# Developing iPOD game app of existing board game **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 19, 2009, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-ipod-game-app-of-existing-board-game/486562 "2009-02-19T16:38:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rainy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@rainy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rainy)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-ipod-game-app-of-existing-board-game/486562/1 "2009-02-19T16:38:56Z")
Would you run afoul of any laws if you developed a iPOD app of a game that is currently a published board game - specifically if you were doing so to take to the publisher in an effort to acquire rights to use their material. Seems to me that in courting a company or publisher to gain rights to use their material it will always come down to how exactly it is used as an end product. That is to say, if they liked the idea of having their product presented in another medium I would imagine they would structure the agreement to have final veto rights all the way through until release. If you built a cludgy app, they would not want it associated with their property. So should you approach them and say “I have built an app based on your game and am interested in entering into a relationship with you?” Or have you already crossed some line at that point that will keep them from ever considering your proposal? I am assuming, of course, that you have in no way released this app, nor do you plan to do anything with it if they put the kaboosh on the whole thing. -rainy I thought this might be a better forum for this question (rather than the game room) since it concerns rights to published material. Apologies if I placed it in the wrong area. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-ipod-game-app-of-existing-board-game/486562/2 "2009-02-19T16:46:47Z")
I think it all depends on who you talk to at the company and how good their and your lawyers are. Crap shoot all the way. I would suspect you’d be better off developing your own “version” of that sort of game, without ever mentioning the game you’re mimicking. Don’t use any artwork from the original game. Even then, if you’re profiting from it you might run into trouble. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-ipod-game-app-of-existing-board-game/486562/3 "2009-02-19T17:02:51Z")
If you’re not already an established game developer you probably won’t make much headway with them. There are lots of little development houses that do contract work like this. If the company wanted an iPod version of their game they wouldn’t have any trouble finding someone to make it for them. Why should they work with someone with no track record? I’ll second what **control-z** said – change enough of the game so that you’re not infringing the original copyright and release it without the license. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-ipod-game-app-of-existing-board-game/486562/4 "2009-02-19T18:38:42Z")
I’d just do some digging and find out how Lux Touch managed to make a clone of Risk. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-ipod-game-app-of-existing-board-game/486562/5 "2009-02-19T18:45:17Z")
Legally, I think you’ll be in the clear until you **publish**. You can do whatever you like if you keep it to yourself. Whether you would want to develop the complete game before clearing with the copyright (trademark? whatever) holder is another matter, and quite probably there isn’t a definitive answer. On the one hand, if you have a finished product and it works well, it may be easier to come to some kind of agreement with the rights holder. On the other hand, if they refuse, you can probably count on them keeping a very close interest in what you’re publishing - from what I gather, most big game companies are keen on not having their stuff plagiarized, and I don’t think just changing the name and the art work will be enough to keep the lawsuits away. ---
**Author:** ![rainy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@rainy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rainy)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-ipod-game-app-of-existing-board-game/486562/6 "2009-02-20T15:34:45Z")
> [@Pochacco](#): > > There are lots of little development houses that do contract work like this. If the company wanted an iPod version of their game they wouldn’t have any trouble finding someone to make it for them. Why should they work with someone with no track record? I’ve no doubt that is true of the bigger publishers. But some of the small publishers I’ve been exposed to were full up just trying to keep the lights on and their main product going out the door. I was thinking a smaller house like that might look favorably on someone showing up at the door with a completed product. The developer earning their share by having made the app, the publisher earning their share by virtue of owning the source material. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-ipod-game-app-of-existing-board-game/486562/7 "2009-02-20T17:15:46Z")
> [@rainy](#): > > I’ve no doubt that is true of the bigger publishers. But some of the small publishers I’ve been exposed to were full up just trying to keep the lights on and their main product going out the door. I was thinking a smaller house like that might look favorably on someone showing up at the door with a completed product. The developer earning their share by having made the app, the publisher earning their share by virtue of owning the source material. Yeah, I was thinking in terms of a company like Hasbro or Wizards of the Coast. But if it’s a small indie boardgame company that’s an entirely different matter. In that case I’d contact them and lay out what you’d like to do. Structure your proposal so it’s essentially found money for them. No risk, but possible reward. The worst that can happen is that they say no. Merely creating a copycat game isn’t a violation of their copyright. You have to try to sell it to give them some grounds to sue you. Purely as a negotiating point, however, I wouldn’t reveal up front how much work I’d done. (I’m assuming you’ve already done some.) If they think you’ve sunk a lot of resources into it, they may conclude they can drive a harder bargin because you’re less likely to walk away from it. Pitch it as “I’ve identified an opportunity that will make money for both of us at no risk to you. Are you interested?” ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-ipod-game-app-of-existing-board-game/486562/8 "2009-02-20T19:08:24Z")
I am not into copyright law at all, but when I tried the [s3dconnector.net](http://s3dconnector.net) version of _Settlers of Catan_ I found this in the faq to the site: > [@](#): > > Is Sea3D legal? > That’s a good question. The short answer: to the best of my knowledge, absolutely. > > The long answer: I am not a lawyer, but I have looked into the copyright laws related to games in the United States and here is what I have discovered: _The idea for a game is not in any way copyrighted. In fact, neither is the actual name of the game. What is copyrighted is the particular way it is represented, i.e. artwork, rule text, etc._ So from a straight reading of the copyright law of the United States, Sea3D is completely legal, because it does not use any original artwork from the board game, nor contain any text from any of the rules distributed with the game by Mayfair or Kosmos. Furthermore, I have removed all references to “Catan” from anything having to do with the game so as to stay as completely distant from anything that might be a registered trademark as possible. The game I have written is distributed completely freely, and is in fact, open source. I have never made money from it, and have given thousands of hours of my own free time to making it and maintaining it, as well as spent hundreds of dollars of my own resources in its development and in running the site. In summary, I have done everything I know how to to ensure that what I am doing is legal, and will willingly and quickly conform to anything I have done that is pointed out as noncompliant. º ---
**Author:** ![rainy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@rainy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rainy)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-ipod-game-app-of-existing-board-game/486562/9 "2009-02-20T19:24:18Z")
> [@Pochacco](#): > > In that case I’d contact them and lay out what you’d like to do. Structure your proposal so it’s essentially found money for them. No risk, but possible reward. That’s pretty much exactly what I was thinking. > [@Pochacco](#): > > If they think you’ve sunk a lot of resources into it, they may conclude they can drive a harder bargin because you’re less likely to walk away from it. Pitch it as “I’ve identified an opportunity that will make money for both of us at no risk to you. Are you interested?” That’s a good point. I hadn’t thought of the negotiations from their side of the table. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![rainy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@rainy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rainy)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-ipod-game-app-of-existing-board-game/486562/10 "2009-02-20T19:28:12Z")
> [@Panurge](#): > > I am not into copyright law at all, but when I tried the [s3dconnector.net](http://s3dconnector.net) version of _Settlers of Catan_ I found this in the faq to the site: Wow, thousands of hours. I’m not that much into a “labor of love.” Small houses pay so little for stuff anyway, a good friend of mine published a board game through a small publisher and he doesn’t like to do the math on what he got paid versus what went into it. He did ALL the board, box, and rules manual art, plus developing the system.