Hi, I am making a simple game and I have doubts about how copyrights and these things work.

Hi,

I am making a 2d platfromer and want to use character which looks like among us. It won't be completely same and the game is not related to among us in any way. What I want to make is parody if that's the right word and only use the among reference in trailer or maybe just in the opening cutscene for maximum 5-10 seconds. Thanks.

 

Google satire copyright law

Edit: you will need to defend it which is expensive

 

I assume Among Us is a game. To be a parody you have to be funny or look like an attempt at humor or satire. Like Call of Duty renamed to Cull Of Duty and use friendly fire kills as the game mechanic..or in your case call the parody psuedo-homonym Humongous for example. If you simply use the reference to Among Us to get attention then yer starting to cross the line into leveraging their work for your own aggrandizement and remedy can be sought by the original creators.

 

Among Us does not seem to be a company that is likely to strike you with a lawsuit.

However, as a rule of the thumb:

* you are not allowed to use somebody else's work and characters, commercial usage or not.
* if in doubt, consult a real lawyer.

Big copyright lawsuits that are freqquently mentioned online, for example Rogers vs Koons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogers_v._Koons, for example):

Spoiler

used "substantial similarity" test ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substantial_similarity ) as a criteria, and if you can pass that, you're probably good. Probably.

For example, take a look at this:

Spoiler

This is a fanart for... pacman. Nowdays It could be a fanart for among us. And it would be probably fine.

Once again, if you're usure, contact a real lawyer.

 

As long as you are making an actual parody, I don't think you would have any issue. I don't think you even need to worry about legal issues in those cases(I'm not a lawyer, disclaimer, yada yada).

The catch though, is making it an actual parody. See this to get what I mean. When it comes to making a parody, you can't fake it. You can't make something with similar graphics and gameplay, a single reference to the original, have the game dialog be "serious," and expect it to fly. It has to be parody all the way through.

So, what you describe in your post is simply not good enough. The WHOLE game has to be a parody, not just a quick mention of Among Us and then copy the character.