IP protection and Ren'py [WEEK 13]
Rights help protect your intellectual property. There are different types of rights - Tangible/intangible. Tangible covers real world assets meanwhile intangible assets covers digital [or non physical] assets.
In our case our game would be an intangible asset that if we chose to add a copyright to it would be ours alone to profit from and commercialize.
Copyright :
According to Gov.uk (2025), Copyright cover all original works including literature, Drama or musical works, artwork, photography, software, sound design, audiovisual media, broadcasts and other published works. Backing up these claims, Copyright.gov (n.d) reiterates coverage of artistic, literary, audiovisual, software and musical property, whilst also adding on the difference between Copyrights and Trademarks. Trademarks being used for ideas and “Methods of operation” (Copyright.gov, n.d). Copyright can be obtained in the UK automatically upon creating any work of original media (NIbusinessinfo, n.d.) you do not have to pay for anything or explicitly apply for any sort of copyright.You can also go down the “poor mans copyright” route by mailinig yourself a copy of the work to ensure there is an official date placed on the work, You must make sure you do not open the mail containing the copyrighted media or you risk voiding the proof, or you could “leave a dated copy of your work with a bank or solicitor” (NIbusinessinfo, n.d.), this ensures that if you do come across any sort of copyright infringement claims, you can prove the date of creation for the media in question in an official manner.
The main benefit to copyright is the protection of your IP from duplications (ipoi, n.d), Modifications or illegal distribution, or anything that could “damage a creator’s integrity.” (ipoi, n.d). If you find your IP has had a copyright infringement, you are eligible to file for a copyright infringement claim in which you may be entitled to a monetary reimbursement and the removal of the infringed material. Summed up by Copyright.gov “Copyright protects original works of authorship, while a patent protects inventions or discoveries”. Especially if you intend to monetize or commercialize your IP, Copyright is crucial in ensuring your property stays original.
On a whole, copyrights usually last up until 70 years have passed since the original author passes away (Gov.uk, 2025), this covers all media aside from broadcasts and Published works of literature and music or drama which lasts up until 50 years from the first broadcast and 25 years from the first publication respectively(Gov.uk, 2025). Once this expires, your work becomes free for the public to use (Gov.uk, 2025).
If an individual infringes on your copyright it implies they have either created a reproduction of your IP, Modified your IP in a way that represents badly on the original creator and compromises their integrity, or has distributed your art in a non approved manner, (Kenton, W., 2024). This may result in the original creator filing for a lawsuit against the offending party. There are two types of infringement, Primary and secondary (Lawbite, n.d). Primary infringements cover the main points stated above, reproduction,distribution and modification, meanwhile Secondary infringements cover importing, exhibiting or distributing copyright material to the general public, this is most likely to be found on movies or musical pieces of work (Lawbite, n.d). An example of a copyright infringement within the games industry is the 2024 incident between Nintendo and Palword (Pocket pair, 2024). Pocket pair found themselves faced with a copyright infringement lawsuit threat from Nintendo regarding their games similarity to Nintendo’s IP of Pokemon (IP, 2024) both in terms of gameplay and art style. With Pokemon’s gameplay mechanics of catching creatures in devices, fighting monsters, and monsters being owned by a player, on top of the general art style, players of both games noticed the overal similarities (JDsupra, 2024). Picking up on this, Nintendo looked towards sending Pocket pair a copyright infringement notice, though due to Nintendo’s operations taking place out of Japan, they were unable to look into the claims further due to Japan’s copyright infringement discovery limitations. Due to this and how difficult it would be for Nintendo to pursue this any further, they dropped the infringement claim but were vocal over their dislike of Palworld’s similarities(JDsupra, 2024).
The main benefit to copyright is the protection of your IP from duplications (ipoi, n.d), Modifications or illegal distribution, or anything that could “damage a creator’s integrity.” (ipoi, n.d). If you find your IP has had a copyright infringement, you are eligible to file for a copyright infringement claim in which you may be entitled to a monetary reimbursement and the removal of the infringed material. Summed up by Copyright.gov “Copyright protects original works of authorship, while a patent protects inventions or discoveries”. Especially if you intend to monetize or commercialize your IP, Copyright is crucial in ensuring your property stays original.
On a whole, copyrights usually last up until 70 years have passed since the original author passes away (Gov.uk, 2025), this covers all media aside from broadcasts and Published works of literature and music or drama which lasts up until 50 years from the first broadcast and 25 years from the first publication respectively(Gov.uk, 2025). Once this expires, your work becomes free for the public to use (Gov.uk, 2025).
If an individual infringes on your copyright it implies they have either created a reproduction of your IP, Modified your IP in a way that represents badly on the original creator and compromises their integrity, or has distributed your art in a non approved manner, (Kenton, W., 2024). This may result in the original creator filing for a lawsuit against the offending party. There are two types of infringement, Primary and secondary (Lawbite, n.d). Primary infringements cover the main points stated above, reproduction,distribution and modification, meanwhile Secondary infringements cover importing, exhibiting or distributing copyright material to the general public, this is most likely to be found on movies or musical pieces of work (Lawbite, n.d). An example of a copyright infringement within the games industry is the 2024 incident between Nintendo and Palword (Pocket pair, 2024). Pocket pair found themselves faced with a copyright infringement lawsuit threat from Nintendo regarding their games similarity to Nintendo’s IP of Pokemon (IP, 2024) both in terms of gameplay and art style. With Pokemon’s gameplay mechanics of catching creatures in devices, fighting monsters, and monsters being owned by a player, on top of the general art style, players of both games noticed the overal similarities (JDsupra, 2024). Picking up on this, Nintendo looked towards sending Pocket pair a copyright infringement notice, though due to Nintendo’s operations taking place out of Japan, they were unable to look into the claims further due to Japan’s copyright infringement discovery limitations. Due to this and how difficult it would be for Nintendo to pursue this any further, they dropped the infringement claim but were vocal over their dislike of Palworld’s similarities(JDsupra, 2024).
Bibliography -
Copyright.gov, No Date. Copyright in General [Online]. Copyright.gov. Available at: https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html [Acessed on: 17th January 2025]
Copyright.gov, No Date. What Does Copyright Protect? [Online] Copyright.gov. Available at: https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-protect.html [Acessed on: 17th January 2025]
Gov.UK, 2025. How long copyright lasts [Online]. Gov.uk. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/copyright/how-long-copyright-lasts [Acessed on: 17th January 2025]
Gov.UK, 2025. How copyright protects your work [Online]. Gov.uk. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/copyright#:~:text=Copyright%20prevents%20people%20from%3A,playing%20your%20work%20in%20public [Acessed on: 17th January 2025]
Gov.uk, 2025. How long copyright lasts [Online] Gov.uk. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/copyright/how-long-copyright-lasts#:~:text=Once%20your%20copyright%20has%20expired,on%20the%20type%20of%20work.&text=The%20length%20of%20copyright%20also,about%20how%20long%20copyright%20lasts. [Acessed on: 17th January 2025]
Ip.Com, 2024. The Palworld Phenomenon and Copyright Infringement in the Viral, Fast-Paced Gaming Industry [Online] IP.com. Available at: https://ip.com/blog/the-palworld-phenomenon-and-copyright-infringement-in-the-viral-fast-paced-gaming-industry/ [Acessed on: 17th January 2025]
Ipoi, No Date. Benefits of Copyright Protection [Online].ipoi. Available at: https://www.ipoi.gov.ie/en/types-of-ip/copyright1/understanding-copyright/benefits-of-copyright-protection/ [Acessed on: 17th January 2025]
JDsupra, 2024. Nintendo Finally Sues Palworld Developer, but Not for Copyright Infringement [Online] JDsupra. Available at: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/nintendo-finally-sues-palworld-6351459/#:~:text=Nintendo%20Finally%20Sues%20Palworld%20Developer%2C%20but%20Not%20for%20Copyright%20Infringement,-William%20Flachsbart%2C%20Mark&text=When%20the%20Palworld%20video%20game,the%20well%2Dknown%20Pok%C3%A9mon%20series. [Acessed on: 17th January 2025]
Kenton, W. 2024. Copyright Infringement: Definition, Meaning, Example, and Criteria [Online]. Investopedia. Available at: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/copyright-infringement.asp [Acessed on: 17th January 2025]
Lawbite, No date.What are the consequences of copyright infringement? [Online]. Lawbite. Available at: https://www.lawbite.co.uk/resources/blog/what-are-the-consequences-of-copyright-infringement [Acessed on: 17th January 2025]
NIbusiness, No Date. How do i get copyright protection for my work? [Online]. NIbusiness. Available at: https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/content/how-do-i-get-copyright-protection-my-work [Acessed on: 17th January 2025]
Documents-
https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ01.pdf
Games-
Pocket Pair, 2024. Palworld [Online], PC. Steam. Available at: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1623730/Palworld/ [Acessed on: 17th January 2025]
Can you Trademark any assets, do you want to? Why is this important/ unimportant?
A good thing for us to maybe consider creating a trademark over is our studio name Nostalgia studios and its logo, this ensures that no one else can copy our studio. On top of this we could maybe copyright some of the character designs within our game along with any backgrounds and UI aspects. Something we can't copyright or create a trademark over however is the general genre of game and the premise of our game taking place in a university, this is due to the fact that although our game's story is unique, this trope has been used many times before in other games and therefore we are not entitled to a copyright over our general game idea.
Comments
Post a Comment