Dr Greenthumb Posted January 18, 2006 Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 Hey all.I have posted a couple of threads lately mentioning me starting a business.things are moving ahead with my website but i need to use images and descriptions of games. So i needed to know would i be breaching copyright infringements if i took the images and information i need from the games official site?If i could get you opinions that would be good.Cheers Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siders77 Posted January 18, 2006 Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 Just send them an E-mail before you do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anzo Posted January 18, 2006 Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 Not many company will argue with you promoting their product. I've done this before and heres a few tips, not everyone says yes!1. Be organised, even if you're not, pretend to be for them.2. Write a professional letter, in my experience a written letter is better and is more likely to get results, a written letter will show enfusiasm and, once again, will make you look professional and a letter will seem more personal.3. Don't give up. If the big companies refuse you permission, ask why. Change your business to their 'standards' and try again.4. and finally...NEVER OFFER ROYALTIES!Any company will take royalties if they are offered, don't try to use it as bribary. If they demand royalties then far enough.------------Advice offered, however, never worked for me I've been seeking permission from many, many poster companies (GB Posters ect) but no one wants any of it...bastards. I kept being denied because of the use of the posters...eg. buying posters and making them into another profitable source...but, they don't like that sorta thing.good luck to you, let us know how it works out.Out of interest, which producers are you going after? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poopipe Posted January 18, 2006 Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 Copyright wise...you can rewrite a description of a game in your own words and publish ityou can't copy&paste a description of a game (or large chunks of it) and publish it.with copyright, you're guilty before anyone complains (i think - ask a lawyer) ..If we're talking Intellectual Property rights - which you may be in some cases. It's the offended party's responsibility to complain - not your responsibility to ask for permission. You're not guilty until someone complains.eg. If you drew an accurate picture of spiderman but called him arachno-man and published it you'd be fine unless Fox complained (I think they still own him).It's also their responsibility to set a precedent - ie. If they've let others get away with it then they pretty much have to let you get away with it (which is why Fox don't let anyone get away with anything)Anyway - in practice, the likelyhood of you getting in any trouble for re-using a screenshot of a game is pretty low. I used to work building sites for a web travel agent in greece and we used to steal pictures wholesale from all over the place, We were blatantly making money off other peoples work and we never got in any trouble (I quit for ethical reasons in the end - well, that and cos the tax over there is fooking horrendous)As long as you aren't ripping off whole articles without even making the effort to rearrange the odd full stop or correct their spelling you ought to be ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Greenthumb Posted January 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2006 i'm pretty much going after all major producers as i will be selling xbox, ps2 and psp games. If i used a games description from say play.com, or amazon say, then just re-worded it and jumbled it around a bit that would be ok?At the end of the day it's promoting and selling their product so surely there wouldn't be a problem. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaRtZ Posted January 19, 2006 Report Share Posted January 19, 2006 You could ask the game product owner for a description that you can sell it by? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deagledaddy Posted January 19, 2006 Report Share Posted January 19, 2006 surely the supplier who you get the games from will be able to sort you ut with descriptions you are allowed to use? unless they are knocked off or copied games, in which case its illegal anyway. I always thought as long as you quote and refrence the place you get the information its 'ok' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomR Posted January 19, 2006 Report Share Posted January 19, 2006 If you obtain persmission from anyone for anything get it in the form of a letter and not an email, emails arent legally binding in court as anybody could have sent it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anzo Posted January 19, 2006 Report Share Posted January 19, 2006 The reason why companies back out of copyright permission is not the fact that you are promoting their products, its often about HOW you are promoting it and if you and your business are good enough.An example being that would you allow your computer company to be advertised by a company with a bad reputation? Of course not, as it reflects on yourself.More often then not, companies won't really care about your company history (unless you're becoming a verified dealer), so really its just first appearances. Have a classy website, good spelling/grammar...make it professional, not personal.Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Thomson Posted January 19, 2006 Report Share Posted January 19, 2006 2. Write a professional letter, in my experience a written letter is better and is more likely to get results, a written letter will show enfusiasm and, once again, will make you look professional and a letter will seem more personal.Unless you write like a tard, in which case jsut word process the letter, print and send (Y0I doubt they'd want a 'deal' with a company whos owned wries like a 5 year old... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anzo Posted January 19, 2006 Report Share Posted January 19, 2006 Unless you write like a tard, in which case jsut word process the letter, print and send (Y0I doubt they'd want a 'deal' with a company whos owned wries like a 5 year old...Opps, I meant a word processed letter agains't an email...forgot to add that little bit in there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poopipe Posted January 19, 2006 Report Share Posted January 19, 2006 If i used a games description from say play.com, or amazon say, then just re-worded it and jumbled it around a bit that would be ok?In essence, yes. As long as it's not obviously ripped off you should be ok. I wouldn't worry about contacting the publishers - If they're selling you the stock then they're obviously going to be fine with you advertising it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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