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Copyrighting an Original Character
mordal
Posts: 6 Arc User
Hello, fellow Champions! For some time I have been working on and polishing a character I created in Champions Online, and my dream is to take him from the game and place him into my own comic book series. As far as I know regarding copyright, I am allowed to copyright a character as long as I allow Cryptic Studios to use him freely. However, I do have a few questions to ask:
1.) Would I be allowed to use the costume design my character has in the game?
2.) Would I be allowed to use the character's insignia?
3.) What other restrictions would there be for me?
4.) When copyrighting the character and asked to present a photo of what he/she looks like, would I be allowed to use screen shots taken from Champions Online?
This is about all I can come up with at the moment. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
1.) Would I be allowed to use the costume design my character has in the game?
2.) Would I be allowed to use the character's insignia?
3.) What other restrictions would there be for me?
4.) When copyrighting the character and asked to present a photo of what he/she looks like, would I be allowed to use screen shots taken from Champions Online?
This is about all I can come up with at the moment. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Post edited by mordal on
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Comments
As long as it was YOUR creation, and you're not using any "trademarked" images of Cryptic's creation (characters, logo's, etc),
you can use screenshots of your character for your intellectual purposes.
What's yours is yours, and what's Cryptic's is cryptics
| ME | A "Guide" Book" | | I, have a "DREAM! | ( Member since Feb 2008 ) ... ?
[SIGPIC]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/AngelOfCaine/STILLS/Misc/CO-Sig_01e.png[/SIGPIC]
Would this include insignias? From the character creation I mean.
*edit*
The copyright protects all artwork and writing from being copied and used by someone else.
As for your character, you'd want a trademark, but those are expensive, and you really shouldn't worry about it. Even with a trademark, it's possible for someone to take your design, change it slightly, give it a different name, and get away with it.
If the symbol on your character is something that Cryptic owns specifically (say, the Lifetime emblem, as opposed to a plain heart or star) then no, you won't be able to use it - if you're going to be making a profit from your book. If it's just a hobby and you plan on distributing freely, there probably won't be any fuss about it.
So, if it is a symbol created by Cryptic, you'd have to either make something new or change it in a significant way.
Silverspar on PRIMUS
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Of course, if you never publish it, nobody knows.
They can use YOURS in their game, because you agreed to it in the ToS :redface:
You can't use their's in YOUR *insert medium here*, because they didn't agree to it period
Other than that, what smack said is accurate.
Pretty simple when you think about it :biggrin:
| ME | A "Guide" Book" | | I, have a "DREAM! | ( Member since Feb 2008 ) ... ?
[SIGPIC]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/AngelOfCaine/STILLS/Misc/CO-Sig_01e.png[/SIGPIC]
Also, if Cryptic wants to have any stake on any character I create in their game (particularly my main) on grounds of that ToS stuff, they're gonna have to get in line with every other game company (with similar ToS stuff) on whose game Ive recreated her in the past. And its gonna be a looong line :cool:
Like over a decade ago I copyrighted my original character Nepht using the UK copyright service. ( i thought i was gonna be a comic book artist then I learned i couldn't draw to save my life
Does that mean I cant use her in game?
Nepht and Dr Deflecto on primus
They all thought I was out of the game....But I'm holding all the lockboxes now..
I'll......FOAM FINGER YOUR BACK!
Copyright laws get hairy. Now while *** is quoting fair use act, that doesn't get free reign, as in your terms, any character you create on the Cryptic service is owned by Cryptic. This is the reason that the whole Marvel versus Cryptic thing started. So, it's not clear cut and dry when it concerns this issue.
Silverspar on PRIMUS
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Still re-reading the TOS and it says I cant use copyrighted stuff I get but when its something you own its get confusing.
Could say Bob Kane use Batman? (yesh I know hes dead)
Nepht and Dr Deflecto on primus
They all thought I was out of the game....But I'm holding all the lockboxes now..
I'll......FOAM FINGER YOUR BACK!
No, he couldn't. The rule is, no trademarked characters. There's no exception for legal ownership.
So that answers my question then Waspy version of Nephthys is a no go guess ima stuck being a furry then
Nepht and Dr Deflecto on primus
They all thought I was out of the game....But I'm holding all the lockboxes now..
I'll......FOAM FINGER YOUR BACK!
Wow. Good thing I don't have any sort of artistic talent to make a comic with her or I'd be screwed. :V
Not so, there is precedent.
Steve Long plays or played his very own Copywrited and trademarked character from Dark Champions, Harbinger of Justice in Champions Online, with special permission.
At least he used too.
Not too hard to see how he got said special permission. :biggrin:
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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Ok... breathe... count to ten...
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...
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OK... First of all, if you review the End User License Agreement, you will find that Cryptic owns any of the rights to the characters you put into Champions.
Second of all, you cannot copyright a character. You can trademark the character, but you cannot copyright it.
Here is a PDF file from the US Copyright Office which details what kinds of things can be copyrighted.
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ01.pdf
Here is a page from the US Patent and Trademark Office that gives a quick rundown of what kind of protection can protect what kind of work.
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ahrpa/opa/museum/1intell.htm
Note, characters cannot be protected by copyright, only specific drawings, sculptures, or renditions of characters. Even then, if you put it into CO, Cryptic owns it as per the EULA.
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Oh yeah? I wasn't aware, that's cool. I guess I was misinformed!
Just to add to the discussion this is from PWE term of service. There are referring to ones using any of their property which includes the software then this clause applies.
Best post ever
Nepht and Dr Deflecto on primus
They all thought I was out of the game....But I'm holding all the lockboxes now..
I'll......FOAM FINGER YOUR BACK!
I need to stop you thar and say wrong I copyrighted buggy version of Nepht here http://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/
More info here
So mah Buggy Nephty is protected bah UK law but ive never used that char in CO so non issue so why the hell ima here :O
Somehow this is Stormshades fault.
Nepht and Dr Deflecto on primus
They all thought I was out of the game....But I'm holding all the lockboxes now..
I'll......FOAM FINGER YOUR BACK!
Same, for my original name, i use it everywhere, and i've used it a lot. So i'm curious what would happen if i ever do write and publish the book based on my character(Just the character, nothing else, it's a medieval theme anyway) and somehow cryptic notices.
Sure, they can prob sue me, if they cared. But then they just show how much they really see paying customers as cattle for profit.
It should be though =\ i can agree with not ripping off someone elses character, or property, but i don't get why if the owner of said work can't use it for themselves, obviously they won't sue or anything if they are the one using it. and i don't get how it means they own the rights to all characters just because they get input into game etc. when it could be a character re-used by that player across everything.
Really though, i don't think Cryptic would care or make any fuss if someone makes a comic/book/art or anything out of their own character if there's no relation to their own property what-so-ever
Excuse me, Princess, but PWE is headquartered in California. Cryptic is headquartered in California. Therefore, US laws apply, not UK laws.
Second of all:
Nepht, you're disappointing me. Either you're trolling, or you're missing my entire point. A CHARACTER cannot be copyrighted. Only a depiction of a character.
Let me show you an old French painting to illustrate my point here.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b9/MagrittePipe.jpg
The text is French, it translates to "this is not a pipe". You understand what the image is telling you about itself right? It's saying that it's not a pipe. It's an IMAGE of a pipe, but not an actual pipe. The artist who painted it later said the following:
You cannot copyright a character. You can copyright an individual work of a character. I've used the following analogy many many times, even infront of you, and apparently you still don't get it.
If you draw a picture of Mickey Mouse, you own the copyright to that image of Mickey Mouse. No one owns a copyright to Mickey Mouse himself because Mickey Mouse is not copyrightable. However, Disney owns the trademark of Mickey Mouse. Trademarks are not copyrights and copyrights are not trademarks. The only time at which they meet is that you can copyright the artwork used in a trademark, such as copyrighting a logo which is also registered as a trademark.
Now the thing is, once you have drawn this picture of Mickey Mouse, under what's facetiously known as the Sonny Bono Act and later reitterated in what's known as (ironically) the Mickey Mouse Act, a work of art is automatically copyrighted to its creator at the moment of creation. If Disney took your image of Mickey Mouse and tried to sell it, you could sue them for copyright infringement. However, if you took your picture of Mickey Mouse and tried to sell it, Disney could sue you for trademark infringement.
Someone else above quoted the PWE terms of service and highlighted a specific part. I'm going to do the same, but highlight a different part from the same passage..
So, not only can you not copyright characters under copyright law (only trademark) but by using the service, you agree that PWE owns the copyrights to any screenshots of your character, any renditions of your character that you produce. They also own the logs of the conversations your character has. They own your character's catch phrases, bio, background, and the very concept of your character. But wait, there's more, they also own the copyright to any videos you record of yourself playing your character. You... own... nothing...
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I delurked just because I wanted to highlight this again for anyone treating the game as a character generator, writing their concepts out in the biography section, and basically giving your ideas away.
Wait? Whaaaa..?
Well point in case, pretty much every MMO (I haven't seen one that doesn't) has this in their terms. It's not anything new.
Silverspar on PRIMUS
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Dont do it in the the other games either.
Wait? Whaaaa..?
My advise to the OP: When you do use your CO character in your comic book series, mention nothing about his relation to CO at all.
| ME | A "Guide" Book" | | I, have a "DREAM! | ( Member since Feb 2008 ) ... ?
[SIGPIC]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/AngelOfCaine/STILLS/Misc/CO-Sig_01e.png[/SIGPIC]
First of all >_> were did i call you names your the one trolling If i was trolling you I wouldnt have sent you a buddy request via core connect i would have called you an idiot.
secondly the rest of the world doesnt really give a monkeys about laws in US they have been making laws long before the US was about. The US constantly makes up new copyright laws so Disney can sue kindergartens on an hourly basis.
I pretty much have documentation with copyright ,trademark whut ever you want to call it for this certain char, art or whut ever you want to call it... if you want to get pedantic dont care wut it is I haz it.
Secondly I havent used that Char in game so its a non issue really it was more of a what if? Again read whut I wrote
You see I never used my character in this game or any other lol so I dunno were your getting they have vids of the Char I copyrighted or trademarked or whutever. Stop calling people names read what they are saying and grow up.
Nepht and Dr Deflecto on primus
They all thought I was out of the game....But I'm holding all the lockboxes now..
I'll......FOAM FINGER YOUR BACK!
I never said you called me names.
Equivocation fallacy on your part. When I used the word trolling in reference to you, I was accusing you of pretending to play stupid to set me off. I was expressing incredulity toward your utter lack of comprehension.
Not only did I never receive any such request, but if you had, I would have rejected it. I don't like you Nepht. I joke around with you on the Forumites channel because I try to be congenial, but ultimately, you and I are not a good match for friendship.
Again, the PWE is located in the US. Cryptic is located in the US. Your accounts are located in the US. When you accepted the EULA, you agreed to be bound by US laws. Don't cry jingoism on me, Princess. You were the one who agreed to be bound by US laws. You're also living in a country which has signed treaties with the US for them to enforce US copyright laws. That's the entire reason ACTA is allows the US to extradict people for doing things that aren't even crimes where it was committed. It's stupid, I know. The fact remains, you agreed to be bound by US laws and you're living in a country that agreed to be bound by US copyright, trademark, and patent law.
Doesn't matter. If you put the character into CO, you handed over the rights to Cryptic and PWE. If you want to argue the matter, then you are effectively publicly notifying Cryptic and PWE of an ownership claim and therefore possibly threatening them with a law suit. I doubt they'll take it that seriously, but I recommend retaining a lawyer and consulting them about what to do regarding the conflicting ownership here.
If that's the case, then neither PWE nor Cryptic can claim ownership of it. However, if it is derived from a work that you have used in-game, then, well, they still own it because you agreed to the EULA which states that any modifications or derivatives of works they own still belong to them. Don't like it? Take it up with PWE, not me.
I never said they have videos of the character. Here, I'll quote myself.
As you can see, I didn't say they have videos of your character. I said that if you recorded any videos of characters you created on Champions, they own the videos too.
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Sorry gonna have to shoot you down there YOU called me princess in an offensive matter.
You do wall of texts all you wish metal. You still wrong. But please be my guest continue I really do need a laugh
Again I didnt put the character in question in CO so again none issues and again please tell me more this is pure comedy gold
Nepht and Dr Deflecto on primus
They all thought I was out of the game....But I'm holding all the lockboxes now..
I'll......FOAM FINGER YOUR BACK!
My understanding of the TOS also implies that not only are the things you create in game PWE but anything you might have regestered before the minute you put it in game it transfers to PWE.
So the moral of the story is if you own it don't put anything in game that you do not want to give PWE all rights to and they don't have to give you any compensation for using the assets.
Uh... I can't control whether you take offense to something I say, Princess.
*gasp* You just called me "metal" in an offensive manner."
And that, too. Calling me wrong is offensive! Oh noes! Actually, joking aside, you didn't tell me why I'm wrong. I provide counter points to your points, and you say that I'm wrong without telling me why. That says to me that I won the argument.
Nah, I already won.
Then it's a moot point isn't it?
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I've been saying for like a full page I never put my toon in the game it doesnt matter if you think this certain toon is copyrighted or trademarked , whatever i have documentation saying I own this one .Thats how ive seen it .
Right then you said Cryptic have vids of me with this playing with this toon. They dont I never made the toon. Then you said I own nothing...erm i do I have legal documents saying I do own this bug creature I drew.
Then onto law...British law can screw things up also I will make an example of the Avengers movie.
In the UK and some of Europe its called Avengers Assemble due to the fact there was a TV show from the UK that predates The Avengers comic book and well that TV show was called The Avengers
Nepht and Dr Deflecto on primus
They all thought I was out of the game....But I'm holding all the lockboxes now..
I'll......FOAM FINGER YOUR BACK!
Check trademark law. Under the ToS, which constitutes a legal contract, you've signed over the trademark rights to any character you create in-game. You can use the same person who's in your head elsewhere, but they can't look like the one you have in CO, nor can they have the exact same background (but you don't have to change much to make it okay, so I wouldn't sweat that bit, were I you).
I can't take Lightning (with the tights that belong to CO anyway), Spellsword, or Happifun Security System X-4 anywhere else. I can, however write anything I like about an electricity-generating superhero, a magically-reincarnated pirate trying to buy his way into Heaven by atoning for his past crimes, and a security robot whose AI was accidentally activated before the company was ready for it - they just can't look like my CO characters, or share exact backgrounds and names.
CO has trademark rights to all my CO characters. That's not as limiting as it might seem.
Edit: Oh, and Nepht - US law, and the laws of California, do take precedence here, because in order to play this game, you agreed to a contract that said so.
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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You see I thought as much as with actually making a toon in the game so never made said toon. The OP is best to not to put any of his OC's in the game.
Oh ya i Know about the contract theres no argument there just saying I never made said toon in game so isnt an issue. I just get a bit miffed when people talk of phantom vids
Also saying US laws arnt the laws for the whole world.
Nepht and Dr Deflecto on primus
They all thought I was out of the game....But I'm holding all the lockboxes now..
I'll......FOAM FINGER YOUR BACK!
Again, this thread is about the use of CO for that purpose. As such, all arguments regarding international law are moot, as the EULA states that anything made in or with CO is the property of PWE. Please stop spamming the thread with off topic remarks.
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I think its pretty much on topic were talking copyright/trademark laws. >_> Or are you talking about getting sneak nerfed.
Spamming I dont think so. Again you calling people names something I have refrained from. For the whole of the thread everyone has been on topic about copyright and most people are saying to the OP dont use your OC in the game. But if you want to call people names carry on.
You have called me a troll and a spammer and I am not the on that does wall of texts about phantom vids ...sorry Cryptic doesnt sit there and make vids of everyones toons. So in the interests of fair play I shall call you Muffin.
Nepht and Dr Deflecto on primus
They all thought I was out of the game....But I'm holding all the lockboxes now..
I'll......FOAM FINGER YOUR BACK!
Yes, I know, infact...
That's the second time I had to quote myself. The only way I can interpret your lack of reading comprehension is to assume you must be trolling. Nepht, do you know how many people are in my ignore list? 0. You're making a good case for me to add somebody to the list, and well, lets just say that person will be all alone there.
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Be my guest I wont lose sleep over it. But I will be giving you a nice tin foil hat so no one can make vids of you. So anyone who doesnt understand or agree with you is a troll ...okaaaay heres a tinfoil coat to go with the hat.
Your a stubborn one I will give you that and that is meant as a compliment.
All the best and Good day \o/
Nepht and Dr Deflecto on primus
They all thought I was out of the game....But I'm holding all the lockboxes now..
I'll......FOAM FINGER YOUR BACK!
Tinfoil? I have said nothing paranoid. Besides, if I were to wear a tinfoil hat, it'd act as an antenna for them to control my thoughts.
No, I have had to repeatedly re-quote myself to you, and what I said was in plain english. Plain... english... Therefore there are only one of two options. So either you get what I said, and you're just trolling, or you don't get what I said and you lack the simplest reading comprehension skills. The latter is very hard for me to believe, because your level of fluency in the English language necessarily requires that you understand what I was saying.
Then couple that with your claims, both in-channel and on the forums that this is "comedic gold" and you've basically tied your own noose on the troll thing.
I'm sorry Nepht, but this off topic conversation has gone on far too long. Any further belligerence from you will place you on my ignore list until you start behaving like an adult.
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Metal stop being a silly billy. We dont like each other. We dont agree with each other. The best and sensible course of action is to ignore each other. Your on my ignore list seriously put me on ignore I promise I wont think any less of you. I am not being sarcastic sometimes some people just dont get along. Thats life I am just not that into you
Ok ima on ignore now FANTASTIC \o/
To the OC apart from the fact that me and Metal will never agree on anything what have we learned here.
Keep your OC's on paper and dont make them in game make throwaway toons, it might cause a whole load of headache later on.
Nepht and Dr Deflecto on primus
They all thought I was out of the game....But I'm holding all the lockboxes now..
I'll......FOAM FINGER YOUR BACK!
cuz my main is a character i wanted to make a comic or cartoon about :C
i was once Nisshoku-san
My characters[SIGPIC]http://co-forum.perfectworld.com/image.php?type=sigpic&userid=91878665000&dateline=1359356700[/SIGPIC]
From whut my BF says from reading it its binding even after shutdown
Nepht and Dr Deflecto on primus
They all thought I was out of the game....But I'm holding all the lockboxes now..
I'll......FOAM FINGER YOUR BACK!
Side note: Nepht and zenzenarimasen, I appreciate your input on the matter. But please stop getting off topic by bickering at each other. We're here to discuss trademarking a character, not who's right and who's wrong.
EULA that are not present at the time of purchase are of questionable legal virtue in CA. It would be interesting to see a claim to own something based on an agreement that may not be at all legally valid.
Of course if Cryptic actually goes to the effort to Trademark each and every character every created, and the creators do not...
'Caine, miss you bud. Fly high.
Make a character with a slight variation of what you have in the game. Change the hair color, costume color a little variation on any symbols. Parents were killed in your back story make it so they abandoned your character things like that.