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Copyright on a Game

by Jet
6 replies
I've seen an old game online and there are many sites allowing people to play this game for free online.


I tried searching for the copyright owner of the game but nothing shows up. It seems like a freely available game shown and shared everywhere. There are hundreds of sites allowing surfers to play the game on their sites.

If I wanted to sell a version of this game and use the same name, say on a handheld device or a mobile phone, would there be any restrictions?

Anyone know the law on this?

JH
#copyright #game
  • Profile picture of the author Josh Anderson
    Anyone know the law on this?
    There is not just one law on it.

    A question of this magnitude crosses many areas of law:

    Trademark (the name of the game and company who created it)
    Patent
    Copyright

    So the answer is there is no simple answer to your question.

    What you need to do is find the original creator of the game to get verification from them and start searching for possible trademarks, patent, and copyright that can be associated with the game.

    It is likely that the copies of the game you see online are knock offs created by coders and shared.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jet
    How do I find the owner? I tried Google but only the sites which allow you to play the game, show up.

    Where do I start?
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    Play Treasure Hunt For an Income - Away From Internet Marketing
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  • Profile picture of the author Jet
    Thats what I thought David.

    When you search for the game in google, the first 20 results are online games which you can play for free on these sites, such as Tic Tac Toe!

    JH
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  • Profile picture of the author Josh Anderson
    David gave you some really bad advice.

    Though you may not be prosecuted... if you are the attorney fees alone just to retain and attorney to defend you will start in the tens of thousands of dollars.

    If you are found to be infringing on a copyright the punative damages can be $150k per...

    If you are found to be infringing on trademark...

    Well you probably get the picture.

    Taking the risk is up to you... but just know that there could be significant consequences.
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  • Profile picture of the author Buster Iversen
    copyright is 50 or 75 years in most countries I think, so chances are the game is still under copyright.
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