Are Levels / Leveldesign Copyrighted ?

[joyrider]

Hey all,

as some of u might know i'm making a blockdude game which i orginally tought would be a remake of a TI 83 caculator game but it seems this game was a remake from another game named blockman. Now the 1st 10 levels of the TI 83 blockdude game are identical to the blockman's first 10 levels. I have access to more levels in blockman but this gives me a dillema could i get into trouble if i use those levels or not ?

basicly i'm saving the levels in a diffrent file format and i have created my own game engine for it as well as a level editor in which the levels are created.

So i wonder since i didn't actually copy any files from the orginal game but only recreated the levels in my game is does this fall under the copyright law or not ?

I've seen people creating Quake 3 levels for unreal tournament 2004 and vice versa and they didn't as far as i know seem to have gotten any trouble.

so i wonder is recreating a level that plays virtually the same in another game engine copyright infridgement or not ?

anyone knows ?

 

[___]

i think as long as you don't try to make money with it you should be fine. that sokoban game for the gp2x feature many levelsets from commercial sokoban games... i don't think you will get in trouble but i am not a law expert.

 

[joyrider]

i think as long as you don't try to make money with it you should be fine. that sokoban game for the gp2x feature many levelsets from commercial sokoban games... i don't think you will get in trouble but i am not a law expert.

yeah indeed although for the sokoban game, i have asked almost everyone if i could include their levels and they agreed. But indeed the gameboy boxxle levels and shove it levels are from commercial games.

 

[Ravnos]

I'm not a lawyer so take this with a grain of salt, but yes, levels and level designs can be copyrighted. However, as you've said, you've seen people re-create Quake 3 levels for UT, I've seen Doom levels re-created for other FPSes, and I can't recall any of those incidents ending in a case of copyright infringement. So yes, theoretically you could catch hell for re-creating those levels for your game but in all probability nobody is going to care if you remake levels from an old game for a project that you're giving away for free.

As proof, check the game Puzzle Land for GP2X. Great little homebrew puzzler, but it is basically a remake of Daedalian Opus for GB and as far as I know nobody's come after its creator for it.

 

[joyrider]

hehe true but as it just might happen i'm the author as well for that game lol
so i could be already in trouble lol

ah well i might just as well go ahead with it since the game's from around 1995 anyways and there's been already one remake for it for the ti 83 calculator. If they contact me i'll remove the levels or see that i can settle for an agreement, it's not as if i'm makeing any money out of those games , they are free after all !

 

[Ravnos]

Oh shit, you'd think I would have noticed that seeing as how it's in your sig. :lol: At any rate, I really don't think it's anything to worry about but if you have reservations about it, then just don't use those levels. I do think it's a pretty minimal risk, though, especially if you're not using any of their other assets.

 

[joyrider]

well i'm bit worried that's all but i'm goana use them anyway as i said i'm not selling those games and it's a remake and many people have done remakes so i don't think i should be worried

thanks guys !

 

[Parkydr]

I wouldn't count on not charging as a defence.

As in "I ripped that CD and posted it on the internet, but it's ok - I didn't charge for it"

 

[joyrider]

I wouldn't count on not charging as a defence.

As in "I ripped that CD and posted it on the internet, but it's ok - I didn't charge for it"

i see ure point, i'm goana leave them out. and only use the levels from the ti 83 calculator game which are basicly the levels from the shareware version. Or better yet i'm going to contact them if it's a no go i guess people will have to create levels themselves !

 

[Ravnos]

I wouldn't count on not charging as a defence.

As in "I ripped that CD and posted it on the internet, but it's ok - I didn't charge for it"

This case is more like "I recorded a cover of this band's song and posted it on the internet, but I didn't charge for it."

But like I said, if you have reservations about it, don't do it.

 

[euro48k]

think on rick dangerous dispute between core design and spoutnick team ..
game was cancelled probably due excessive use of leveldesign/character design



so .. it is up to the licence holder i think

 

[joyrider]

Hey all,

great news from the fine chaps @ soleau software. They let me use the levels for the game as long as i credit them ! which i will of course.

 

[DemonStar55]

Hey all,

great news from the fine chaps @ soleau software. They let me use the levels for the game as long as i credit them ! which i will of course.

is this for the blockdude clone thinger?

 

[___]

cool! That is good news. More software companies should do that.

 

[joyrider]

is this for the blockdude clone thinger?

yes indeed it is for the blockdude clone. Actually blockdude from the TI 83 calculator game is a clone of blockman. The levels are the same although it doesn't have them all. My game will have all of them !

 

[sensible GP32]

that is fantastic news joyrider !

 

[Nova]

Oh my god! A large proportion of my childhood was spent playing Soleau games. You, my friend are a god.