Tetrishade
Community Forums/Showcase/Tetrishade
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| Almost done coding this cool Tetris variant in an attempt to make a few extra bucks to contribute toward pruchasing a much-desired quality laptop. (Also, any recommendations or miscellaneous tips for how to sell the software exactly? I've never released a game commercially before.)  |
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| Got some bad news for ya man... tetris has a copyright http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10025915-37.html |
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| :O How can I remedy this, without wasting my work :/ There are so many Tetris clones.. if nothing else, would it be appropriate to release it as freeware? |
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| Must be possible, since there are so many clones... (?!) |
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| Originally, I was going to put "Inspired by Alexey Pajitnov's Tetris" in the readme, credits, and stuff. I don't suppose that might satisfy? |
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| Maybe change the game dynamics and shoot the shapes up from the bottom of the screen to the top from a cart or cannon like device and change the name a little. Even change the shapes of the cubes to balls, flowers or make them change shape every say 5th board then recycle back. A lot of companies threaten people that copy their games but unless its an exact copy they usually dont carry it past threats. I made Midas Maze for the Atari 400 and was worried about companies coming after me too for copying Super Pacman and Thief. Only person that showed up at my door was the Mailman with a check. I'm sure all of the people that have made clones of a game were threatened, But that's a risk we all take when we create copies of our favorite games. Look at a lot of blitz games. Their clones of another more famous game. And I'm betting you that a PC copy would not worry the company much now. They want the ipod market to themselves. Its your choice. |
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| Lesse, did some research. I should be safe as long as I make the name a bit less Tetris-y, and maybe even not that, gotta do a little more reading. 17 U.S.C. § 102 (b) says: "In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work." Therefore, shapes of four blocks falling onto a playing field and disappearing upon complete rows is a concept and would not be allowed the copyright. If Tetris dares send me any form of cease-and-desist, I will refer them to this, and promptly cower in a corner. Any recommendations for the game name? I want it to have something like "shade" in the title, because that's the biggest thing it adds to the Tetris forumla. |
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| Bloxheads and make the blocks have different smiley faces on them. or bloxblast maybe even Bloxtris. Shapetris, Loc-n-Block. just some ideas. |
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| I did a lot of googling and decided that this portion of the EULA should divert any legal action against this game by The Tetris Company LLC. Tetrishade is not an infringement upon The Tetris Company LLC's "Tetris" series as implied by 17 U.S.C. § 102 (b). The title "Tetrishade" does not hold any implications for the product's origin. It is developed by [my name here], and is not related to or affiliated with "Tetris" nor any related objects. It shows that it's not a copyright infringement, because the concepts borrowed cannot be copyrighted. It prevents acion in the realm of trademark infringement, which is only a result of an identical name or a misleading title that causes the user to believe it is developed by the holder of the trademark, and not the creator of the game. (The EULA should clarify this, and I plan to put a big, fat notice of it in the installer or titlescreen) |
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| Got some bad news for ya man... tetris has a copyright You can't copyright a title, you can't copyright an idea and you can't copyright the ruleset of a game. |
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| having tetris in the name infringes on the trademark of tetris just as pac man, windows, google, mario and sonic, the list could go on and on making the blocks lego esque and calling it legotris would land you in just as much hot water, lego esque blocks might be luke warm but the name lego very much not cold You can't copyright a title, you can't copyright an idea and you can't copyright the ruleset of a game. but trademark infringement ... |
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| but trademark infringement ... The EULA should clarify this, and I plan to put a big, fat notice of it in the installer or titlescreen |
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| but trademark infringement ... I thought I was pretty clear since the quote I was replying to specifically said "copyright". |
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| Why don't you call it Shadris? ;} |
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| Sorry but I feel you are all making something outta nothing. The only reason the company owning the rights went after this kid is because they want the iphone market to themselves and knew they could scare him into backing down. Have you people googled tetris clones? Have you seen how many there are? Thousands! And if the company really was serious about protecting their copyright there would be zero!. Look at the history of video games. Mostly all games are a copy of some other game. Just check out the remake sites. Oh and if you check out his blog the kid said he may fight it later and still make the game, and its Apples fault it was pulled. Apple seems to have lost its will to fight..I miss the good ol days when they and microsoft fought,. |
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| I did think about that. I wubs my logo that I made though :3 I hope to have the actualy game finished in a couple hours. Just need to add some more eye candy and some misc. sound effects and I'm good to go! Oh, and an options screen and highscores table, but those'll be an absolute breeze  |
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| Hey, my question still stands. I've never released a commercial game before. I need to know the best way to do this. By the way, changed the name to Tetrashade, just because I can. |
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| I thought I was pretty clear since the quote I was replying to specifically said "copyright". when i was typing my reply yours wasnt up, and as yours didnt tackle the word trademark i thought id edit my post with your quote copyright and trademarks are two totally different things (on that we agree) but those like myself who arnt trained as lawyers tend to blur the lines between the two* sticking the word tetris in it no matter how big or well worded you write the notice wont change the problem and to prove my point changing the vowel to an a, i didnt even notice, i read it as im changing the name from tetrishade to tetrishade, if i dont notice then probably no one will, and given that fact the legal teams will use it to their advantage as flameduck once pointed out mike rowe soft to look at is fine, say it out loud and who do you think of? and i just had to try this name out for size sonic the hegehog plays supermario pacman tetris ;) edit: Have you people googled tetris clones? Have you seen how many there are? Thousands! And if the company really was serious about protecting their copyright there would be zero!. Look at the history of video games. Mostly all games are a copy of some other game. Just check out the remake sites. i am not arguing the fact that there are almost as many tetris/pong/breakout/space invaders/the list can go on games as there are game programmers its often advised to remake an existing game to learn aspects of blitz programming, but its best to avoid using the names of the games you are remaking (put a little note like its a tetris clone if you must) and as for charging for tetris? i think the last time anyone paid for that game was when they bought a gameboy back in the day (and even then it came finger quote free with the damn thing) and again given the influx of anyone and their dog making tetris clones what makes yours worth paying for over another that could be found for free? *yes i know that ive contradicted myself |
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| But mine is awesome :O It's only going to be a couple bucks; I gotta get a laptop and at the moment, buying a decent one would leave my wallet gasping. This is an attempt to make just a little money. It has a bunch of neat stuff, too, anyway. Oh, not to mention I'm targeting the casual gamer more than a programmer, and they are much less stingy with what they buy :P What's finished + Basic game mechanics + Nice introduction screen + Music + Close to all the graphics What's in the works + 4 special blocks that do something when they're destroyed in a line [ Clock, Bomb, Quake, and Flipper ] + Sound effects + Some smaller particle effects to add to the graphic pleasantries What's next + Options screen + Highscores table + Intense mode, which gives frequent powerup blocks, falling speed increases more quickly, and Z blocks are more frequent. + Liesure mode, frequent powerups and the falling speed of the blocks does not change |
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| you can't copyright a computer game or the idea itself... - you can copyright(actually it is by default)the code as a whole and also as separate parts. - you can copyright(again by default) the media assets. ("look and feel" can get you in trouble here) - you can trademark the name or other phrases. - currently it's possible to patent certain algorithms or methods. but again, the game idea cannot be protected. (well, it's possible it could be patentable, but that's highly unlikely.) all that said... that doesn't necessarily stop someone from suing. |
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| auuuugh I'm stuck in an infinite loop and I don't know why .-. Gravity still not working, but everything else is for powerups. Why can't I get ouuuut :| EDIT: Aha, fixed. That bug took too long to sort out. |
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| Well, going off GaryV's post about not being able to copyright a title, I'm sorry, but companies have successfully shut down software because of the use of the original title in a new title name, with similar gameplay, one of many:- http://www.plasmapong.com With many more being dropped from places such as App Store. Apparently, the Tetris Company are hardliners when it comes to protecting their stuff... http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=22815 Its happening out there, no good when your selling it and along comes a cease and desist letter, the excuse that 'Someone on a forum said you [The original license holders] cannot do this, and cannot do that when I was making my game' wont really wash with them. Good luck with it if you continue, and I sincerely mean that! :) Dabz |
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| You can't use TETRIS in the middle of your name. It's copyrighted\trademarked\whatever. Go with "Shade Blox", anything, BUT Tetris. Something I need to mention is that when you make your Tetris game, you can't call it "Tetris". Tetris is a trademark of the Tetris Company who is owned by Alexey Pajitnov, the creator of Tetris. It is his exclusive right to use the name Tetris, and I believe they may have won a lawsuit saying that you cannot make a falling blocks game with the syllable "tris", as it is obviously playing off the popularity of the of the name Tetris. However, this means nothing to you if you call your game "The Sky is Falling", or anything without a "tris" in it, as they do NOT own the gameplay, interface, or idea of falling blocks. If you hear anything differently from anyone, tell them you can't own ideas, and if you require further proof you can look up information on this subject at the USPTO (http://www.uspto.gov/ ). From this article. |
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| " in an attempt to make a few extra bucks..." Here's what I would do... a) Change the name. b) Change the shapes. c) Add better graphics, backgrounds, etc. d) Add new play mechanics. e) Create a story driven game with levels, etc. At that point you should have no problem to pay for that laptop. |
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| a) Change the name. b) Change the shapes. c) Add better graphics, backgrounds, etc. d) Add new play mechanics. e) Create a story driven game with levels, etc. What you meant was, make a completely new game? :D |
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| a) Change the name. Name is Tetrashade. b) Change the shapes. Only suares would make sense. c) Add better graphics, backgrounds, etc. I'm working on cool eye candy and sound effects now. (Why do all the audio modules wait a hugely noticable amount of time after instructed to play to actually play -__-) d) Add new play mechanics. Done. Special blocks (2 good, and 2 that are sorta bad unless you're creative with them) and shadows are in it. e) Create a story driven game with levels, etc. I'm already working on a game with a story-driven gameplay. Tetrashade is a game that I'm trying to finish fairly quickly and sell to casual gamers. By the way, here's a more recent screenie:  |
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| you cannot copyright a name... that's a fact. you can trademark it. Copyright is automatic when expressed in a permanent form like writing it down. trademarks HAVE to be researched, filed, paid for AND protected. if someone else has a trademark and you demean it's value by using it or using something that's even close, the owner HAS TO defend it in court or they run the risk of actually losing it. stay far away from existing trademarks... don't even make titles that sound like a name that is trademarked. Tetris is a trademark. Tetrashade IS most certainly actionable by Tetris and company. you can't copyright the play mechanics or the rules of a game... that's fact. you possibly may be able to patent the mechanics. but one would have to do that by having them researched(money), filed(more money) and then approved(unlikely). In anycase, you can research and find such patents. you can't copyright an idea.... BUT (and this is important) you copyright to protect a particular expression of the idea... so things like "Jim Kirk, captain of the Enterprise" is protected... you cannot make up your own story with James T Kirk from Star Trek in it. you can't copyright such basic computer graphics as blocks. just as there are only so many ways to draw a ghost, there are only so many ways to draw a block. copyright is not as powerful as many people think it is. and it's that way for a reason. but of course the "threat" of being sued scares most of these people. The main reason I pipe up in these type of debates is because as more people come to thinking incorrectly about these things, we lose our rights as developers, designers and people. there are few mechanics or game ideas anymore that are not derivatives of other ideas. if copyright applied here, there would be very few new games. Again, remember you can't copyright the idea, but you do copyright the expression of that idea. there's a lot of information on the internet about court cases that have to do with this topic. don't take my word for it as this IS NOT legal advise but do actually research it. start with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_East_USA,_Inc._v._Epyx,_Inc. but then this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Giana_Sisters look up Casper for the ghost reference... |
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| changing an i to an a doesnt make much difference imo, people will still see it as tetrishade (and each time i type that i miss off the h and think of lemonade) numerouse bootleg products spoof brand names as joe public wont pay too much attention to it at the time someone wont know the difference between pentax and pantex when buying a cheap camera abroad (or at a carboot sale type thing), its a different name for a similar product, but the name is too misleading (intentionally) why by dropping one letter i could almost get away with calling my suction powered claning device Oover almost infact hoover and other brands have to work hard to remove their brand from the generic term "im gonna do the hoovering" is a valid phrase in the uk even if we are using a dyson edit: dmaz said it better notice how the negative posts about your product are due soley to the name itself? if you called it b+man's falling block game, none of use would be posting about the legal rammifications of the name and the name alone |
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| what about just Terashade? |
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| Well, going off GaryV's post about not being able to copyright a title, I did not post an opinion, I posted a fact. I suggest you take a moment to actually read the copyright law, it would clear your obvious confusion. I'm sorry, but companies have successfully shut down software because of the use of the original title in a new title name Yes, if you use a trademarked title, you stand a good chance of getting shut down. The companies have no choice but to take action against somebody using a trademarked name because if you do not defend a trademark, you may lose it. Under the legal definition of intellectual property, there are two different types of intellectual property: Copyrights and Industrial Property (patents, trademarks, industrial designs, etc). Unfortunately, many people choose to ignore the laws as they are written and instead give their own definitions and interpretations to things and spread false information. It it much easier than admitting you are wrong and admitting that you have no idea of what you are talking about ;) |
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| Well, going off GaryV's post about not being able to copyright a title, Whether or not you can copyright a title is completely irrelevant, since they ARE protected by trademark laws regardless of copyright -- and getting sued for trademark infringement can be even worse than getting sued for copyright violations... |
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| I did not post an opinion, I posted a fact. I suggest you take a moment to actually read the copyright law, it would clear your obvious confusion. Your fact doesnt solve anything... people are getting cease and desist letters, their work is being romoved from portals, I suggest you, rather than me, read copyright law, because I have provided evidence to what is happening, you, in fact, have provided bugger all. If you can counter my opinion/fact on the matter, then go for it, post links... I've posted evidence of mine... You do the same.. Dabz |
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| Whether or not you can copyright a title is completely irrelevant it is not. While trademark is certainly much easier to defend... understanding of both is important. There has been a lot talk about where B+man can get in trouble, and I think most of us here do realize that his biggest issue is his games name. he should change it.others though have also talked about other elements... looking at the latest screenshot he should have no issues with those. another thing, a cease and desist letter does NOT mean they have a legit case... copyright misuse is not uncommon and cease letters are often used by rights holders as a means to have the work pulled even though they know they could not possibly win in court. |
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| Dabz: Copyright law exists, whether you choose to believe it or ignore it is on you. I have provided evidence to what is happening You have provided nothing but hyperbole. Please provide any link to a legal site dealing with existing law which says a title can be copyrighted. You are the one claiming I am wrong. How about actually proving I am wrong. people are getting cease and desist letters, And? Lawyers send out C&Ds every day. That is what they get paid for. It is a legal scare/intimidation tactic. The law will always supersede any C&D and in the end, the courts will determine if the C&D has any merit.I do find it odd that the forum legal experts are slamming B+man for something but they never slam people like this blitzer: http://www.sos-software.co.uk/freebies/othello/othello.html Who is openly violating trademark law by using the name Othello which is trademarked and registered to Pressman Toy Corp. Or this Blitzer who is guilty of the same thing: http://www.incitti.com/Blitz/ No, these guys never get slighted and instead the trolls jump on and attack B+man. Dabz has shown that there are some who will wear ignorance as a badge of honor and never make an effort to educate themselves on a subject. Again, if you do that you would have to admit that you are wrong and that you have no idea what you are talking about. For rational folks, you can't copyright a title. You can't copyright an idea, only the expression of an idea. You can trademark a title. Do not confuse trademark law with copyright law or patent law. The laws exist for a reason and they exist for the protection of everybody. If you receive a C&D consult a lawyer in your area to determine the validity of the C&D. If you are sent a C&D and it is claiming protection for something that can't legally be protected, you need to file a complaint with the bar association (or your country's equivalent) that has jurisdiction over the lawyer or firm who sent you the C&D. B+man: You can't have "tetris" anywhere in your title/name of your game. There is a trademark. Otherwise, you are free and clear. There is no patent (it expired long ago) and unless you have stolen the original artwork and source code, there are no copyright issues. "If" you receive a C&D over copyright issues pertaining to Tetris, do not be intimidated. They are trying to claim ownership of something that can't be copyrighted. Since it can't be copyrighted, they will never sue you for copyright. You live in the USA, and in the USA, you can't sue for copyright infringement unless a copyright has been registered. Do not be intimidated by hollow threats and do your civic duty and report them to the bar association if this were to occur. One of the best explanations of the tetris issue can be found here: http://desiree47.wordpress.com/ |
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| well after a quick google othello is trademark and a 1970's variant of an 1880's game, so the game, like chess is old but not as old so trademark infringment yes, actually hotwater game mechanics not as much, i thought reversi was the microsoft windows 3.x name of it and thought it was older than that, ie reversi the TM and othello the generic term, well wrong way round for me. but ive never heard of othello's owners going after anyone with as much vigour as tetris' does the thing is with board games is most do seem like they are older than old and not subject to any copyright/whatever laws and are fair game name and all, aside from games like monopolly game of life etc, id have to google some more, but not tonight, but the ones id see as safe without looking are chess (well duh) chequers/draughs back gammon ludo snakes and ladders (i think its chutes in the states?) nine mens morris the rest end up in the taboo section of monopoly buckaroo risk mousetrap scrabble but in truth i thought othello was really really really older than that |
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| >>snakes and ladders (i think its chutes in the states?)<< We have both ;) "chutes" is title put out by the major brand and "snakes" is used by everybody else. |
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| you can lose a trademark suit if the court find you have demeaned it's value... the trademark does not need to be exact... you can't sue for copyright infringement unless a copyright has been registered. while registration gives you a much stronger case, your work does not need to have been registered to win a copyright judgment in the US. If you do have something that shows otherwise, I would like to read it. actually, you don't even have to tag it with "copyright". -technically-, each message (and the code within) on this forum is copyright by the author unless they deem it public. that said... they would of course have a hard time enforcing it in a public forum used for educating the people here. use of most messages here fall under "fair use". |
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| while registration gives you a much stronger case, your work does not need to have been registered to win a copyright judgment in the US. Please to not stoop to the level of Dabz, you are too intelligent for that. In the USA, "Before an infringement suit may be filed in court, registration is necessary for works of U.S. origin". This is a direct quote from Circular 1 published by the U.S. Copyright office. (Page 7, Heading "Copyright Registration", Paragraph 3.) |
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| your link http://desiree47.wordpress.com/ is a very good read on the legal aspects Tetris. Please to not stoop to the level of Dabz, you are too intelligent for that. In the USA, "Before an infringement suit may be filed in court, registration is necessary for works of U.S. origin". This is a direct quote from Circular 1 published by the U.S. Copyright office. (Page 7, Heading "Copyright Registration", Paragraph 3.) There's no stooping here... your quote is not complete. While technically you are correct in that the work needs to be registered in order to bring an infringement suit, registration can actually be done at ANY time. This includes after the infringement actually takes place. The wording in the actual law is thus "no civil action for infringement of the copyright in any United States work shall be instituted until preregistration or registration of the copyright claim has been made in accordance with this title"As I said above, a persons work is under copyright protection once that work is put to permanent form. Now, there are big advantages to copyright registration in a timely manner and before infringement... the first is that one can sue for statutory damages and attorney fees. you can only sue for actual damages if registration occurs after infringement. Further more, registration *already proves* that copyright protection was put in place by the date indicated. proof of ownership is also very handy when a cease and desist letter is issued on the owner's behalf. but the point is, even without preregistration you WILL be able to protect your work through litigation and possibly collect actual damages. that's very important... think about it, a magazine author or blog author is not going to register each one of their articles. that does not mean, someone can copy them. |
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| no civil action for infringement of the copyright in any United States work shall be instituted until preregistration or registration of the copyright claim has been made in accordance with this title Yes, this is 100% in accordance with the quote from the circular. one can sue for statutory damages and attorney fees. Only if the registration is made within three months of first publication. |
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| ... |
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| just read all these posts and got an idea... what if I was to somehow create tetris and put it online without letting my ip get out there.. say I create a gmail through a non-transparent proxy and only acess it throught that proxy and use it to create a free yola page that I only access through a proxy and upload my game called TETRISSONICWINDOWSPACMANGALAXIANHAHAIUSEDYOURNAMES.exe . I guess I might alter my mac address and all that good stuff while im at it.. that idea probly has tons of flaws and is completely immature but its just a what if.... |
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| but its just a what if.... And then what? They'd send a DMCA copyright infringement notice to the hosting provider, who'd take it down in a heartbeat. Plus in this case, the original message said "in an attempt to make a few extra bucks" which kind of precludes the ability to shove it anonymously onto the internet. If payment money can find its way back to you, then so can the authorities if they cared enough. |
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| They'd send a DMCA copyright infringement notice to the hosting provider No. In Nate's example there would be no violation of Copyright. However, he would have issues with Trademarks ;) then so can the authorities if they cared enough No. B+man is in the USA, the authorities have no jurisdiction and couldn't touch him since it would be a civil matter, not a criminal matter. |
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| and i just had to try this name out for size sonic the hegehog plays supermario pacman tetris ;) nate, my name sounded better :p |
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| Please to not stoop to the level of Dabz Ohhhhh... Handbags... I can see your baiting... So I'll do what people at my level do and just leave it at that. Again, good luck with your game B+man, hope you make a success of it matey! :) Dabz |
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| Whoa, lotsa posts. "Terashade" sound alright if Tetrashade doesn't work out. I'm planning to email The Tetris Company and let them know I'm making a Tetris variant and want to avoid trademark issues with the name "Tetrashade" or "Terashade". If they dislike both, I'll change it to something like Ivshade (IV being the roman symbol for four) "The game concept of Tetris was once patentable. However, because it was never patented, it now lies in the public domain. Moreover, had Pajitnov patented Tetris at the time of its invention (1985), by now (23 years later), his patent rights have expired. What this means is that no legal framework currently protects the replication, improvement, or sale of Tetris game mechanics and rules." - no issue with the game's mechanics whatsoever. |
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| I am ready to send this to The Tetris Company LLC in an email, but I desire feedback before I hit send and can't take anything back :P Hello! I'm creating a game similar to Tetris for the PC and want to avoid any issues concerning my game's title. The Tetris Company LLC is unable to take legal action for the similarity to Tetris' game mechanics by claiming copyright infringement according to ( 17 U.S.C. § 102 (b), http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl108.html ). Tetris' game concept was never patented and the time in which this action is permitted has expired, therefore no action concerning patents may be taken, either. However, I am concerned about trademark infringement. This game, which is likely to be released for the PC on multiple platforms before the end of February 2010, is currently titled "Tetrashade". Please inform me if this title would be considered infringement, and if so, if "Terashade" is acceptable. If niether option would satisfy, the planned title for the game is "Ivshade" which in no way resembles "Tetris" and will not warrant legal action. Note that the game's current logo in no way reflects the official Tetris logo.  Compliments for a great game concept, and thanks for your time. |
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| "Terashade" sound alright if Tetrashade doesn't work out. I'm planning to email The Tetris Company and let them know I'm making a Tetris variant and want to avoid trademark issues with the name "Tetrashade" or "Terashade". If they dislike both, I'll change it to something like Ivshade (IV being the roman symbol for four) This is a major mistake and you are going out of your way to guarantee they will be hounding you with hollow C&D threats.They do not create and enforce laws and you should not give them that power. They do not have a say in it and there is nothing wrong with you using the name Tetrashade. However, if you give them a say, be prepared for what they throw at you in return. You will literally be admitting to them that you think you may be in the wrong, and like any grade-school bully, they will take great joy in jumping on you. I would suggest you exercise some common sense and drop that idea. A simple trademark search: http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=searchss&state=4008:5cbef2.1.1 on the name Tetrashade brings up nothing. There is no issue with you using the name, unless you create the issue by taunting a known bully. |
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| I would probably just email them a photograph of your driver's license, social security number, a copy of the game and tell them you're making a game similar to Tetris and you want to avoid any legal hassle. |
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| @MGE Sweet, I'll get right on that! [/sarcasm] http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=searchss&state=4008:5cbef2.1.1 Hmm. That settles it for me :P No email then. |
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| Yes, this is 100% in accordance with the quote from the circular. GaryV, while the circular is correct, 2 of your responses most certainly implied that a person's works needs to have been registered get copyright protection or at least be able to sue, both of which are not correct. the one that I responded to you can't sue for copyright infringement unless a copyright has been registered. Do not be intimidated by hollow threats and do your civic duty and report them to the bar association if this were to occur. does indeed seem to say that if registration does not exits a person is safe from litigation, that's clearly wrong. your response to mine response whice pointed that out Please to not stoop to the level of Dabz, you are too intelligent for that. In the USA, "Before an infringement suit may be filed in court, registration is necessary for works of U.S. origin". This is a direct quote from Circular 1 published by the U.S. Copyright office. (Page 7, Heading "Copyright Registration", Paragraph 3.) was not sufficient and again seemed to lack full understanding of law. While agree with most of what you have be saying in this thread, this point could get somebody in trouble. Your criticism of my line really just amounts to semantics since as I said, one can still be sued for violation of copyright for something that has not yet been registered as registration can occur immediately before the suit. |
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| dmaz: Since you are struggling, let me quote again: "Before an infringement suit may be filed in court, registration is necessary for works of U.S. origin". This is a direct quote from Circular 1 published by the U.S. Copyright office. (Page 7, Heading "Copyright Registration", Paragraph 3.) The above is NOT an opinion, it is a fact and it is the law. registered as registration can occur immediately before the suit. Yes, you must register a copyright before you can file an infringement suit. |
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| Or you can happily settle, which a number of companies did with me after having used my artwork for their covers without my permission. |
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| If you want to playtest (this means you get the game for free) send an email to tetrashade at gmail with your basic computer specs. I need to find out what OSes it does and doesn't work on, most specifically. I cannot guarantee that sending an email will result in playtesting, but it's more than likely. latest screenshot, that shows the aftermath of a couple special blocks:  |
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| To me, the screenshots look *way* to dark for this game to be actually half-way playable on my PC... |
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| May I ask how heavy it is sizewise (kb...MB?) (No, I'm not like the bum who asks what kind of fish's in the doggybag...LOL) |
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| @xlsior it's supposed to be difficult, if not impossible, to see blocks that are covered by several others. @Taron The sound and graphics bring it up to almost 5 megabytes. I need playtesters! send your basic system specs to Tetrashade at gmail |
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| it's supposed to be difficult, if not impossible, to see blocks that are covered by several others. I can barely make up the second line from the top in your screenshot, and just five isolated dots on various lines below that. :-? The block that's falling looks like it's three dots, instead of an inverted L... Based on the screenshots it's something that wouldn't stay on my computer for more than 5 seconds. (Which is too bad, since I do like Tetris) |
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| jhc Gary, what is wrong with you? are you telling me, you actually don't see how your comment was incomplete?! |
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| dmaz: If you have an issue with the copyright law as it is written, then you need to take it up with the government. My quote from the circular was complete and unedited. |
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| I'll have to lessen the shadow effect just a bit then, I suppose. And c'mon! I need people to test this on different OSes! I don't know how cross-platform or non-cross-platform this game is! |
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| Gary, I have no issue with the law and you know it... but since you think your 2 sentence quote is sufficient to summarize a 350 page law, then I guess we are done here. |
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| but since you think your 2 sentence quote It is not my quote, it is a quote from the US Copyright office. As I said, you need to take the issue up with them and inform them of their mistake. |
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| another one, you sir are the master of the straw man. |
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