How is Copyright working?!

Hi! I want to make a game about a famous person and I'm not sure how the copyright works.

Can I get rid of it by making just a free online game?

What if I don't?

Hi, I am not a lawyer so don't count on it that following is accurate

it all depends on the country - so I don't have any clue about Iran, but I think a lot of smaller celebrities would avoid going into a legal battle with an Iranian citizen (except of course he is from Iran himself).

If you put your stuff on sites like google play then, if you get spotted, they will take down your game or even your account. Also consider that if you host it the laws where the hoster has its servers or company will also be an issue.

By law it doesn't matter if it's free or not (especially European law), but in practice this makes a huge difference.

If it is comedy you are better off - here there are a lot of laws to allow you to do stuff to public persons as long as it serves comedy (especially US, but also Europe).

The official way would be to contact the management of the person and ask. But there is a slim to no chance they will say yes without some huge demands.

Hi, I am not a lawyer so don't count on it that following is accurate

it all depends on the country - so I don't have any clue about Iran, but I think a lot of smaller celebrities would avoid going into a legal battle with an Iranian citizen (except of course he is from Iran himself).

If you put your stuff on sites like google play then, if you get spotted, they will take down your game or even your account. Also consider that if you host it the laws where the hoster has its servers or company will also be an issue.

By law it doesn't matter if it's free or not (especially European law), but in practice this makes a huge difference.

If it is comedy you are better off - here there are a lot of laws to allow you to do stuff to public persons as long as it serves comedy (especially US, but also Europe).

The official way would be to contact the management of the person and ask. But there is a slim to no chance they will say yes without some huge demands.

Actually, There is NO copyright rule in Iran and no one can do anything to me if I want to do anything to me but they can bring down my game from non-Iranian servers.

Thank you a lot for helping

no matter if you are from Iran or not... you can make any game you want about who you want... on internet... its a matter of you hosting the game on a US server or European server where the laws of that country are not abused like the ones in Iran... where your webhosting service or website name can be confiscated by the powers in your country... just cause they feel like it...... so... make ur game... as long as it will be free of charge since your game will be based on a existing real person... most copyrights.... allow you to do "jokes" or free videos/games etc about the specific product, brand, person etc. in the limit of a good humor. if the person who owns the copyright doesn't want your game out there... that is based on him ... he will contact you to remove it ... if you dont... they will call the people who hosts your server/website/etc and it will be taken down anyway.

even if in Iran there is no copyright law... on internet is... and even Iran Web servers are having copyright laws forced upon them by the ICANN organization.

(ICANN - this are the people who allows you to create a new .com .furniture .fabulous names for websites ... even .ir is verified by them first.)

my suggestion for you... use the person you want... but dont use his face... just hist character... like you have the pewdiepie logo... but instead of a blond guy -who resembles pewds...use a panda that has the title fabulous and blond hair... lol ... u get me? but if its pewdiepie the guy who you want to use in ur game... u dont have to worry about copyrights... pewds its not going to come for copyrights when comes to kids making games.

— - that's very bad advice

[quote:2jgh0swb]...so... make ur game... as long as it will be free of charge ... most copyrights.... allow you to do "jokes" ... in the limit of a good humor. if the person who owns the copyright doesn't want your game out there ... he will contact you to remove it

First of all, it's not a copyright problem

It's a Right of Publicity problem and is becoming one of the most important issues in gaming

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/StephenMcArthur/20141117/230361/Right_of_Publicity_in_Video_Games__How_You_Can_Legally_Include_a_Celebrity_in_Your_Game.php

Then there is the trademark issue. A lot of people have a trademark too (like Trump tried to trademark "you are fired") -

Copyright problem occurs if you use their picture (somebody shot it) or their music.

Free or not the same law applies in theory

If you are hungry and you steal food it's still theft, but you can get away with a slap on your hand.

So if it's free, it's more likely that nothing happens, but don't count on it.

Parody, Fair Use, and First Amendment Defenses

Ends where someone else’s Right of Publicity begins - and this line is very blurry. So it's easy for a celebrity to start a lawsuit.

Cease and desist letter

This is the first thing you will get if somebody doesn't like your work - and this usually comes with some amount of money you have to pay.

So please consult a lawyer to be sure.

— - that's very bad advice

yea i know .... i think he wold be better doing a original concept then all that hustling ...

—

fm4fanAT

Thank you both for advises