QUESTION
Can I get sued if I create a game that already exists in a fictional universe.
Asked on Mar 28th, 2013 on Intellectual Property - California
More details to this question:
I was thinking about starting a kickstarter project, in this project I would get the funding to create a game. The game I wanted to create, is an existing fictional game. (it exist in games and books but not in real life). Now I was wondering if this is legal or if the game is protected. In case this is illegal would it be legal if I adapt the game (change it is ways big or small) and give it a different name and omit any reference to the original game and book. many thanks in advance p.s. english is not my native language so apologies in advance for any grammatical errors I may have made
1 ANSWER
Not sure how you would create a game that already exists, and assume what you mean is that you physical produce an actual game that your read about. However, you have not provided enough information about the game for a proper answer to be given. Is the game one that has been around, for example, for a century or only a year? Was this game ever commercially produced? Was the game attributed to a particular person or company? Information of this type is needed to determine if the game (or aspects of it) might be covered by copyright or patent. Until it is determined what might be protected by copyright or patent protection, the question of the type of changes that may be needed cannot be answered.
Answered on Mar 28th, 2013 at 3:10 PM