06-06-2012, 09:18 AM
Of course it's dodgy. You know as much as us. However;
We also know that we have received a total of 1 complaint since launching the site exactly 9 years ago.
I've also been running sprite rips for longer than that, and never received a complaint.
People have sent emails to the companies who have sprites appear on here, and we've not heard back, nor have they.
We've had the creators of games submit their content to the site themselves, most recently is Dustforce for the PC.
That 1 complaint? That was regarding a game that at the time was only released to the press, and technically under embargo, so they wanted it taken down. So we could put it back up again later once the game was released.
I'm in contact with the PR companies of several large gaming companies, including Ubisoft, 2k Games, Gameloft, Blizzard, Namco Bandai, and many others. I'm invited to press events for upcoming games, and once The VG Resource relaunches, I'll likely be invited to more to cover for the site.
I'm not worried about the legalities too much, but all of this being said, I can't tell you it's legal. Because nobody knows, likely even the games companies. However, I believe that it can be seen as appreciation of artwork rather than plagiarism.
As you said, a soundtrack is sold by companies, and they receive a profit from it. The artwork, sounds and models on the other hand, are not sold to the general public. Using these, you aren't able to play the product, the purpose of a game. If you will, it's like a lot of cropped screenshots with regards to sprites. I can take a screenshot of a game every frame and post them online, and not receive complaint. I see this as the same with a sprite sheet.
However, it is a technical grey area, and that should always be appreciated.
We also know that we have received a total of 1 complaint since launching the site exactly 9 years ago.
I've also been running sprite rips for longer than that, and never received a complaint.
People have sent emails to the companies who have sprites appear on here, and we've not heard back, nor have they.
We've had the creators of games submit their content to the site themselves, most recently is Dustforce for the PC.
That 1 complaint? That was regarding a game that at the time was only released to the press, and technically under embargo, so they wanted it taken down. So we could put it back up again later once the game was released.
I'm in contact with the PR companies of several large gaming companies, including Ubisoft, 2k Games, Gameloft, Blizzard, Namco Bandai, and many others. I'm invited to press events for upcoming games, and once The VG Resource relaunches, I'll likely be invited to more to cover for the site.
I'm not worried about the legalities too much, but all of this being said, I can't tell you it's legal. Because nobody knows, likely even the games companies. However, I believe that it can be seen as appreciation of artwork rather than plagiarism.
As you said, a soundtrack is sold by companies, and they receive a profit from it. The artwork, sounds and models on the other hand, are not sold to the general public. Using these, you aren't able to play the product, the purpose of a game. If you will, it's like a lot of cropped screenshots with regards to sprites. I can take a screenshot of a game every frame and post them online, and not receive complaint. I see this as the same with a sprite sheet.
However, it is a technical grey area, and that should always be appreciated.