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Credit and copyright - Printable Version

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Credit and copyright - Azkron - 11-09-2012

Hello ! Smile

I would like to use some of the sprites I see in this website for a commercial video game.

I have reed the rules about giving credit and the copyright and all that... But I do not really get it.

So, aside from the thing of giving credit, what I would like to know is if it will be legal or not to include this sprites or variations of them into a commercial video-game.

Thanks in advance for your attention !

RE: Credit and copyright - Previous - 11-10-2012

It... depends.

If they're custom sprites, you should obviously try to contact the creator and ask them for permission to use them in a commercial game.
If they're ripped sprites coming from an official game, do not use them at all or you may get sued badly.

I'm not going to talk about what I think of commercial games using random sprites not made especially for them.

RE: Credit and copyright - Phaze - 11-10-2012

A general rule of thumb is that if you do not own 100% of the content* used, you can not use it in anything commercial (unless you know the appropriate owner well/can have the owner act as if they know you well via compensation Smug). Heck, technically using them in nonprofit fanworks is illegal too but nobody really cares enough to enforce that unless their name is Square Enix.

* This not only means the sprites/music themselves but also the ideas behind them. It's what makes the distinction between a fan character ("original" character) and a truly original character with no ties to an existing Intellectual Property. It's why Nintendo can't just plop Crash Bandicoot into a Mario game, or why Sony can't have a game featuring Yoshi. They don't own the idea, even if they made the sprites/models entirely from scratch. It'd be even worse if [Sony] simply tried plagiarizing sprites from SMW2: Yoshi's Island.

RE: Credit and copyright - Goemar - 11-10-2012

Basically: no.

Unless the sprites are from scratch and completely original (aka not a custom Mario etc.) it's illegal to use them for commercial uses.
I'm not sure if someone would take legal action if you stole their 100% original sprites but it would be a REALLY dick move and the gaming community would turn on you.

Fan-games are a bit of a grey area. Sega seems cool with the fan Sonic games but the 'bigger' fan-games have been shut down in the past.

RE: Credit and copyright - Ton - 11-11-2012

I dunno, Sega of Europe is pretty bad about it. So is Square. Nintendo is generally cool with it though.

RE: Credit and copyright - Dazz - 11-11-2012

I think Sega WAS pretty bad about it. Not so much anymore.

RE: Credit and copyright - ZeldaClassicEXPERT - 11-14-2012

(11-09-2012, 08:38 PM)Azkron Wrote: Hello ! Smile

I would like to use some of the sprites I see in this website for a commercial video game.

I have reed the rules about giving credit and the copyright and all that... But I do not really get it.

So, aside from the thing of giving credit, what I would like to know is if it will be legal or not to include this sprites or variations of them into a commercial video-game.

Thanks in advance for your attention !

The video link in my signature will help you out greatly especially if you watch the video fully and also read the video's video description fully.