Sabre Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Yes, this again. It started with Starfox 64, and now Trenched via Mirrors Edge. All games delayed in the EU because of a copyright involving the name. Trenched is a XBLA Mech/Tower defence game set in a steampunk WW1 where you fight monsters made from TVs. However, turns out there is an obscure board game company who makes WW1 themed board games and has copyrighted the word Trench and all variants of it. As such, the game is now stuck in Limbo until the game can be entirely re-branded or the lawyers can find a legal loophole to exploit. Imo, this is Bullshit as copyrighting a name is fine, but copyrighting common words and all possable variants of said word? On a related note, I'm going to copyright the words The, Return, and 2, and all variants thereof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Monroe Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 On a related note, I'm going to copyright the worlds The, Return, and 2, and all variants thereof. Oh shit I lol'd at this for like 20 seconds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tailsz Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 How do you get away with copyrighting a common word? (Or a word in general with all it's variants) It's like me saying I'm going to bring you to court for saying "Trench" in your post. You know how hard a judge would laugh? I think the poor guy (or girl) would die and dismiss the case. XD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARWINGCOMMANDER 3987 Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 Copyright is an excuse by corporate pigs who take it to the extreme to suppress the creativity of others. I'm doing my own flash series called Galaxy-Biking; Sounds like a pretty common name to use in a science fiction story, right? It's not like I'm calling it "F-Zero: Two-Wheeled-League", or "Extreme G: The Animated Series", right? Sabre's absolutely right, there's a difference between owning an iconic name like "Super Mario Bros." or "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers", but that doesn't mean they can just reach out and grab whatever common, everyday word they want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drasiana Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 Copyright is an excuse by corporate pigs who take it to the extreme to suppress the creativity of others. mfw Copyright is the law that prevents legions of asshats from stealing your art and writing. Without it, there'd be an anarchy of truthless claims of ownership and a general clusterfuck of orphaned IP. I'm sorry, did your "game" get a cease and desist for using a title? No? You didn't mention it in your post, so I'm not entirely sure why you're complaining. Sabre, do you have a source for this article? It does sound absurd, but from what I've heard the copyright laws of the UK are a bit stranger than the laws we have over in North America. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabre Posted July 3, 2011 Author Share Posted July 3, 2011 http://www.giantbomb.com/news/europeans-eagerly-awaiting-trenched-will-have-to-wait-a-while-longer/3443/ Most games news sites have similar stories, but almost all, including the above, link back to eurogamer. Just put Trenched into google news and you will find loads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drasiana Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 You should retitle this topic, because copyright isn't the problem here, trademark is. http://www.lawmart.com/searches/difference.htm < Difference between the two. And of course there are a different set of associated laws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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