How to Get Away with a Fan Game

[Ruth Studio]

I'm in a pre-development stage of creating a sequel to Final Fantasy Mystic Quest.

I've been mirroring many mechanics of the game ie weapon swapping in battle, auto-equip, linear world map and etc.

I know some will say this is the worst in the Final Fantasy series. I would say that opinion is subjective. To be honest, because the game barely has a plot screams potential for a sequel.

I am not creating a remake like that one fella who told everyone that Square-Enix endorsed his HD remake project. I will not be ripping off sprites. I want to create a sequel to Final Fantasy Mystic Quest and publish the game freely without worrying about a take down.

My plan:
Game will take place 20 years in the future. Some character in Final Fantasy Mystic Quest will be used in the sequel.
Use my own Sprites (Including Battle Sprites)
Create my own maps but use the maps from Final Fantasy Mystic Quest as a blueprint.
Call the game something like Mystic Quest to Glory
Use music like Final Fantasy Mystic Quest

Not sure if I am missing anything to avoid a take down.

 

[Raizen]

The music will be ripped? Anyway with that exception I think you are mostly fine, with so many original stuff, isn't it better to try to make it even more original? Like not using references, changing the maps a bit. Mechanics are mostly ok.

 

[MushroomCake28]

There is no way to be safe from copyright infringement. The simple fact that this fan game is a continuation of final fantasy game is a copyright infringement. Inspiration is allowed, but anything closer to that to the original source is a copyright infringement if you don't get the approval from the author.

Realistically you are unlikely to receive a takedown notice since they'll probably not even know your game exists. However, that doesn't mean that they won't take it down if they know about it.

EDIT: The title is misleading and could be reason for me to lock the thread. It almost seems like you are encouraging copyright infringement with that thread title.

 

[Ruth Studio]

The music will be ripped? Anyway with that exception I think you are mostly fine, with so many original stuff, isn't it better to try to make it even more original? Like not using references, changing the maps a bit. Mechanics are mostly ok.

I wish I can rip the music, but to stay under the radar I'm trying to find music like Final Fantasy Mystic Quest.

 

[Andar]

1) don't use ripped anything. Because using any resource without a licence gives an automatical cause for a takedown notice. Doesn't matter if graphic or audio, if the artist didn't give you licence to use something then you are breaking copyright when using it.

2) don't use trademarked names. That is different from copyrights and even more often a cause for a takedown, because trademark law is more restrict than copyright law even if they go hand in hand together.
Common names are rarely trademarked (because a trademark needs to be paid, copyright is automatic and free), but game titles (like that Final Fantasy) almost always are.
"Mystic Quest" is borderline - you'll have to check it for yourself. It might be trademarked on its own or not depending on how many trademarks the company thinks are needed.

3) remain unknown. Only the copyright holder can send a takedown notice, no one else. And he needs to know about you and your project to send you a notice.
That is the reason why sometimes fangames breaking copyright can remain online for many years, only to be suddenly taken down after the copyright holder finally learns about their existance. They were never legal, they just escaped notice by remaining obscure and unknown.
Get videos of your fangame distributed on youtube and you're down faster than you can look.

The only way to remain completely legal is to say "game inspired by XY" instead of "fangame of XY" and change enough of the names and settings (and maps and game mechanics) that it is clearly its own work.

 

[TheoAllen]

Do you know a game named "Star Control: Origin"?

As far as I know, the game is a remaster from the original star control. However, the dev didn't get permission from the original developer. So they decided to relabel all of the names with the new names. The ship model, the race model, all of the things, except the human race for obvious reason. And leave the title "star control" alone.

You could theoretically do the same. Remove all the references from the original FF. You want to make a sequel, so, obscure the name by using other names, leave the prequel story the same or similar (but using different names), that works too I suppose.

 

[Philosophus Vagus]

Well the easiest solution would be just don't release it, because what cannot be found (aside from your own personal hard drive) can't very well be litigated against can it?

Aside from that...just make it so ****ty it never picks up popularity. Won't guarantee you won't see litigation but most companies aren't gonna care about generic quest x with it's half a dozen downloads, because again they probably won't be able to find it.

Serious answer though, why does your fan game have to be a sequel to FF or whatever? Why not just let it be inspired from it but at the same time it's own creature? Like, I saw someone on this site basically do that with pokemon once, a game about catching and training monsters on an island, but the monsters weren't pokemon and the game wasn't called pokemon even though mechanically...the game was clearly a pokemon fangame, - the possibility of being sued and shut down (I think they even monetized it if I remember correctly. Don't quote me on that though, I didn't exactly follow it).

 

[Wavelength]

Not ripping any assets (such as sprites or music) will definitely help your case to avoid takedowns (and will allow you to publish your work to sites like this one). And of course, being non-commercial. If you're using characters, places, etc. from the actual Final Fantasy series, Square Enix can still ask (and force) you to stop distributing it, but as several others have mentioned in this topic, it's unlikely they will get aggressive with you unless your game becomes very popular (which is a nice problem to have, as most games don't become popular). It's not worth their time, nor is it worth it to them to lose the goodwill from the fan community.

My advice would be to avoid ripping any assets, and to not worry so much about avoiding takedowns in the future. Just focus on making the game. It will be harder than you think to actually make the game. Deal with unlikely legal worries once you're done making it.

(Or, if you're flexible about the game you're making, work with a fan series that has stated they allow fangames to be made, such as the Touhou series.)

 

[Larry Jones]

Imo just do it
If it becomes a problem maybe change the sprites, names etc till it becomes okay

 

[Andar]

If it becomes a problem

that "problem" includes the chance of you already being sued, and then you'll have to pay at least your lawyyer even if you agree with everything.

True, in most cases you'll get a C&D first - but that depends on how offendet the original IP-Holder feels. And the more infringments you have included, the greater the chance for that.

Besides that - exchanging hundreds of sprites is not easy f you wait for that until you get a C&D, that is why most games that get a C&D completely vanish instead of being modified.

 

[HumanNinjaToo]

I think it's funny you choose Mystic Quest to make a fangame of, since that was basically the Japanese way of "teaching the US how to RPG."

But I would probably do as others have suggested, don't use any ripped resources. You don't want to put a bunch of effort into something that may not be able to see the light of day. Maybe focus on a parody? There's a lot you can get away with when something is presented as a parody, just don't rip assets.

 

[Aesica]

At the very least, make sure your game is free. There's a lot of obvious trademark infringement games out there that have existed for many years. Zelda Classic has existed for who-knows-how-long, and rpgmaker.net is full of obvious trademark-infringement games, especially final fantasy and dragon quest knockoffs.

Based on the fact that those things are still around, it's relatively safe to conclude that big companies don't care about fan works until the developers try to monetize them. This monetization isn't limited to "you have to buy the game" either. Ad revenue, *******/donation-based systems, etc are all likely to increase the likelihood of a taketown, although as stated already, any copyright holder can issue a takedown if you violate their copyright.

Seriously though, why not just make it based on Mystic Quest? Similar theme, similar characters, similar mechanics, etc, but still all your own? No ripped assets, either. That way, you can not only be safe from takedown, but also monetize your game because you'll own the rights to everything?

Edit: Whoa "that site where patrons pay you monthly" is filtered on these forums. Neat.

 

[Andar]

it's relatively safe to conclude that big companies don't care about fan works until the developers try to monetize them.

unfortunately that is not correct.
It seems so to a lot of people because there are correlations, but there is no direct connection between monetarization and IP infringement.

The key is how well-known an infringement is, because the IP Holder needs to be informed of it before he can do anything. That informing is much more likely if the game is published somewhere where the developer can get money for it, because those places are known and will be checked by the lawyers of the IP holders regularly, and because money leaves a trace to follow it.

But a free game can do the same damage to an IP like a commercial game, and a lot of IP holders go after free games in the same way (and in a lot of countries they are even required by law to do so or risk losing their IP entirely), it's just that a free game is more difficult to find and trace to the developer than a game where the developer is paid somehow.

 

[bgillisp]

Someone supposedly found a site that claimed Square does allow fan games as long as it is non-commercial and you don't use ripped assets. Maybe check and see if Square themselves can confirm this?

 

[Andar]

@bgillisp the problem with that is that you'll need such an agreement in legal writing, and even then it might be of limited use.

I don't know who around here has heard the old story of the German translation of Civ III? (I think it was 3, it was about thirty years ago and I don't remember the number).

Originally the company distributing that Civilization game had not intended to make a translation into German. Due to this decision a group of fans approached them and asked if they were allowed to make a fan-translation into German.
They got an email back with a confirmation that they are allowed to do this, and proceeded for about one or two years until the translation was about 95% done or so.
During that time the Studio/Distributer was sold to another company, who wanted to re-release the game with a full translation as an additional incentive to purchase it.
And all the fans who were working on the fan-translation got C&Ds that they stop that and delete their work...

No, they were "safe" from prosecution exactly because they had the agreement in their mailboxes, but they still had wasted their work time because the new owner didn't want them to continue and revoked the licence. It would have been different if the translation were already complete and officially released under the licence, but since that had not yet happened the continuation of the work could be stopped by the new owner.

 

[Ruth Studio]

Thanks everyone for your advice and insights. I could release the game for free, and accept Ko-fi donations for my time and effort. It's fun to research fan games because most people behind them have pure intentions and do it as a labor of love. I understand that the game developers are protecting their IP and have every right to send a C&D. I think the example I am going for are the people who created Last Dream.

One thing I see on the this forum is why I picked Mystic Quest. I'm not going to pretend that this game is perfect. The story is bare bones on the borderline of being nihilistic. You collect the four crystals, destroy the main boss, everyone is happy. By the way, the prophecy was a lie, the old mentor picked you because you happened to be at the right place at the right time, your followers happened to always be stronger than you. There is no plot twist, no love triangles, nor is their character development. Benjamin barely even reacts to his family and everyone he knows has been killed at the beginning. The ending is very open-ended. For these reason, this is why I want to create a sequel to Mystic Quest.

I want to create a game much like Mystic Quest but with a story with plot twist, character development and possibly even love triangles.

 

[MushroomCake28]

Thanks everyone for your advice and insights. I could release the game for free, and accept Ko-fi donations for my time and effort.

That would make your project commercial. Source: soon to be lawyer.

 

[Aesica]

unfortunately that is not correct.
It seems so to a lot of people because there are correlations, but there is no direct connection between monetarization and IP infringement.

The key is how well-known an infringement is, because the IP Holder needs to be informed of it before he can do anything. That informing is much more likely if the game is published somewhere where the developer can get money for it, because those places are known and will be checked by the lawyers of the IP holders regularly, and because money leaves a trace to follow it.

I don't know, Zelda Classic is relatively well known, has its own website, and has been operating for over 20 years now. Super Mario Bros Crossover is another one that's been around for awhile, which also has its own website. I would be genuinely surprised if Nintendo wasn't aware of either game's existence by now, but it's still possible. I mean, Nintendo has issued takedowns of other fan games (AM2R was taken down pretty harshly) so you never know.

In retrospect (I was a bit rushed when I typed the last post) I probably shouldn't have said "don't care about non-commercial fan games" or whatever, because many do. Nintendo and Square (among many others) have gone after and had fan games taken down. Maybe ZC and SMBC have just gotten really lucky? Marvel is especially well-known for being hyper-aggressive with IP infringement.

That said, I'm not encouraging the OP to go ahead with their fan game. Doing so runs the risk of being taken down at any time, which is why I think the OP would be a lot better off changing things just enough to make it original. And FFS, don't rip and use assets from your target IP's games.

Edit:

Thanks everyone for your advice and insights. I could release the game for free, and accept Ko-fi donations for my time and effort.

When I mentioned ad revenue or donations, this is exactly what I was talking about. Do not do it for fan games.

 

[MushroomCake28]

I don't know, Zelda Classic is relatively well known, has its own website, and has been operating for over 20 years now. Super Mario Bros Crossover is another one that's been around for awhile, which also has its own website. I would be genuinely surprised if Nintendo wasn't aware of either game's existence by now, but it's still possible. I mean, Nintendo has issued takedowns of other fan games (AM2R was taken down pretty harshly) so you never know.

Legal tolerance doesn't equal legal permission, this has been established quite well by the jurisprudence. Even if they don't take it down it doesn't mean that they have the right to do it and could do it in the future. Intellectual property is an area of the law where the holder of a right must be the one to ensure the right is respected and not infringed upon.

 

[Aesica]

Legal tolerance doesn't equal legal permission, this has been established quite well by the jurisprudence. Even if they don't take it down it doesn't mean that they have the right to do it and could do it in the future. Intellectual property is an area of the law where the holder of a right must be the one to ensure the right is respected and not infringed upon.

Oh yeah, and given Nintendo's track record (I can think of about 5 fan games they've smacked down off the top of my head) I'm guessing those two have just gotten really lucky.