Drawings and Copyright

Dikkesnoek · April 2013

Hi,

I was wondering if you're allowed to use drawings from excisting objects in games.
For example a drawing of a look alike Mercedes car, a specific television set, etc.
(of course without the brand logos)?

I could'nt find much info on this point.

These days it is quiet easy to use tools like Illustrator to redraw photo's in vector
format. So you could take a picture of your favourite car, do an image trace in
Illustrator and use the graphics directly in your game. This can recduce your game
develop time considerably.

Regards,

Marc

BJG · April 2013

So you could take a picture of your favourite car

You mean photograph it yourself? There's no problem working with a photo of a car as long as it's your photo.

Dikkesnoek · April 2013

Yes or if you take a picture of a shoe, clothing, building, etc. I don't know
if you will get problems if a manufacturer will recognizes a specific product
in a game.

Regards,

Marc

BJG · April 2013

It never occurred to me that there could be a problem with this, but it seems to be a more complex issue than I realised...so I dunno!

http://www.giantbomb.com/fictional-car-brands/3015-5156/

http://gamedev.stackexchange.com/questions/14460/is-it-legal-to-use-car-manufacturers-names-in-a-game

(Sounds like combining / modifying images and avoiding manufacturer names is a good idea.)

Dikkesnoek · April 2013

Very nice articles, thanks a lot!

Regards,

Marc

SinisterSoft · April 2013

How about footballer's names and team names?

Scouser · April 2013

@SinisterSoft: No!!! Footballers names & club names need to be licensed.

That's why Pro Evolution Soccer has made up names because EA had licensed all the real FIFA content.

Platypus · April 2013

@Dikkesnoek, I cannot imagine any shoe company, car company, electronics company or beverage company complaining about free advertising!
Go for it.

Platypus · April 2013

...assuming you make them look cool.

techdojo · April 2013

@SinisterSoft: No!!! Footballers names & club names need to be licensed.

That's why Pro Evolution Soccer has made up names because EA had licensed all the real FIFA content.

I remember that product - and the "fun" it caused!

)

Scouser · April 2013

How could I forget

)

Scouser · April 2013

@all: There used to be a company called IGA worldwide which was set up by an old work colleague of mine. Actually he was a lowly games tester when I knew him

Anyway this company was responsible for putting advertising in games. Anybody remember the can of Red Bull in Worms, that was Ed Bartlett's first idea which prompted him to set up the company.

Anyway I'd also be wary about placing real company items in your game without first getting permission as you may also be stepping on IGA Worldwide's toes. Although their website seems to be down, someone else might have bought them out for the sole purpose of litigation.

Dikkesnoek · April 2013

I only want to "image trace" some photo's with products. I will remove
the brand names. I don't want to advertise in my game, I want to
destroy these objects during gameplay :-)

Regards,

Marc

Scouser · April 2013

As long as they are not wholly recognisable as the branded product then you should be OK.

Remove any logos and maybe change colours.

Some objects are so distinctive you will not be able to use them I.E. the Coca Cola bottle.

The shape / design is actually protected by copyright and a trademark & they will definitely sue if you use something that looks too similar.

I think it falls under Brand Dilution which the companies say can harm the brand as a whole and as a consequence will defend that brand vigorously to make sure no dilution happens.

BTW I am not a lawyer but this is my understanding of corporate mentality recently.

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Top Posters

Drawings and Copyright

Comments

Howdy, Stranger!

Quick Links

Categories

In this Discussion

Top Posters

Drawings and Copyright

Comments