Question about copyrights and how to cheat them

So i have been playing around this idea of VR mmorpg with an twist of persistant world to all player but game itself would be kinda single player. Honestly have no idea how to explain it, or will it even work. Just playing around it as an idea.

I would love to do star wars stuff, but copyrights are bitch. So if i make game with lets say role play server who happens to be star wars and all items are player made (blasters, armor, lightsabers and so on) in in-game editor, will i break copyright rules?

So i gues more precise question is. Will i break copyright rules by making world who would support certaint IP role play, if items IP is player made and all lore to?

 

What do you mean by "IP roleplay"?

 

What you describe certainly sounds like a violation of copyright.

The law varies by jurisdiction, but generally If you make a generic roleplaying game, other people create Star Wars content for it, but you're the one actually delivering that content (an MMO certainly sounds like they are uploading the content to you, and you then are distributing it), then you're violating the copyright.

Now if instead of an MMO, you had like a classic Diablo clone (not an MMO, but independent small matches players could create for themselves). Some of your players created a Star Wars mod for it, they distribute it to other players themselves having nothing to do with you, and some players all install the mod and play together not sending any of the actual copyrighted content through any of your servers or services, then they would be in violation but you are unlikely to be yourself.

I Am Not A Lawyer

edit: But if you made the SW mod, or had anything to do with encouraging other people to create it, then you're possibly still in violation yourself.

 

This. One easy example that comes to mind is Champions Online which has a highly detailed character creation system that can easily allow you to create characters mimicing copyrighted characters. The company behind the game has stated they have to delete these characters to avoid copyright violations.

 

I think the key thing to ask yourself – does the game need the Star Wars content to be popular? If No, then make a generic game with the ability to mod. You can't encourage people to mod it with Star Wars stuff, but if they do it on their own, that's their problem, not yours.

As you are describing it though, it seems like what makes it 'fun' is the Star Wars tie-in, which is precisely why you would be violating copyright. Only properly licensed games have the right to make a profit based on any copyrighted work. That's why IP owners defend their work.

 

A lot of this probably depends on your payment model. If this is commercial, it will almost certainly be copyright strike. A mod for a complete game that reskins as star wars is maybe ok. There are many sw mods out there for games, but these are legit mods not games trying to sneak past copyright.

 

If you're describing it as attempting to "cheat them" then I think you already know the answer.

 

It always surprises me when people come onto professional industry sites and ask how to steal other peoples work. Many people on this forum depend on copyright laws to protect their own livelihood. And at least one member of this forum has built his career working on the same IP you are planning to steal.

Either way this is very unlikely to be successful. Disney has a massive chain of lawyers at their disposal. And they have successfully rewritten international copyright law on several occasions to their benefit. They aren't going to sit idly by while someone else profits off their IP.

Its unlikely to apply in your case, but companies like YouTube have successfully established themselves as content hosts, not content providers. This basically means they are immune from prosecution for items hosted on their servers. However in order to do this they have implemented a fairly robust copyright enforcement scheme. Copyright owners can submit requests for YouTube to remove infringing material, and YouTube must comply.

Your idea is doomed from the start if you have to delete every piece of fan made content every time you get an email from Disney.

 

There's not a lot about Star Wars that's original. Its heritage lies in the spaghetti western, which itself draws a lot from Kurosawa films, something else Star Wars draws from. Its concept of a lived-in universe has been explored a lot, especially to get away with prop quality. Blast something with the right amount of sand/grime and you can do all sorts of things. The alien designs are probably its high point, really, but those you can easily look at and draw inspiration from the psychedelic art scene of the 60s and 70s.

Rather than deal with an IP nightmare, look to where Star Wars drew its inspiration from and find your favourite bits. Look at Star Wars itself and see where your favourite bits overlap.

I guarantee it'll be easier to create something new from all this than trying to skirt around the House of Mouse's legal team.

 

Yeah, just be original. Look at all the bizarre crap out there that sells. The weirder, the better.

If all else fails, boobs. You can count on boobs.

 

Total Recall had three boobs in one scene though so you're going to have to go with at least four.

 

So... I am going to close this. Discussion about copyrights deal with games and IP is always a valid discussion, it's something we all to deal with at some point. However, since this topic and discussion is specifically about how to infringe on others work, it is an inappropriate topic/discussion.