Is it legal to make an iOS or Android App based on the classic logic game Mastermind?

[DaveChambers]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

...yeah, that.

 

[DaveChambers]

See the next question for the properly formatted question. This one was posted after I pressed 'Preview Post'. Not sure what went wrong there!

 

[STEPHAN]

This one was posted after I pressed 'Preview Post'.

I am telling you, the bug is still there!

 

[Zigner]

I am telling you, the bug is still there!

It's there for mobile users of site...which in the current online environment, is probably a substantial percentage of users.

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

What is the name of your state?

You need permission from Invicta Plastics, holder of the rights to Mastermind, if you want to use the game for your own commercial venture. Permission is generally granted in the form of a limited license. Because Invicta has licensed limited exclusive rights to Hasbro, I think your chances of acquiring a license are probably slim, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

 

[jbdesign82]

What is the name of your state?

You need permission from Invicta Plastics, holder of the rights to Mastermind, if you want to use the game for your own commercial venture. Permission is generally granted in the form of a limited license. Because Invicta has licensed limited exclusive rights to Hasbro, I think your chances of acquiring a license are probably slim, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

What if the game play was similar to Mastermind, but otherwise made no reference to Mastermind or any of it's associated Trademarks, artwork, logos, etc?

Ideas can't be copyrighted, I would think that would apply to game play. As an example, I can find at least a dozen knock offs of the game Angry Birds on any given app store. Fling Monster, Penguin Catapult, Crush the Castle, Angry Frogs...and the list could go on. I'm sure if I dug, I would find Angry Birds is a knock off of some earlier game as well. These are all essentially the same game play, but with different characters and artwork. I'm not familiar with the game Mastermind though, but I'm sure the game play could be made similarly but with your own artwork and storyline.

I'm only assuming knock offs are technically legal since you can find a knock off of nearly any game imaginable. I'm assuming Angry Birds isn't suing Fling Monster because it would be a difficult case for them to win since the "idea" of a slingshot game can't be copyrighted, only the characters and artwork that appear in the game.

 

[quincy]

What if the game play was similar to Mastermind, but otherwise made no reference to Mastermind or any of it's associated Trademarks, artwork, logos, etc?

Ideas can't be copyrighted, I would think that would apply to game play. As an example, I can find at least a dozen knock offs of the game Angry Birds on any given app store. Fling Monster, Penguin Catapult, Crush the Castle, Angry Frogs...and the list could go on. I'm sure if I dug, I would find Angry Birds is a knock off of some earlier game as well. These are all essentially the same game play, but with different characters and artwork. I'm not familiar with the game Mastermind though, but I'm sure the game play could be made similarly but with your own artwork and storyline.

I'm only assuming knock offs are technically legal since you can find a knock off of nearly any game imaginable. I'm assuming Angry Birds isn't suing Fling Monster because it would be a difficult case for them to win since the "idea" of a slingshot game can't be copyrighted, only the characters and artwork that appear in the game.

Game play is not protectable under copyright or trademark laws. It is potentially protectable under patent laws.

For the most part, therefore, you can take the game play from an existing game and develop your own game. You cannot, however, use any copyrighted elements from an existing game (creative or artistic expressions like artwork or music) and you cannot use the existing game's trademarks (game name, character names) and you cannot use the design elements of the original (trade dress).

So, Dave Chambers could make his own Mastermind-type game if he does not infringe on any rights held by Invicta. This means his game cannot capitalize on the Mastermind popularity and he cannot confuse consumers into thinking his game is Mastermind, a derivative of Mastermind, or affiliated in any way with Mastermind.

This is not as easy as one may think.