Is this project legal?

kNoobLauch

Hey,

I heared that a scratch game (“Pac-Man”) has been deleted cause the Pac-Man developer doesn't agree with it.
Could the same thing happen with my project? The game idea has nothing to do with the original pac-man.
If yes, do i just have to rename the game? or also to redesign the game character? D':

Greetings from Germany

kayybee

It is legal, but you know, Namco can come back in here and be all stupid and want to remove it.

However, they only removed one project, which was quite unusual as there were plenty other pacman projects, a lot of which were better replicas.
So it's very unlikely, but just be aware that it could happen.

SFollis

It's LEGAL!!!

just namco was being weird, they tried to remove something legal? Even though it's protected.

although namco could come back and get it removed

even though they can't.

P.S. never buy namco products!

cheddargirl

kNoobLauch wrote:
Hey,

I heared that a scratch game (“Pac-Man”) has been deleted cause the Pac-Man developer doesn't agree with it.
Could the same thing happen with my project? The game idea has nothing to do with the original pac-man.
If yes, do i just have to rename the game? or also to redesign the game character? D':

Greetings from Germany

Namco-Bandai forced us to censor a project because Namco-Bandai didn't like people using their characters. Apparently they though a ten year old's Pac-Man project is a threat to their finances and economic well-being.

Honestly, we believe it was a case of Fair Use, and we're not going to remove your Pac-Man project (or any other project for that matter) just because Namco-Bandai forced us to censor one. Whether or not Namco-Bandai is going to be come all huffy again and demand removal of your project is another question.

Sadly, my forum signature was eaten by an evil kumquat.

cheeseeater

Apparently they though a ten year old's Pac-Man project is a threat to their finances and economic well-being.

Really?

kNoobLauch

Ok, thx for the information

dvd4

cheeseeater wrote:
Apparently they though a ten year old's Pac-Man project is a threat to their finances and economic well-being.
Really?

yeah, it could have seriously affected their sales of Pac-Man

And that's a valid use of

. So much for the whole “

is never used” argument.

YOU WILL REMEMBER MY NAME

cheddargirl

cheeseeater wrote:
Apparently they though a ten year old's Pac-Man project is a threat to their finances and economic well-being.
Really?

Yep, no lie. There's a copy of their DCMA takedown notice somewhere on the internet if you want to read it.

Sadly, my forum signature was eaten by an evil kumquat.

cheeseeater

dvd4 wrote:
cheeseeater wrote:
Apparently they though a ten year old's Pac-Man project is a threat to their finances and economic well-being.
Really?
yeah, it could have seriously affected their sales of Pac-Man

And that's a valid use of . So much for the whole “ is never used” argument.

cheeseeater

cheddargirl wrote:
cheeseeater wrote:
Apparently they though a ten year old's Pac-Man project is a threat to their finances and economic well-being.
Really?
Yep, no lie. There's a copy of their DCMA takedown notice somewhere on the internet if you want to read it.

Think they were a bit over the top! I'll try and find that notice.

cheeseeater

Found a article about it, it even had a pic of the letter sent! It was just, stupid!

ldoughnut

Here is an article about it I found, I don't know if it is the same one. http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100730/17081510430.shtml

Alphaslucas

cheddargirl wrote:
kNoobLauch wrote:
Hey,

I heared that a scratch game (“Pac-Man”) has been deleted cause the Pac-Man developer doesn't agree with it.
Could the same thing happen with my project? The game idea has nothing to do with the original pac-man.
If yes, do i just have to rename the game? or also to redesign the game character? D':

Greetings from Germany
Namco-Bandai forced us to censor a project because Namco-Bandai didn't like people using their characters. Apparently they though a ten year old's Pac-Man project is a threat to their finances and economic well-being.

Honestly, we believe it was a case of Fair Use, and we're not going to remove your Pac-Man project (or any other project for that matter) just because Namco-Bandai forced us to censor one. Whether or not Namco-Bandai is going to be come all huffy again and demand removal of your project is another question.

Wow. Namco thinks that a ten year old's pacman project will affect their sales..
There are tons of websites that have free pacman!

~~

Thanks for Reading my Post

!~~

k9lego

Alphaslucas wrote:
cheddargirl wrote:
kNoobLauch wrote:
Hey,

I heared that a scratch game (“Pac-Man”) has been deleted cause the Pac-Man developer doesn't agree with it.
Could the same thing happen with my project? The game idea has nothing to do with the original pac-man.
If yes, do i just have to rename the game? or also to redesign the game character? D':

Greetings from Germany
Namco-Bandai forced us to censor a project because Namco-Bandai didn't like people using their characters. Apparently they though a ten year old's Pac-Man project is a threat to their finances and economic well-being.

Honestly, we believe it was a case of Fair Use, and we're not going to remove your Pac-Man project (or any other project for that matter) just because Namco-Bandai forced us to censor one. Whether or not Namco-Bandai is going to be come all huffy again and demand removal of your project is another question.

Wow. Namco thinks that a ten year old's pacman project will affect their sales..
There are tons of websites that have free pacman!

Ok then… Sometimes people can be very… different……

k9lego.

- Let's Eat Grandma! This is a hidden advertisement for the Collab Hyper Cloud Inc. :)
- Let's Eat, Grandma!
Commas Save Lives!

Nothing Much here…

If you want to reply to me, please comment with the link to the topic “On my profile page”. thanks.

k9lego

timetravelernick

What ever happened to the old pac-man project is it still around?

show :: operators hat
when gf clicked :: cstart sensing
repeat (Do Stuff :: control) :: motion
(20) + (15) :: looks
end

spgame05

cheddargirl wrote:
Apparently they though a ten year old's Pac-Man project is a threat to their finances and economic well-being.

ಠ_ಠ

spgame05

;

Techno-CAT

Aren't Projects on Scratch protected by a Creative Commons Licence?

bump

Last edited by Techno-CAT (June 17, 2014 07:53:13)

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gravtest

Techno-CAT wrote:
Aren't Projects on Scratch protected by a Creative Commons Licence?

bump

Not in the way you're thinking, no.

If you read the legal text for the CC-BY-SA license, it merely states 2 things:

1) The copyrighted material is free to use anywhere,
2) Credit must be given and the same license must be used.

Namco's license on Pac-Man is called proprietary:

1) The copyrighted material may not be used anywhere without explicit written permission from the copyright holder.
2) This also applies to all related or included material.

Normally an exception is made to this in an educational context. Namco can't copyright the actual gameplay system that Pac-Man uses. It can only copyright at, music, branding, and code. Thus, only using the game's original resources is illegal.

The material that Namco copyrighted ages ago for Pac-Man takes precedence over the CC license. Using Namco material and claiming that the CC license “protects” you from their licensing will get you sued.

There are a few things that might make them do this. They've had some financial issues so this might be a bid for just a little bit more market share, or a publicity stunt, or the project may have been too similar/ripped off from the actual Pac-Man game to the extent of being classified as infringement.

cheddargirl

Techno-CAT wrote:
Aren't Projects on Scratch protected by a Creative Commons Licence?

bump

You're probably thinking of the “Fair Use” clause of copyright law, which gravtest alludes to in the post above when referring to exclusions due to educational context.

gravtest wrote:
There are a few things that might make them do this. They've had some financial issues so this might be a bid for just a little bit more market share, or a publicity stunt, or the project may have been too similar/ripped off from the actual Pac-Man game to the extent of being classified as infringement.

I assume it would have to be one of the first two, considering the project was an animation with Pac-Man characters than an actual game.

Sadly, my forum signature was eaten by an evil kumquat.

TheChubbyMonkey1000

I don't know if its legal or not??????

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