(08-06-2018, 11:19 PM)Lord Windos Wrote: @Spiritmon , @Dragonstrike , @PhantomUnderYourDesk

I fully approve of this discussion concerning Nintendo's practice of defending their copyright , and all opinions there of, including and especially the critical ones. I see no problem with my Meta Thread being a host for this conversation, as for the time being my Game is on stall, and its a nice way to kill the time between updates on Iron's and my own game. Under no circumstances do I not want people getting worked up over it, but I also do not want to see others try to outright stifle arguments. Clear?

As for my own opinions on the matter, I have already stated them on the forums, but I will reiterate them now: Nintendo is well within their rights to enforce copyright as they have done so, but at the same time that does not leave them immune to criticism for it, nor for how draconian and/or harshly they do so at times, especially for projects such as Uranium that were clearly non-profit tributes to their inspiration games. Additionally, while Nintendo is certainly a business, and a business' end goal is to make as much profits as profitable, how they go about it and treat their consumer/fanbase while doing so/tangently is another matter entirely. I do not think I need to elaborate on the practices of AAA publishers such as EA, Ubisort, Activision-Blizzard, Warner Brother etc. , and how informed gamers/consumer advocates/non-industry affiliated media/journalistic outfits perceive them, to show how the argument of making profit is not entirely a bastion of defense.

For the matter of credit being given where its due, if a Game Company makes a good enough video game and put the proper amount of media coverage to ensure it gets its 15 minutes in the spotlight, it will get all the attention and praise it deserves, and the sales that correspond to it. A fangame tribute that is both inferior in advancements and totally free should not in anyway severely and/or negatively impact sales and attention of Game Company's game.....unless the product they are market is clearly inferior to the tribute in one manner or in multiple. In that case....well, its as the old saying goes: you reap what you sow.

(08-07-2018, 12:23 AM)Dragonstrike Wrote: I do agree that Nintendo can be a little too harsh at times with copyright enforcement.  Youtubers used to have a lot of trouble with that a few years back.  Still do to this day on ocassion iirc.

Prism and Uranium both getting C&Ded was definitely a sad thing to hear since they both had almost 10 years of (on and off) work put into them.  These things happen, though.  And I think a part of the reason why they were slammed on so hard after their 15 minutes of fame was because if they weren't shut down, Nintendo couldn't guarantee these freelancing developers went on to make another game using copyrighted stuff.  And another.  And another...

I love me some good fan works.  Imitation is often the best kind of flattery when done well, after all.  Imitate it too well, though, and do it for less than what the original is being offered for...well, that can cause problems for the original.

There's a fine line between fair use and copyright infringment, unfortunately.  The best you can do to not cross the line while toeing it is to do it with the understanding that you're not the one who decides where that line is, and avoid drawing too much attention from the ones who do.

Phoenix Rising, Azurite, Sage...that's exactly what they're all doing right now.  They've all gone to ground in some fashion since the Uranium and Prism takedowns.  Sage is probably the most extreme of them since their subreddit isn't public anymore.  Azurite sees ocassional updates on development progress, but they're few and far between.  PR has the demo out, and they're open about the precautions they've taken (including removing 'Pokemon' from the game's title).

Lke it or not, the copyright claims have made a strong impact on how fans create new content.  But if it means we have a better understanding of where Nintendo draws that line in the sand, is that entirely a bad thing?