Imitation Games?

[natebishop]

Hello!

I've had a request from a client recently to make a fairly simple game for online and mobile platforms. The catch is that it's basically taking an existing game and recreating it. Sort of like making a new version of Tetris or something, but for marketing something new.

My concern is: What's the legal ramifications of something like this? Does selling (or making it free) in the App Store or Marketplace affect it?

I know games have been built on the ideas/techniques of other games since the beginning, so I'm sure that things could get cleared if there were ever a legal battle, but, y'know, no one is looking for a fight :)

Thanks for your insight.

- Nate

[bluemagica]

Game concepts cannot be copyrighted, only resources like artwork, music e.t.c belong to their respective creators/publishers. Hence other than moral obligations, there is nothing to be scared about, if you are just "borrowing" the concept and doing your own artwork and stuff. Codes can be licensed too, so be careful if you are planning to reuse existing libraries or codes from the web(though most are free to use under gpl, some need you to give credit to the original author.)

[natebishop]

Thanks! That's sort of what I was thinking, and it certainly doesn't seem like many companies/developers take action unless there's blatant copying of style, artwork, naming, etc. that may be trying to capitalize on the original game's name/brand.