the indie games laws protection topic

hey all, any experienced game maker who already published on the market can help me?

Say if I make a game with CS2 and publish it via android/ios stores, what you must do on the minimum at least for avoid legal issues like :

Steal

Legal issues about something

Copyright

Greetings balkazar!

I've thought about this topic as well and have a few things to keep in mind. These are only my opinions and semi-rational observations, so take it with a grain of salt.

• do some research before publishing a game to see what's on the market (title, content, etc); try to be pro-active so you don't step on any toes.

• someone is going to copycat your work, especially if it's popular (look at all the minecraft knock-offs); in the age of hyper-fast always-on media, there's no avoiding it. Try to get your product out to as many places as possible and maybe awareness will help dilute some of the copying.

• as for piracy, I'm not sold that anti-piracy/DRM is the way to go. It makes it harder for casual users and honest customers unless you have a real top-notch service handling it (like Steam, which still has issues). If someone wants the game bad enough and they're skilled enough, they'll find a way to steal it no matter what you do; adding extra layers of security is, in my opinion, just introducing more headaches and hurdles.

• I have no idea how copyright / IP laws work in Europe, but in the US the copyright is assumed upon the first creation of a work. Registering the work ensures there is a public record that can hold up in court, but it is not necessary to claim copyright. Obviously if the project is a money-maker and turns out to be popular, registering ownership can't hurt.

Take care!

being the first to publish the work on the various appstores is enough to demonstrate that you were first in line.

Apple are trying their best to remove apps that are 99% clones. If you find a game 99% similar to yours just report to Apple. Google won't care though.