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Character Rights
vitalityprime
Posts: 478 Arc User
Is your character your own?
If you planned to start something outside of CO with your character...would you be legally required to delete said character from this game?
How does this work?
If you planned to start something outside of CO with your character...would you be legally required to delete said character from this game?
How does this work?
_________
VARIANT
"Nearly all men can withstand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."
-Abraham Lincoln-
VARIANT
"Nearly all men can withstand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."
-Abraham Lincoln-
Post edited by vitalityprime on
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How the rights works in this game is that if you own the property and willingly recreate the property in the game, that you are allowing Cryptic to use that property in the game as they please for promotional and monetary purposes and that you cannot take legal action against them. You are granting them the right to use it as they please.
They can use the property to promote their game in basically these ways:
If your creation is caught in a screencap or video to promote the game, then they can use that footage as they please.
If you win a contest or they choose to use your creation where it will be used to sell a feature or be used for promotion, you cannot profit from it or ask to profit from it.
The only way to end further use of your creation is to delete your character or change the name and appearance, but that does not prevent them from using any material that they have acquired before deletion.
If someone recreates your character in a game that you did not give them permission to, then you can take action and cancel all promotions that have been created with that character. But that is where things get dicey.
An example of this is a player known as Roxstar. He created a character which he owns into the character creator and now it is the face of one of the Archetypes and powersets. It is used to promote Earth powers and any player can now use that look for their characters as it is part of the game. He however cannot profit from it. (I don't think he even wants to.) If he were to remove that character it would not prevent Cryptic from using the design to further promote the AT. It would only stop them from using it for new features outside of AT use.
So, yes it is your character. You can do anything you want with it. Cryptic can just use it to promote the game it was made in and you can do anything you want with it outside. Just don't try and redraw or create any emblems you are using on that character outside of the game, like the hawk design on your avatar's chest.
I appreciate the quick info.
VARIANT
"Nearly all men can withstand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."
-Abraham Lincoln-
You did think it up but if you originally made the character in CO then you used CO resources to do it and Cryptic can use it however they wish. Fanfiction and fan art are ok as long as you don't intend to sell any of it or otherwise profit from it somehow.
Your best bet for trying to migrate a character you made in CO to an original work you intend to profit from would be to remove any and all mention of anything related to Champions from it.
This too. Do not associate your creation outside of the game with Champions whatsoever.
Again...thanks for all the quick info.
VARIANT
"Nearly all men can withstand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."
-Abraham Lincoln-
Caliga's PRIMUS Database! --XXX--The Caliga Build: Threatening Haymakers! --XXX-- Caliga and Conquer fanart!
Although he belongs more equally to certain individuals.
Real Soviet Damage PRIMUS Page | Soviet Might Build | Artwork of my Characters | I wrote a book called "The Ring of Void"
#1 Hulk (seen over 300)
#2 Iron Man (seen over 200)
#3 Spiderman (seen over 100)
Considering how low in-game population is...iv seen a rediculous amount of clones running around freely, tonnes of SG's committed to doing this, running freely. Some have been running freely for over 2 years with infringing characters.
Cryptic dont act hard enough on copyrights.
Considering many costume parts...its pretty obvious Cryptic support copyright infringement.
No surprise...not seen a dev ingame for a loooooooong time. Not including TT
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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I saw a pair of their X- title characters in the PH.
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My view is that these homage characters (and I've made a few, both here and in CoH, even other games) are just that: one person's desire to play as their favorite character. I did it in PnP Champs, back in the day, and I encouraged my son to do it in CoH. At 9 years old, he made a pretty close approximation of Sonic the Hedgehog using just what was available to free accounts.
Part of the problem since December, 2012.
Someone who copies a character that doesnt belong to them, is Creative?
I could have sworn it was the opposite.
I used to, I don't anymore. I only reported someone if the name, costume and bio were obviously a copy of a copyrighted character, and I got a warning from Cryptic that *I'd* be punished for reporting people if there wasn't enough evidence of IP infringement. I guess having three obvious pieces of proof wasn't enough for them. Not sure what else would be needed, a signed confession?
I know there's nobody there.
On a side note, the ticket system least for me has been utterly broken for like a year...you cant even use the ingame functions at all.
It's been my experience that it's harder to do a good clone than an original. With an original, you have no template, so making an 'original' character means however it turns out is how it's supposed to be.
But many established costumes require things that CO's Costume Creator doesn't have the piece for. So you're forced to either do without that piece, or find something that is 'good enough'. I tried to do a Wonder Woman costume for a green skinned alien woman, and I could only come close. There simply aren't the right pieces available to do a 100% clone. Heck, many times you can't even get 60%. Iron Man clones are only accurate from a distance. Up close, the seams and details mean you simply can't make a carbon copy, the most you can hope for is the overall look and feel of the character. Sometimes the closest you can come is "You get the idea"
Originals are much easier to do IMHO, but it's amazing how many 'original' characters I see that are boring. Another power armor in steel gray, another cat grrll, another demon character. I do see some amazing original costumes from time to time, and I always go out of my way to let someone know I like their work, whether it's a clone/homage or a totally original look. If it's good, it's good.
If we were both talented artists, and I were to paint a picture of a famous actor, and you were to paint a person you made up out of your head, who would be more creative? You for taking images of faces in your head and blending them into one very realistic human face that looks like no one in particular, or me for capturing the depth of expression and every intimate detail of someone nearly everybody recognizes?
I'm thinking it's a tie. But I'm sure somebody would think that since I painted something real, I wouldn't really be creative. After all, it's just a copy. Forgery requires no skill, anyone can do it, etc... The righteous tend to disagree :biggrin:
Original or clone?
I would argue that either one takes take creativity, but an original costume requires a bit more imagination, and a clone requires at LEAST as much creativity. They are two different things.
But youre given costume pieces which match copyrighted characters outfits!...ya know what nevermind...just...carry on what youre doing....
Your entire point hinges upon something that wasn't actually said. He used the words "good likeness". A good likeness doesn't mean copy; that would be an exact likeness. The line between the two is thin but it is there.
I don't know what pieces 'match' copyrighted character's outfits. TThe ones I've tried to use might look pretty close at at distance, but up close they are not close at all (how's that for confusing?)
It seems rather obvious that you enjoy complaining about various things on Champions Online. I can't stop you, and wouldn't want to, after all -sometimes you are right! It's true that making a 100% clone is a violation, and from a legal standpoint those who do these types of clones shouldn't. But if you start proclaiming them to not be creative, that's where we're going to disagree.
Ok, I'l now carry on with what I was doing... a new clone! Ah ha ha ha ha!
Just kidding!
Some of the most creative character costumes I have seen in CO have been clones where the player managed to use pieces that do not match the copyrighted character in a creative fashion to produce a very good likeness.
I felt a little bad for reporting them.
'Caine, miss you bud. Fly high.
Caliga your **** is owned by every neko in CO. Your like virtual catnip . We just HAVE to poke.
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!
This clause confirms that whatever character you make using the game material is considered property of PWE. I believe that it's more to protect themselves from legal action rather to take legal action themselves though.
However since CO is rather under the radar right now when it comes to MMO popularity compared to the triple-A titles out there, your chances of getting into legal woes if you were to use your CO-made character for your own comic for e.g. should be almost nothing to worry about.
If you make no mention of Champions lore or characters whatsover in the material that the character is involved in, you should be absolutely safe. If you want to make a "fan comic" involving Champions lore or characters, then it has to be non-profit if you want to be safe.
When it comes to paid-for art comissions that may or may not involve the artist getting paid, especially those that include any Champions-related stuff, that I have no idea on.
Disclaimer: I am no lawyer or law expert in this field. I'm just taking the basic principles into account.
This is exactly what I want to know as well.
VARIANT
"Nearly all men can withstand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."
-Abraham Lincoln-
The costumes still resemble the in-game ones but are ultimately something you couldn't recreate detail-for-detail in Champs. I don't have an example for Brigade, but here's another potential comic I might be making, for example:
I guess for Dung Beetle you could recreate it, but the boots wouldn't be exact.
Brigade's normal (template) costume would only need minor tweaks to be in the same boat as Dung Beetle.
The way I draw him is pretty different as well. No shoulder piece, no neck or back piece, no hair, no emblems. The gloves and boots are a banded metal type of thing, which is something you could make in Champs, but not part of the in-game costume.
Funny though, when I draw my characters, I'm usually not changing costume areas on purpose, it's just kinda how they "come out."
I dunno, most people think it's crap.
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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That almost made log out.
CellarRat33 :: formerly Bsquared
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"The great thing about glory unending is that it's dirt cheap!" - Tateklys
From the Adventures of Thundrax (canadascott)
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What a Load!
'Wen considered the nature of time and understood that the universe is, instant by instant, recreated anew. Therefore, he understood, there is in truth no past, only a memory of the past. Blink your eyes, and the world you see next did not exist when you closed them. Therefore, he said, the only appropriate state of the mind is surprise. The only appropriate state of the heart is joy. The sky you see now, you have never seen before. The perfect moment is now. Be glad of it.' Terry Pratchet The Thief Of Time
If anything, Cryptic can turn your toon into a generic. But that is if anyone reports you and the GM finds your recreation a violation of your own creative commons.
If you want to you can state somewhere in your bio that "this is a creation of your own and that you give Cryptic the right to have this recreation in the game" or something along those lines, you'll be legally covered from that happening. Though that won't stop an idiot GM from not knowing how their own user agreement works or caring enough to really investigate the issue, aka not knowing how to do their job right and turning your toon into a generic anyways.
Awesome cover, btw.
If you guys wanna really be technical as an example of how reporting clones is a broken concept legally.
Say biff wants to make a Brigade Comic book and sell it. He gets 6 rights from the time of inception.
The idea for Brigade existed before he created a clone of the Brigade Character in Champions. So technically you'd be able to report him for making a clone based on his own works.
I wanna know who wrote their legal clauses so I can slap them in the face.
Also lets not go into the costume creator that features several pieces of mega man, the green lantern, Metroid, and the fantastic 4. Its stupid, cause if any of those companies wanted to be a TRUE ****! They could raise hell with them. But nobody really cares. Because you're not really mega man, the green lantern, or Metroid, and your bank account will stay empty as such.
This is too cool.
Target1one
"ENOUGH!!! You are ALL of you BENEATH me! I am a GOD, you dull creature, and I will NOT be BULLIED by--" -- Loki
*SMASH* *SMASH* *SMASH* <pause> *SMASHSMASH* "... puny god..." -- Hulk
Hey thanks! There's lots of real cool artwork by many artists down in Fan Base Alpha if you wanna see more.