Dead Title?
greyorm:
I have a problem. My problem is this: Dead Space is a game I've been working on since early 2004. But recently I discovered that EA games is producing a video game called...Dead Space, with comics and a movie planned. I wasn't too nervous about it at first, but I've been reconsidering that recently as more info about the game and additional properties connected to it have come up.
My RPG is a game about being "utterly alone amidst the horrors that crawl the blackness between stars and writhe as endless armies upon dead worlds beneath black, dim suns."
The video game is a survival shooter, where you play the lone survivor of a rescue team fighting zombie-like/parasite aliens dug up from a dead world who attack and destroy an orbiting mining colony.
I don't honestly care if they riffed the idea, or even if they didn't and the similarities are absolutely coincidental, whatever, sounds like a fun game -- but I am concerned I'll lose any possible rights to the name and perhaps even the ability to eventually publish my RPG given those similarities and given the size/power of EA games should they decide to attempt to stop my publication/usage despite my prior knowledge. What are my options, here? Anyone been in this situation before that can offer advice?
(BTW, "see a lawyer" is great advice, but I'm afraid I'm poor. What are the options for those too poor to afford a lawyer under our wondrous capitalist system of law?)
Note that the video game was first announced in the final quarter of 2007. I originally announced my RPG here on the Forge in the 2004 birthday forums as a project in the works. I've also discussed it elsewhere across the intervening years, though not much.
Also, anyone who recalls discussing the system, concept, or setting with me since 2004 -- in person, via forum or e-mail, or via telephone -- please fire a PM my way.
guildofblades:
I understand you have been working on the title for a good amount of time now, but the reality is, unless you filed for a registered trademark or have published a stack on the claim to the trademark that pre dates any such claim they have to it or their registration for it, then its theirs and there is simply nothing you can do about it.
With that, you can make a case for parallel development and if you would like you can try and present that case to someone at EA and try to get them to sign off on them having no problem with you using the trademark specifically for your RPG. But failing that, honestly, you are just asking to be sued at this point if you try to use it.
So...
Change the name of your game.
Ryan S. Johnson
Guild of Blades Retail Group - http://www.guildofblades.com/retailgroup.php
Guild of Blades Publishing Group - http://www.guildofblades.com
1483 Online - http://www.1483online.com
Blankshield:
Well, EA hasn't registered a trademark for Dead Space, at least, not according to their legal notice on the site, so it does open up your options a little bit - IE: you don't have to start by challenging the mark.
You can:
keep on as you are, and expect to fly under their radar. If they notice you, they'll likely issue a 'cease and desist' style legal letter. If you don't cease and desist, it will involve an expensive legal battle (that you could probably win, having fairly straightforward evidence of prior art - except that it would be stupid expensive to fight).
or, like the man says, change the name.
Sucks, man. :(
James
Brennan Taylor:
I have run into this problem twice previously. It's definitely annoying, but I just sucked it up and changed the name.
Eero Tuovinen:
My own approach to this would be to write them and tell them about it - how you have been working on a game with the same title and similar premise since 2004. Tell them that you don't think it'll impact either party any way, as your target audiences are so different. My impression is that EA is controlled by clumsy jurists, so probably they don't want to deal, but that's the courteous option, and sometimes these large entertainment companies surprise with their sensible legal departments - they are just rarely given a choice in the matter as nobody seems to believe that they could make the right choice.
After they deny you, you'll either have to change the name or contest the thing in court. Changing the name is the sensible thing - you don't really lose anything, there are lots of good names out there and you can even make it a contest for some publicity if you want. If something like this ever happened to me and I had solid proof of it, I'd contest it - but I'm an annoying bastard with nothing to lose but my pride, so that's probably not so good for the good ol' humble salt of the earth type. Besides, I'd be curious to see if it's really so expensive and uncertain as people make it out to be to stand for your rights in court; it's said a lot, but first-hand experience is always the best thing about actually living.
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