Nathan Mates wrote:
> In article <1129481238.894093.135510@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
> <bpj1138@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> >My question is, what are the legalities of using real world product
> >names in my games? Do I have to license these products? Is it
> >enough to credit the manufacturers, as in "Product X is a trademark
> >of company Y"?
>
> You really may want to talk to a lawyer. Most trademarks will need
> to have the approval of the trademark owner to be included in a
> game. This is (in part) so that the products are used in a way that
> reflects well on the companies. If you want to have a game where
> "Product X is used to kill innocent infants," then you're pretty much
> never going to get permission and you better hope to be classified as
> a parody. [And, that's increasingly dependent on whether a judge has
> any sense of humor.]
If trademarks are enforced strictly across mediums (in my case, a
real car to a 3D model of a car), then the owner of the trademark could
sue regardless of game content.
>
> Using trademarks will increase the cost of your game, unless the
> trademark owner has specifically asked you to madke a licensed
> title. Do you really need to use them?
>
I don't understand that either. I would basicly be providing
advertising for their products. I guess it depends on who has more
leverage. I would guess the makers of the GT games don't pay for their
licenses, since their game is so popular, then again, they themselves
use ficticious names.
Anyhow, since I'm an individual developer, and I don't feel like
calling every car company on the planet, I will oblige and botch the
names like everybody else.
> Nathan Mates
> --
> <*> Nathan Mates - personal webpage http://www.visi.com/~nathan/
> # Programmer at Pandemic Studios -- http://www.pandemicstudios.com/
> # NOT speaking for Pandemic Studios. "Care not what the neighbors
> # think. What are the facts, and to how many decimal places?" -R.A.
Heinlein
--Bart
|
