Tabletop Game

[Tanis41493]

Hi there, my name is Tanis and I live in Tarrytown, NY within Westchester County. A couple friends of mine decided that we wanted to make a Tabletop game (Like Dungeons and Dragons) based off of a video game we play. Now, in order to protect my idea, I won't name the company or video game. We were going to start a Kickstarter for it and everything. Now, this is kind of a brain child of mine, and I've wanted to do this for a while. I don't want to get excited about a release and then get a C&D letter in the mail. I noticed through my research that literary works are not counted under the Copyright laws, and all of this is literally just words on some pages and some dice. There's another tabletop game that not only uses the same idea as mine, but puts another spin on it from a completely separate TV show that has been on since before I was a born (And I'm 21). One of my buddies working on this with me knows the creator, and apparently she has never had any issues about it, even though her game is quite popular. Am I at risk of being sued? If I need to, I can change the name of anything linking it to said video game, but I feel that would defeat the purpose as this game is SUPPOSED to be a homage to the video game. Oh, and we WOULD like to make money off of this, I'm not sure how much that changes things.

Thanks for the help!
Tanis Annicchiarico

 

[quincy]

Hi there, my name is Tanis and I live in Tarrytown, NY within Westchester County. A couple friends of mine decided that we wanted to make a Tabletop game (Like Dungeons and Dragons) based off of a video game we play. Now, in order to protect my idea, I won't name the company or video game. We were going to start a Kickstarter for it and everything. Now, this is kind of a brain child of mine, and I've wanted to do this for a while. I don't want to get excited about a release and then get a C&D letter in the mail. I noticed through my research that literary worksare not counted under the Copyright laws, and all of this is literally just words on some pages and some dice. There's another tabletop game that not only uses the same idea as mine, but puts another spin on it from a completely separate TV show that has been on since before I was a born (And I'm 21). One of my buddies working on this with me knows the creator, and apparently she has never had any issues about it, even though her game is quite popular. Am I at risk of being sued? If I need to, I can change the name of anything linking it to said video game, but I feel that would defeat the purpose as this game is SUPPOSED to be a homage to the video game. Oh, and we WOULD like to make money off of this, I'm not sure how much that changes things.

Thanks for the help!
Tanis Annicchiarico

Sorry, Tanis, but if you are hoping to avoid receiving a cease and desist letter (or two or three), your game idea appears to need some radical changes.

Bolded above are problems.

First, your tabletop game is more than likely infringing on the video game you play and want to pay "homage" to. The copyright/trademark holder is less likely to be honored by your tribute and more likely to sue.

Second, literary works are most definitely protectable under copyright laws. Any creative and original idea fixed in a tangible form is automatically copyrighted. If you expect to use copyrighted literary works in your tabletop game, you can be sued.

Third, TV shows have copyrights and trademarks. If you base your game on a TV show, you can be sued.

Fourth, the "popular" creator of the TV show can file suit and/or if the show is owned by the network, the network can sue.

Parts of your game idea might be salvageable but I think you need to sit down with an IP attorney in your area for a review. As it stands now, based on what you have posted here at any rate, any time, effort or money you invest in the game is liable to be lost to legal actions taken against you.

 

[Tanis41493]

Sorry, Tanis, but if you are hoping to avoid receiving a cease and desist letter (or two or three), your game idea appears to need some radical changes.

Bolded above are problems.

First, your tabletop game is more than likely infringing on the video game you play and want to pay "homage" to. The copyright/trademark holder is less likely to be honored by your tribute and more likely to sue.

Second, literary works are most definitely protectable under copyright laws. Any creative and original idea fixed in a tangible form is automatically copyrighted. If you expect to use copyrighted literary works in your tabletop game, you can be sued.

Third, TV shows have copyrights and trademarks. If you base your game on a TV show, you can be sued.

Fourth, the "popular" creator of the TV show can file suit and/or if the show is owned by the network, the network can sue.

Parts of your game idea might be salvageable but I think you need to sit down with an IP attorney in your area for a review. As it stands now, based on what you have posted here at any rate, any time, effort or money you invest in the game is liable to be lost to legal actions taken against you.

Damn, I was worried about that. I suppose at this point, the only way to continue with this unmolested would be to get permission from the company that owns the game. Alright, well I appreciate you taking the time to respond to me, Quincy, and for saving me time and money from unnecessary lawsuits.

 

[quincy]

Damn, I was worried about that. I suppose at this point, the only way to continue with this unmolested would be to get permission from the company that owns the game. Alright, well I appreciate you taking the time to respond to me, Quincy, and for saving me time and money from unnecessary lawsuits.

Getting permission from the individual or entity who owns rights to any trademark or to any copyright in a work that you wish to use in your game is certainly the smartest action to take to avoid a cease and desist letter or a lawsuit. It can be worth the attempt to inquire about licenses.

If permission is not granted (and it can sometimes be hard to acquire an affordable license), you might want your game reviewed as it is, to see if it can be reworked enough to keep it legal. Without knowing exactly what your game idea is or how your game would use the rights-protected works of others, though, I don't know if this is possible.

Good luck.