[C4:AC] Legal Updates

[DanQ]

I sent a follow-up to my Firaxis contact on the legalities front yesterday, and received the following response earlier today:

Actually, it turned into quite a discussion. Not so much about the project itself, but the legalities of using the Alpha Centauri name, since that is an EA property. I will keep you up to date as soon as I hear the official word. =)

My reply:

Thanks for checking in! Although I cannot officially speak for the team, if it is decided that the "Alpha Centauri" name cannot be used here could you/I/we recommend "AC" in lieu of "Alpha Centauri"?

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Dan; Apolyton CS

[Fosse]

Wow. At least they're' trying! I hope all is well.

If not.... maybe "Proxima Centauri" would work, too.

[Senethro]

I joked with Illuminatus that we could have Beta Kantauri, in which one might play as the Tartan Federation and build the World Train Network.

[Gnool]

Can they really copyright the name "Alpha Centauri"? You would think that would be about as legal as copyrighting the name "Earth". Unless it's only copyrighted only in the context of computer games, which is understandable.

[#endgame]

I don't know about AC, but I recall seeing on the manual for Metroid Prime that the right 'of scenario' was reserved by Nintendo (or something similar). So if EA reserved that right, would name changing affect anything?

[Darsnan]

Originally posted by Fosse
maybe "Proxima Centauri" would work, too.

If it ends up that we have to go this route, then it will be significantly more work, as we will then have to put together a new storyline, new 8th Faction, explain how humanity got marooned on Planet X, come up with a new balanced tech tree, new Factions (that can't claim to be "knockoffs" of SMAC(X) Factions) etc.

I guess I have one question currently regarding the quote below:

Originally posted by Trip

A SMAC mod is very possible.

Why would a Firaxian say this previously, when now Firaxis seems to be hedging when it comes to our questions regarding the progress of our mod?


D

[Raion]

The name "Civlization" is copyrighted. Look at the game you are playing first to see -- copyrights!

Don't ask me what it means though, about the same as someone buying a star nowadays or so like they been doing!

[Darsnan]

What the Manuals say

I decided to pull out the old manuals and see what they had to say about this. On page 247 of the SMAC Manual it says the following:

This manual and the software described in this manual are copyrighted. All rights reserved. No part of this manual or the described software may be copied, reproduced, translated, or reduced to any electronic medium or machine-readable form without the prior written consent of Electronic Arts.

It says essentially the same thing on page 53 in the SMAX manual.

So, it looks like Firaxis is the wrong company to be asking when it comes to permission for using SMAC(X) images, tech quotes, etc. in our C4:AC mod.

DanQ: can you approach EA Games on our behalf concerning this issue? Also, since your site has said it would host our mod and with the realization we are probably getting close to the date for uploading its first version, is this something we should hold back on now till we get word back from EA Games?


D

[ForesterSOF]

I would for posible ramifications could be bad. Bad I say.

[Fosse]

I would strongly recommend against anybody from 'Poly contacting EA directly. It is safe for us to assume that the wonderful people at Firaxis will be able to navigate the legal issue with that publisher far more deftly than Dan could simply because they have done actual business with them in the past and SMAC was their work.

I would seriuosly doubt that there isn't a lawyer at EA who has been talked to about this, being that the Firaxian quoted in the opening post is indicating that the proper channels are being gone through.

Thinking as a software publishing giant for a moment, I would consider a request from a powerhouse game developer to allow the use of a copywright for a game they created a LOT more than I would from a guy from a fansite.

And thinking about big corporate legal issues, there is probably nothing that could wrench up the procedure more than having a second group contacting EA lawyers about the same issue. Then you'll probably have two different lawyers answering the same set of questions, each to a different inquirer. And Firaxis probably knows which ones are most likely to be sympathetic to us,where Dan would be flying blindly.

I mean no disrespect to Dan here, especially since he's already done an amazing job of getting the ball rolling in the right place.

It seems to me the best course of action would be to continue making things that can go into the first alpha release until we hear from a Firaxian that all is clear, or that we should use something like "AC" for now.

Regards,
Fosse

[DanQ]

Originally posted by Fosse
I mean no disrespect to Dan here...

None taken, Fosse. As a matter of fact, your analysis matches mine.

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Dan; Apolyton CS

[Fosse]

Wait a second... How did that "no" get into that sentence?

[binTravkin]

Wait if one is required to have a SMAC copy to run C4:AC, is it really a legal issue to use all the texts and the stuff from the SMAC?

I mean, if you have cIV, noone can charge you for putting things from cIV in your desktop or avatar or whatnot until you don't actually distribute the cIV itself.

Perhaps Im just thinking too logically..

[ForesterSOF]

Too logical

They will see it as mixing intelectual property to produce an unlicenced/illegal game.

I think.

[DanQ]

I re-established contact with the Firaxis representative that is my/our liaison on this matter.

He says that there is an "official policy in the works" that it is being "fine tun[ed] now", and will look in on its progress for us shortly.

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Dan; Apolyton CS