Mecinia Lua
Galactic Express
Frontier Trade League
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Posted - 2008.03.18 07:57:00 -
[1]
 Originally by: Yakia TovilToba
Few years ago i was playing a german browser-game, called Droidwars. One day they got a call from a lawyer from Lucas Arts, who was demanding to change the name, as the name and concept of "droids" was intellectual property owned by Lucas Arts. After consulting a lawyer, the company running the browser-game changed the name (to d-wars).
When we look at EvE, most of the names and ideas are either unique/invented by CCP (races, ship-designs) or common scifi-names (spaceships, lasers etc.).
Others are not.
For example Stargates: "Ring-shaped devices that create a wormhole enabling teleportation to complementary devices located cosmic distances away" (Stargates from Stargate Series) might be intellectual property of MGM ?
Or things like the "Warp Drives", which is a term/idea originating from the fictional universe of Star Treck.
I'm not a lawyer, don't know if those things are seen as registered design or are issues of copyrights, but i don't think CCP can just use those names and ideas without permission, maybe one day they might get a call from a lawyer of the companies that own this intellectual property, who is then not only asking to change the names but for paying a profit-sharing bonus because of using another companys intellectual property for CCP's product.
Stargates are not owned IP, they exist in a plethora of science fiction. They basically work on some of the more esoteric calculations of Einstein, and others who built upon his work.
Warp Drive while it originated with Star Trek has since leaked out into normal usage. If at some point scientist invent such engines they'll be called warp drives. Its usuage is not a violation of the copyright because though it mechanically functions similarly in EVE we do not use Star Trek terminolgy such as warp factor etc.
It is very common to use terms and conditions from previous science fiction works.
Thoughts expressed are mine and mine alone. They do not necessarily reflect my alliances thoughts. |