Its official - Remakes dont infringe on copyright

icemann on 23/3/2007 at 17:54

Interesting court decison in the UK. Bring on the SS2 remakes I say.

(http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/03/23/computer_games_copyright_law/)

Interesting to see that this is what happens when someone actually stands upto a games company.

Gestalt on 23/3/2007 at 18:05

This covers more general things like design ideas and HUD implementations and stuff along those lines. You can't do a full-scale remake and claim it as your own any more than a filmmaker can do a shot-for-shot unauthorized remake of a film and expect to get away with it.

You're basically claiming that games aren't protected by copyright at all in this regard. If your reading were correct, then id could remake Unreal Tournament without penalty.

Kolya on 23/3/2007 at 18:15

Note that it's only under UK law. The UK Court of Appeal has (naturally) no legitimation to change European law, they merely say their ruling is compliant to the EU directives. Whether this is true can only be checked by the European Court of Justice.

Bjossi on 23/3/2007 at 19:48

There are plenty of Europeans that are good modders, bring awn the remakes.

Though I think SS2 would benefit if they went farther than remaking it; improving the level design instead. Stay with the base but from there create your own decorations.

That wouldn't count as a remake I think.

SubJeff on 23/3/2007 at 20:15

I wouldn't read anything into this. These games were pool games. Pool! It's a pretty simple game. System Shock 2 is another thing altogether.

icemann on 24/3/2007 at 06:36

Yes it was just a pool game, but it sets a precident (sp?), which could be used as the basis of a legal defence if a games company tried to stop a remake. Secondly EA is a UK based company. Or was last I checked. Hence why I posted this topic in the SS2 forum.

Hemebond on 24/3/2007 at 07:46

Copying the characters, plot and scenes of a game, like a remake does, would not be protected by this; it's quite 'substantial'.

Quote:

He said that some copying of another person's work is permitted, and that to infringe copyright it must be 'substantial'.

JukkaKevät on 24/3/2007 at 07:47

Hmmm... how about the current rulings about intellectual property? I know Games Workshop (UK company) has forced many mods to cease threatening by juridical actions because the use of their IP.

icemann on 24/3/2007 at 18:44

They`ve not stopped the Halflife 1 mod "Warhammer 40k: Rival Species" however. And that mod has been going for quite some time, and has seen numerous releases.

Vigil on 24/3/2007 at 19:23

Haven't doesn't mean can't.

This ruling does not appear to affect the (il)legal use of copyrighted characters, likenesses and storylines at all, which is where most remakes (at least, the ones you care about) fall down.