.
A service mark is a word, phrase, symbol, and/or design that identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than goods. The term “trademark” is often used to refer to both trademarks and service marks. Must all marks be registered? No, but federal registration has several advantages, including a notice to the public of the registrant's claim of ownership of the mark, a legal presumption of ownership nationwide, and the exclusive right to use the mark on or in connection with the goods or services set forth in the registration. A patent is a limited duration property right relating to an invention, granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office in exchange for public disclosure of the invention. A copyright protects works of authorship, such as writings, music, and works of art that have been tangibly expressed. Trademark Process.
Trademark vs Registered Trademark. You can put ™ on anything; it simply means that you consider it to be a trademark for your product or service. The registered trademark bug ® is used to indicate that your trademark is registered with the government, which gives you a wider range of statutory remedies in case of infringement. You only use the registered bug if you've actually registered the trademark formally, but you can use ™ freely. For services (as opposed to products) you can use SM instead of TM. In the U.S., you must first use the trademark regularly to establish it as such, then you can register it. In other, more class-conscious societies, such as some European countries, you can register the trademark even before you've actually proved that it's associated with your product or service.
The copyright bug © can be used with any copyrighted material, registered or not. Yes, you can put a trademark notice on your site, and you can use the TM or SM bugs. You're wrong about copyright. United States Patent and Trademark Office.