The Dark Mod: Teaser 2 - July 8th, 2006

[SneaksieDave]

Bah, if you've got the drive (and ideally the skill), you're never too old.

[Huckeye]

I'm sure you'll get an official answer, but in my opinion... you can't copyright stealth. A fun stealthy game doesnt belong to anybody. The Dark Mod team would have to rip off some assets to have to worry about legal trouble and I don't see any indication that they have done that. The name Garrett is even a normal name. Gordon Freeman might be trouble since it is a proper first and last name, but I know Garretts that have been around longer than Thief. So technically they could even plop a Garrett character in the mod and they should still be in the clear.

 

To take it one step further, (and this is a grey area for me as I don't have all the facts) but I think legally if Eidos sits on the franchise for a really long amount of time and does nothing with it and then tries to sue some fan mod... I think you might have some legal recourse but I'm not sure. Seems like you cant buy up franchises and then sit on them and sue anyone who resembles them. I think you have to prove that you intend to do something with those assetts. (but I may be way off in this area).

 

Still, I am certain the first paragraph above is accurate.

[Dram]

I'm sure you'll get an official answer, but in my opinion... you can't copyright stealth. A fun stealthy game doesnt belong to anybody. The Dark Mod team would have to rip off some assets to have to worry about legal trouble and I don't see any indication that they have done that. The name Garrett is even a normal name. Gordon Freeman might be trouble since it is a proper first and last name, but I know Garretts that have been around longer than Thief. So technically they could even plop a Garrett character in the mod and they should still be in the clear.

 

To take it one step further, (and this is a grey area for me as I don't have all the facts) but I think legally if Eidos sits on the franchise for a really long amount of time and does nothing with it and then tries to sue some fan mod... I think you might have some legal recourse but I'm not sure. Seems like you cant buy up franchises and then sit on them and sue anyone who resembles them. I think you have to prove that you intend to do something with those assetts. (but I may be way off in this area).

 

Still, I am certain the first paragraph above is accurate.

 

Yeah, legally you should be able to use the name Garrett. But the problem arises when it's "Garrett the Master Thief" - Eidos could argue that "Garrett the Master Thief" is their intellectual property as it is a concept that was used in the game etc.

 

Better to overall steer clear of copyright infringement.

[Crispy]

Just to be clear: The Dark Mod is not Thief and the player character is not Garrett.

 

I know you both know that though.

[Huckeye]

Just to be clear: The Dark Mod is not Thief and the player character is not Garrett.

 

I know you both know that though.

 

 

Absolutely! Big difference between what you can do versus what you will do. Just like there is also a big difference between what is legal and what you can get sued for

[OrbWeaver]

Absolutely! Big difference between what you can do versus what you will do. Just like there is also a big difference between what is legal and what you can get sued for

 

What?

[Huckeye]

What?

 

You don't have to break the law to get sued (and lose) Like McDonalds making hot coffee and getting sued. So, for arguments sake, if Garrett's name were put in any fan games (not speaking about this one, to make it clearer to the original question at hand) that would not be against any law. Garrett is a common name and free for public usage. That doesnt mean that some company couldn't sue (and even win) over the usage of the name. No law was broken though.

 

I guess I was trying to say, maybe that's what the original question asker was wondering. Even though your not doing anything wrong, have you thought about legal issues? Not sure though, just guessing if that is what he was asking.

 

Sorry I haven't slept in 3 days.

[OrbWeaver]

You don't have to break the law to get sued (and lose) Like McDonalds making hot coffee and getting sued. So, for arguments sake, if Garrett's name were put in any fan games (not speaking about this one, to make it clearer to the original question at hand) that would not be against any law. Garrett is a common name and free for public usage. That doesnt mean that some company couldn't sue (and even win) over the usage of the name. No law was broken though.

 

I don't believe a company could prevail in a lawsuit over the usage of the name Garrett, or that such a lawsuit would be worth pursuing since the usage of the name would not present any financial loss to the company. However, since Garrett is not part of the Dark Mod it is a non-issue.

 

I guess I was trying to say, maybe that's what the original question asker was wondering. Even though your not doing anything wrong, have you thought about legal issues? Not sure though, just guessing if that is what he was asking.

 

The Dark Mod avoids all legal issues by not using any Eidos trademarks, copyrights or other IP. What individual authors choose to do in their missions is obviously up to them, and no responsibility of the team.

[sparhawk]

I don't believe a company could prevail in a lawsuit over the usage of the name Garrett, or that such a lawsuit would be worth pursuing since the usage of the name would not present any financial loss to the company.

 

They don't need to prevail. It's enough if they set the jurisdictional amount as high as possible, so that you can not even afford to enter the lawsuit. In such a case you will cease and desist and even pay their laywers fees, and they have won. Without ever seeing a judge.

[OrbWeaver]

They don't need to prevail. It's enough if they set the jurisdictional amount as high as possible, so that you can not even afford to enter the lawsuit. In such a case you will cease and desist and even pay their laywers fees, and they have won. Without ever seeing a judge.

 

They would almost certainly just send you the cease and desist notice first. There would be no point in just launching a lawsuit out of the blue, when the payoff is minimal and the actual legal case flimsy. Besides, who would they sue in an international mod? The ISP, the owner of the main website, the owner of the CVS server, the map author?

[sparhawk]

First of all they would send the C&D letter to the forum owner. It's quite obvious. If the forum is killed, most of the team is already destroyed. the forum owner would either have to obey, or make known who is responsible. I think that in this case, they would turn to the project leads first as the obvious target. So they might turn to me, Spring and NH. Why are you asking? Do you want to send us such a letter?

[OrbWeaver]

First of all they would send the C&D letter to the forum owner. It's quite obvious. If the forum is killed, most of the team is already destroyed. the forum owner would either have to obey, or make known who is responsible. I think that in this case, they would turn to the project leads first as the obvious target. So they might turn to me, Spring and NH. Why are you asking? Do you want to send us such a letter?

 

Yes, I am actually a secret agent from Eidos. Please step this way for the full-body cavity search.

[Order of the Hammer Bureaucrat]

The idea of running a forum on freenet always sounds appealing. Without revealing who you are.

[OrbWeaver]

Unfortunately any attempt to support FreeNet is usually met with "OMG J00 SUPP0RT KIDD!3 P0RN U PERV!!!!11111!!" by idiots who think that support for an anonymous network constitutes tacit acceptance of everything than anybody might ever use it for.