Can you be sued for making a fan game?

No. You *must* have permission from the copyright owner. If you don’t, you can (and probably will) be sued.

Are non profit fan games legal?

Both fan games and fan art are illegal copyright infringement if either involves making copies or derivative works of someone else’s creative content without permission.

Do fan games fall under fair use?

In USA Fair Use only pretty much covers “Parody”, “Research” and “News Reporting”. And making a fan game will not fall under those categories. In short, if you want to make a pokemon game, you’ll need to make a deal with nintendo first.

How do I get permission to make a fan game?

Contact the owners or developers of the game requesting permission to make a tribute to their intellectual property. Send a letter or email to the game’s creators so that there is undeniable evidence that you have attempted to contact them.

Are parody games legal?

Parody generally falls under the fair use defense. Fair use does not create a right the parodist can take advantage of; instead, it lets you “off the hook” if you have in fact created a potentially infringing work (as most parodies are) after an analysis by a court of the statutory factors.

Are fan games illegal?

Some companies shut down fangames as copyright infringements. Original copyright holders can order a cease and desist upon fangame projects, as by definition fangames are unauthorized uses of copyrighted property. Many fangames go as far as taking music and graphics directly from the original games.

How many fan games has Nintendo removed?

They did so because Game Jolt made it possible to monetize one’s content, and when fan games become products, they become undisputedly illegal. This order resulted in a whopping 379 fan games being dropped from the site entirely. Of all the Nintendo shutdowns on this list, this is certainly the most reasonable.

Can you make a Pokémon game without getting sued?

Only pointing out that getting sued is not as common or likely as you might think. The simple answer to this is you can’t . Because all the assets and probably also the name has a copyright by gamefreak to it.

Can you make a fan made Pokémon game?

Many fans have made their own Pokémon role-playing games for the computer. One of the easiest ways to get started is to buy RPG Maker XP, then download Pokémon Essentials, a free, fan-made creation that mimics a real Pokémon RPG.

Can I make a game based on a book?

Creative works (such as movies, television shows, and novels) have copyright protection. One of these protections is that no one can make derivative works (such as a video game) without permission of the copyright holder. So, no, you can’t make a game from a movie without a license.

Can you legally make a fan game?

So no, without consent, making a fan game is not, generally speaking, legal. There is something that creators can do if they want to make a fan game however, and avoid receiving a nasty cease and desist in their inbox. “Fans who wish to make fan games can approach the owner of the original and request a licence,” Tutty says.

Is modding a fan game illegal?

This isn’t true at all. Even if you don’t make money on a game, you can still cause the company damages. And they *can* sue. Fan games are definitely not safe unless you have clearance before hand. I know some companies will let you do it though, but those are the ones that actively support their modding community.

Can a fan game be considered copyright infringement?

“In order to demonstrate copyright infringement, the owner of the original would need to show that a substantial part of a screen shot in the original is copied in the fan game,” says Tutty. “Where the fan game copies the original exactly then there is obviously a huge issue here.

Why do some companies ignore fan games?

Some companies intentionally overlook fan games because they strengthen the fanbase and keep a series fresh. SEGA for example is really cool about fangames. Other companies are very opposed them, and will go out of their way to stop all fan works (Square Enix I think).