Erm, shock gaming news

[New Damage]

I think we should get Joe Recreation-Area, Esq. (the brother of Chasm) on the case.

[Lint]

At the very least, his characters could be considered a parody, which is perfectly legal. Just ask Weird Al. He asks for permission to parody songs because he's a nice guy, but he doesn't legally have to have permission to do it.

But also, by getting permission, Weird Al gets song writers credits

[RPS]

At the very least, his characters could be considered a parody, which is perfectly legal.

\

There is a parody exception for copyright, which is the area of intellectual property Weird Al would find himself in trouble. Weird Al is parodying songs and often breaches copyright because he is borrowing heavily from aspects of the song that are protected under copyright - like chord arrangements, for example. He gets away with it because of the parody exception. But a name of a wrestler or a company or a perfume isn't subject to copyright. It's subject to trademarks. Trademarks, for the most part, don't have a parody exception like copyright. It affects the legal test for a trademark, whether there would be a likelihood of confusion. Parodies can often be argued to not confuse people (because it is a parody) but the finding of something being a parody is not determinative that it won't confuse. Something can be a parody of a trademark and still be found to confuse people and therefore be an infringement of somebody's trademark rights.

[gunnar hendershow]

Especially if it's an individual right?

I'm thinking of someone who has ownership over their character, putting in layman's terms which is what I'm trying to do, and uses it to make money. Couldn't they make an argument that being in this game confuses people about what their real name is, and thus affects them when they go to autograph signings, conventions, and even when they wrestle? It's not terribly far-fetched.

I don't take Intellectual Property until the fall so my knowledge is based on just a few readings.

[RPS]

Yeah, they could. All of that evidence about confusion regarding autograph signings and conventions would really prove the point that people were confusing the parody with the actual mark.

The thing about the WWE is that around the time e-feds/fantasy leagues/wrestling sims got really big, the WWE was really really protective of their intellectual property. They really didn't like people using copyrighted photos or their trademarks for their characters and e-fed promotions. They sent around a lot of cease and desist orders in the early 2000's. If I recall correctly, Promotion Wars (EWR rival) may have received a C&D order from the WWE regarding the use of their trademarks and copyrighted material. I believe what he did was just released the game with parody names. WWE didn't sue Promotion Wars, probably because he was releasing the game for-free and WWE didn't really care to go after some guy releasing a game for free and who probably didn't have the money to put up a legal fight. If somebody were releasing a game for profit, was getting lots of press coverage and had significant investments, the WWE might consider suing, especially if they ever wanted to crack the wrestling simulation market.

Edited June 4, 2012 by RockPaperScissors

[Plubby]

Interesting.

If only there was someone with significant investments looking to crack the wrestling simulation market with a for-profit game containing questionable/borderline parodies....

[Gazz]

Interesting.

If only there was someone with significant investments looking to crack the wrestling simulation market with a for-profit game containing questionable/borderline parodies....

I think Arlie Rahn is quite happy publishing Ryland's games for the moment...

[Walker]

What if he becomes a gazillionaire and buys the forum out of spite? We'll sure be screwed then!