14 replies to this topic

[Afropuff01]

I have been working on a game for almost two years. I have created every sprite myself, coded it myself, and have also created the music. Before trying to sell the game on different websites, do I need to get a copyright on it or anything?

[masterofhisowndomain]

No, copyright is granted in "most" jurisdictions (read "pretty much every") upon the creation of a creative work and the copyright holder (the person who produces the creative work) is entitled to enforce his or her exclusive rights. Although registering for copyright is no longer required, it can serve as a "prima facie" of a valid copyright were an issue about it taken to law. All of this does not mean, however, that you cannot or should not make clear copyright, as many companies and individuals do by using a copyright notice (©); e.g. this is all "Copyright © 2011 James Green"

Hope that helps.


EDIT: Spelling mistake and formatting.

Edited by masterofhisowndomain, 13 July 2011 - 08:04 PM.

[FortyEightKay]

Burn a copy and post to yourself via reg delivery.

Then when you go to sue someone for © infringement you have proof you did the work first.

This is of course the bare minimum and © laws vary country to country. Get in touch with your own country's copyright office for info. Here in the UK they'll send you a great pack, for free, detailing your options that you have available.

48K

Edited by FortyEightKay, 19 July 2011 - 11:11 PM.

[Afropuff01]

Thanks. This helped alot.

[GStick]

Burn a copy and post to yourself via reg delivery.

Then when you go to sue someone for © infringement you have proof you did the work first.

48K

No, don't do this.

Okay, first. You should probably seek out the proper information elsewhere. Most people here just aren't going to have the right information for you.

However, I can tell you that you should definitely check out your local copyright office. Are you from the US? This:
US Copyright Office would be a good place to start if you are.

Edited by GStick, 14 July 2011 - 05:58 AM.

[Codifier]

The IPO website actually mentions sending a copy to yourself via registered post. I don't know about other countries, but it must work in this one.

Edited by Codifier, 14 July 2011 - 03:10 PM.

[NakedPaulToast]

Anybody who answers such a question, without recognising the importance of recognising the country of origin of the work, should not be answering the question in the first place.

Poor Man's Copyright (mailing yourself a copy of the work) demonstrates the differences in applying copyright law between different countries.

The USA is quite clear that Poor Man's Copyright has no validity within US Copyright Law.
http://www.copyright...aq-general.html

I’ve heard about a “poor man’s copyright.” What is it?
The practice of sending a copy of your own work to yourself is sometimes called a “poor man’s copyright.” There is no provision in the copyright law regarding any such type of protection, and it is not a substitute for registration.

The UK IPO office has a completely different implementation.
http://www.ipo.gov.u...bout/c-auto.htm

Additionally, a creator could send himself or herself a copy by special delivery post (which gives a clear date stamp on the envelope), leaving the envelope unopened on its return (ensuring you also know what is inside each envelope in case you do this more than once). Alternatively you could lodge your work with a bank or solicitor. It is important to note, that this does not prove that a work is original or created by you. But it may be useful to be able to show the court that the work was in your possession at a particular date.

If somebody doesn't understand the simple fact that copyright laws vary from country to country, should their answer be trusted?

But then again asking such a question, without stating what your country of origin is, is just as silly. Almost as silly as believing some anonymous kid on the Internet who doesn't support his response with a link to an authoritative source.

Edited by NakedPaulToast, 14 July 2011 - 07:04 PM.

[hpapillon]

*Wikipedia* claims that the IPO says it *might* be helpful in the event it actually came to court. The IPO website actually says quite clearly that this method does NOT prove in any way that you created the work, it simply might help back up your story.


As the vast majority of websites will point out, you can send an unsealed envelope special delivery with a date stamp and then insert whatever you want into it. A notary would at least have some evidence that you'd had something.

(Heh, kinda beaten to it, took too long to post)

Edited by hpapillon, 14 July 2011 - 07:09 PM.

[Codifier]

Pleased to be of service, NPT. Thanks for the concern.

True, sending it to yourself via post doesn't prove it. Put that in front of a court and you'd probably be laughed at. But generally, it's better than nothing, if only a little bit.

Edited by Codifier, 14 July 2011 - 09:18 PM.

[GStick]

If somebody doesn't understand the simple fact that copyright laws vary from country to country, should their answer be trusted?

No sir.

But then again asking such a question, without stating what your country of origin is, is just as silly. Almost as silly as believing some anonymous kid on the Internet who doesn't support his response with a link to an authoritative source.

This, and we sure get a lot of questions like this around here, too, don't we?

[IceMetalPunk]

@Afropuff01: Your profile says you're from Texas. Given that, these laws would apply to you: http://www.copyright.gov/laws/ . You can register a copyright for a fee here: http://www.copyright.gov/eco/ .

The poor man's copyright has always (as far I know) been a myth. Envelopes are so easily manipulated that sending yourself one filled with anything proves nothing, and thus courts don't even consider it except at the most basic "oh, well, maybe so" instinctual level. Meaning it doesn't hurt to do it, but it probably won't help and certainly isn't official.

"Copyrights" are supposed to be granted immediately after creating your work. The problem is that the only time copyrighting is necessary is in the event someone else claims ownership of your work (read: steals it). In which case, it's up to you to prove you made it first. The easiest way to do this (though it's not free) is to register your copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office. They'll make an official note of your work and the date it was registered, and no one can disclaim the UCSO in a US court.

I kind of wonder what the fee is for. After all, in the information age filing fees seem outdated to me. But, whatever; the fee's there, and if you want to officially register your copyright in a manner guaranteed to hold up in a US court, you'll have to pay it. Otherwise, you'll have to find some other method of proving the date you created the work (and that you did, in fact, create it). Which is easier said than done.

-IMP

[tecno40]

I have registered a copyright on one of my programs before so I have a bit of experience in this process.

It is true that every work produced is automatically copyrighted, however it is very difficult to sue someone if they steal your work if you never register a copyright with the copyright office. If you spent a lot of time on your work, think it looks professional, and are proud of it I suggest you get an official copyright. If you register online it only cost $35, and is a very easy process. Not only will it protect your work, but it also gives you a feeling of accomplishment that you made a product recognized by the copyright office (yes, I know it sounds sappy, but it is true). That being said I would not recommend to copyright a program it took you a day to make (unless it was an extremely good idea), it is not likely that anyone will steal a program you put little effort into, and if you constantly copyrighting works that did not need it you can waste a lot of money.

If you are interested in copyrighting your work go to http://www.copyright.gov/eco/, and create an account. They have step by step instructions on copyrighting your work online, and make the process so easy a caveman could do it. Also while registering follow the tutorial exactly, except under "Author Created" type in "Computer Program", and upload the source code for your program along with any graphics and sound involved. I made the mistake of incorrectly filling in that field on the form

Edited by tecno40, 15 July 2011 - 06:55 AM.

[IceMetalPunk]

Actually, after reading tecno40's post, I do have a related question. Having never actually registered a copyright for anything myself, when you copyright a game, for example, it only copyrights the source code, right? It doesn't do anything about the graphics, music, story, etc.? I'm just wondering because the game I'm working on now is really the first professional-quality game of mine I can think of that has multiple team members each producing pro-quality work. So for example, registering a copyright for the game under my name would still leave the artistic copyrights with the artists, correct?

-IMP

[tecno40]

Actually, after reading tecno40's post, I do have a related question. Having never actually registered a copyright for anything myself, when you copyright a game, for example, it only copyrights the source code, right? It doesn't do anything about the graphics, music, story, etc.? I'm just wondering because the game I'm working on now is really the first professional-quality game of mine I can think of that has multiple team members each producing pro-quality work. So for example, registering a copyright for the game under my name would still leave the artistic copyrights with the artists, correct?

-IMP

If you copyright a game everything inside the game will be copyrighted, unless you specify otherwise on the form.

Edited by tecno40, 15 July 2011 - 06:57 AM.

[IceMetalPunk]

Actually, after reading tecno40's post, I do have a related question. Having never actually registered a copyright for anything myself, when you copyright a game, for example, it only copyrights the source code, right? It doesn't do anything about the graphics, music, story, etc.? I'm just wondering because the game I'm working on now is really the first professional-quality game of mine I can think of that has multiple team members each producing pro-quality work. So for example, registering a copyright for the game under my name would still leave the artistic copyrights with the artists, correct?

-IMP

If you copyright a game everything inside the game will be copyrighted, unless you specify otherwise on the form.

I just looked over the whole walkthrough of eCO they have on the official USCO site. Just to make sure I have this right: if I did only the programming and nothing else, I'd include the other contributors as authors, but only me as the claimant, and just exclude all but source code under Limitations?

-IMP