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Geek Culture / Road Warrior. Copyrighted, or not?

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Fallout
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Posted: 25th Feb 2011 17:24 Edited at: 25th Feb 2011 17:25
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My next android game is going to be a post-apocalyptic road combat game. Road Warrior jumped out at me as an awesome title, but then I remembered there is this ...



A quality movie I have in my collection! Now I'm obviously not ripping it off, and I'm not gonna use any Mad Max content in the game, but the fact still stands that there is a trademark for a post-apocalyptic car film, with lots of car combat, using the same name.

So by making a game with that title, do you think I run the risk of running too close to the intellectual property?

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Libervurto
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Posted: 26th Feb 2011 04:04
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It does appear to be close to the wire but you'll have to do some research into copyright law or talk to someone who knows about it, we could all say it was fine to use the name but we aren't experts!


Everything worthwhile requires effort.
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Virtual Nomad
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Posted: 26th Feb 2011 04:29 Edited at: 26th Feb 2011 04:31
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Quote: "post-apocalyptic road combat
...
Road Warrior
...
post-apocalyptic car film
...
I'm obviously not ripping it off"


if it was obvious, you wouldn't be asking the question

i'm no guru, (and obese hit it right on the head with the "we could all say it was fine" comment) but, common sense says if there's a connection (and there obviously is), don't do it.

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PrimalBeans
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Posted: 26th Feb 2011 06:08 Edited at: 26th Feb 2011 06:14
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^ Usually if there is any doubt about the legality, just steer clear. I remember a fan made marvel looking game that was shut down by marvel because the characters resembled marvels xmen characters too much. The characters were not exact copies but close enough to get marvels attention. With the way piracy and copywrite infringement is today i wouldnt be suprised if major production companies are on legal rampages. Just steer clear and find yourself a nice cool untaken title.

Edit: I am no expert but i have looked into copywrite legalities a bit. One thing you have to consider also is that stings of words are not 100% protected by copywrite. Copying the title as your own is a different story. Were you might get away with this is using that as a description phrase, but the tiltle road warrior is a written pubished idea used in a title. Hopefully that makes sense.

Edit again(dont take this seriously...)

Dont name it mel gibsons wild ride ... lol

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Fallout
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Posted: 26th Feb 2011 10:11
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Yeah, I tend to agree with you guys. Having poked about, I found a game called Road Warrior anyway. Thought of some new names, such as Freeway Fighter, and that exists too. Every time you think of a good title, some other cheeky blighter has already taken it! So I finally decided on "Dead Road". It's not quite as good, but it's punchy, simple, to the point, and allows me to include zombies if I so wish.

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Jeff Miller
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Posted: 26th Feb 2011 11:42
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It is not a copyright issue, there being no copyright in a short title of a work. It is a trademark issue. Virtual Nomad begins the approach correctly by asking if there would be a perceived connection. This is not the type of "connection" that establishes access and a presumption of copying from a copyright standpoint, since you indicate you will not be copying content. Rather it is the connection that needs to be avoided from the trademark standpoint. The test in the U.S. would be whether the a prospective purchaser of your game beholding the title "Road Warrior" would mistakenly believe that the game was produced or licensed by the proprietor of the movie that bore the title 30 years ago. If so, it would be a trademark infringement. If not, then there is no problem. I believe the approach would be similar in the UK, but I am not certain.
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IanM
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Posted: 26th Feb 2011 13:33
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That covers my understanding in the UK too (IANAL) - it's the potential for confusion in the public that is the telling point here.

There's also a registered trademark for 'Road Warrior' in the UK related to gaming and games, so I'd stay clear.

For reference, here's the search page: http://www.ipo.gov.uk/tm/t-find/t-find-text/

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bruce3371
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Posted: 26th Feb 2011 17:44
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There was a similar discussion recently in PredHunt's 'Aliens vs Predator New Hope' WIP thread recently;

http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&b=25&t=159059&p=7

Big Corporations tend to protect their Trademarks as vigorously as they protect their Copyrights, an example of this (as already mentioned in PredHunt's thread) was Ford's recent lawsuit against Ferrari for using the name 'F150' for their new F1 racing car. Ford argued that the use of the name detracts from its own F-150 brand of best-selling pickup trucks.

As already mentioned by Jeff Miller it's the 'perceived connection' that's the problem.

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Fallout
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Posted: 26th Feb 2011 17:53
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Yeah, I agree and I see the perceived connection, even if I don't mean to imply it. Therefore I've gone for a new title! Damn trademarks!

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Jeff Miller
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Posted: 26th Feb 2011 22:09
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The reference to a UK registration by IanM means that the owner of the registration is entitled to a variety of legal presumptions if the dispute comes to a head. Instead of having to prove likelihood of confusion, he can sit back and encumber you to disprove it. In all countries, knocking out a registration is very difficult, and expensive, and the odds are not in your favor.

Regarding the F-150 issue, in the U.S. Ford has a second string to the bow, in a legal concept called "trademark dilution". Dumb as U.S. vehicle buyers may be, they are not likely to actually think that a Ferrari called a model F150 is actually produced by Ford. However, the Ford Model F-150 truck has been known (among males) notoriously for decades. I have visited sections of the country where almost every redneck house has one (they would not think of getting a sedan). So the theory goes, even if there is no likelihood of current confusion, the use of such a strong identifier - if others are allowed to sequentially use it for various purposes - would have a tendency to eventually dilute the capacity of the mark to serve as a unique identifier. This protection is only offered to very strong marks.
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Quik
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Posted: 28th Feb 2011 15:50
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I really hate the fact that tm for names, game movie aso names exist.
What will we see in the future? will all games be called WASCFD warrior because road warrior is taken?
oh wait, WASCFD warrior was taken aswell...

well you see my picture.. a simple NAME for a PRODUCT should be freely imo, ESPECIALLY digital ones. it gets a bit more complicated with physical objects lol


[Q]uik, Quiker than most
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That Guy John
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Posted: 1st Mar 2011 16:42 Edited at: 1st Mar 2011 16:45
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Basic story lines are copied all the time. When you start talking legalities, never depend on a forum like this for advice.

You can start a search on a site like this, better yet you can start here.

Check to see if "Road Warrior" is actually a registered trademark.
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PrimalBeans
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Posted: 1st Mar 2011 19:29
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What i was saying before is true though. The title Road Warrior is intellectual property of its publisher. TM isn't the only issue. I do agree though that you best bet is not here. Its going to be through research into the laws of copy write and trade mark etc. I just know (from personal research) that your up the creek on this one and as you've already done your best move is to steer clear and come up with another name.

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