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Geek Culture / Could EA sue me over this?

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Yodaman Jer
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Posted: 8th Apr 2011 21:02
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Hey guys,

so recently I started playing all of the Harry Potter games for PC again (well, the first three anyway), and I must admit that the lack of use of HUGE, OPEN spaces in the castle for secret areas and other things in the third game annoys the heck out of me as a game designer wannabe. Thinking over it the last couple of days, I've decided I want to try and make my own "magical adventure platformer" game with a few concepts similar to all of the HP games, the main ones being...

1) To learn a spell, you must take a class and practice it in an exercise challenge
2) To cast a spell, use the mouse to aim and release the button to fire
3) You can collect some sort of trading currency (in the HP games it's Bertie Botts every flavor beans, not sure what'd be in my case) that allows you to purchase new items to keep in your inventory
4) Big, expansive maps with multiple paths, secret passageways, completely secret areas (some secret areas will have secret areas in them as well, and will require you to gather certain things before you can access them, thus hopefully adding to the replay value)

Now obviously, some of those things are pretty much a rip-off of Harry Potter. I'm just wondering, could EA sue me over this if I made the game publicly available? If I wrote my own story for the game and just changed the style of, say, how the spells interact with objects so that it didn't look like HP, would I have nothing to worry about? The way I see it, pretty much EVERY magical adventure game (RPG?) has pretty much all of these elements, so I don't think EA could exclusively sue me... Jeku, what's your take on this?

Now I realize that making a game like this is going to take a VERY long time. I'm not planning on making it anytime soon honestly...but I am going to start working on a story for it! Just don't expect anything soon.


New posts every week!
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Indicium
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Posted: 8th Apr 2011 21:19
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I don't really know anything, but I don't think they can unless it relates directly to harry potter.

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Quik
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Posted: 8th Apr 2011 21:28
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Quote: "I don't really know anything, but I don't think they can unless it relates directly to harry potter.
"


this.


[Q]uik, Quiker than most
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Interplanetary Funk
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Posted: 8th Apr 2011 22:01
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I THINK that they can't sue you unless you use their intellectual property, e.g. models, story lines, you can't call your character or game harry potter etc, so basically if it's entirely original or licensed media then you should be fine, also, I'm nowhere near one hundred percent about this, but I think that if you release it for free and use the harry potter storyline then you should be fine due to fair usage laws etc, but don't quote me on that and double check with a lawyer if you really need to.

Get on my level
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heyufool1
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Posted: 8th Apr 2011 22:02
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No they can't, I mean just think about all of the war related FPS's out there. They all have many many things similar between the two. Sometimes I can't even tell the difference between two games because they are practically the same.

Besides, if it would be illegal for you to make this game then EA would send a cease and desist letter (C&D) to you first.

"So hold your head up high and know, it's not the end of the road"
Avoider The Game
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Yodaman Jer
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Posted: 8th Apr 2011 22:09
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Thanks guys. The info is very much appreciated!

I'll get to work then. I think I even know how I'll do the spells...thank God for DBP's "Pick Object" command! Hell, I think I even know how I can make a level editor where I can set an object's magical properties, what type of spell it can interact with...Jeeze. I might be able to get a prototype up in a month or so!

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Ocho Geek
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Posted: 8th Apr 2011 22:23
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I would advise editor, its a pain to code at the start, but lets you zoom through the level creation

Pretending to be a useful contribution to the forums since 2005
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Yodaman Jer
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Posted: 8th Apr 2011 23:01
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Yeah, I've done a lot of experimenting with making my own editors (I've created at least 7 in the past), so I'm probably going to work on that and a test engine just to get things up and running. This'll be in a while though.

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tha_rami
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Posted: 8th Apr 2011 23:55 Edited at: 9th Apr 2011 02:09
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They can't sue you over game design, as game design is pretty much un-patentable. Lucky for us, imagine if someone patented jumping. We'd be in the same hell as mobile phone manufacturers.

They can sue you for names, art, music and other assets, though, but they'd more likely just shut you down. Avoid anything with copyright and you'll be fine.

Come up with your own, unique and original ideas and you'll be great, tho'.

Business guy and developer at [url]www.vlambeer.com[/url] - bringing back arcade since 1956.
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Insert Name Here
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Posted: 8th Apr 2011 23:59
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IANAL

What you're describing sounds just more magic-generic than Harry Potter, you're almost definately safe. In any case, it's highly unlikely that EA would sue you just for making a one man indie game, especially one that isn't sold. The furthest they'd go would be a cease and desist, and even that seems unlikely.

If films such as 'Transmorphers' can be made without problems, I'm sure you're fine

I should also point out, this sounds like an awesome idea. Would it be a 3PS? Because there aren't many wizard 3PSs.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me." That's a bit like saying Hey bullies! So yeah, this words thing isn't working, but I'll tell you what will
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Jeku
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Posted: 10th Apr 2011 10:27
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Yah I'd say you're safe, but I'm not a lawyer of course Pretty much every game is a rip of another game in one way or another.


Senior Web Developer - Nokia
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Yodaman Jer
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Posted: 11th Apr 2011 21:53
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@INH:

I'm not sure what "3PS" means...so I dunno one way or another what my answer will be on that question yet.

Thanks for the information guys! I'll be sure to post updates on how this project progresses. I'm going to play the original three HP games all over again to get an idea for level design, game mechanics and other such things. It's all *ahem* "research". I'll probably start working on a test level in a few weeks to see what all I can figure out how to do.

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Interplanetary Funk
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Posted: 11th Apr 2011 22:17
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3ps = 3rd person shooter (not necessarily a shooting game thought)

Get on my level
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Wolf
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Posted: 12th Apr 2011 15:28
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The Answer is No

Feel free to make your game and let us know what it comes out like



-Wolf

God Helps the Beast in Me!
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Eminent
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Posted: 13th Apr 2011 02:19
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Hell, I don't even think they can sue you even if you named your main character Potter Harry. But lawyers have ways with words.


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PrimalBeans
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Posted: 13th Apr 2011 06:29
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pothead harry lol

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crispex
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Posted: 13th Apr 2011 06:32
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Using the intellectual property statement in court is a bit edgy, because you have to prove that the base code is completely identical, or only having few minute similarities. If you named your characters Henry Plotter, had them commit the same spells, etc. then they might have a case, but generally I wouldn't worry. You have to have a VERY strong case for intellectual property claims to actually make a "splash" in court.

I just now realized I've had a typo in my signature for the past 3 years.
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