[Clipart] pacman baddies

[Jon Phillips]

Regardless if the pacman images weren't copyrighted in the formal
process involving US library of congress, copyright now is really
created the second the work is created.

Also, the trademarks might be problematic as well...

I would avoid the trademark minefield...not sure about the copyright
issue...if you are really into, wade into the cc-community list and
ask... ;)

Jon

On Wed, 2008-01-30 at 12:16 -0800, Greg Bulmash wrote:
> Looks like there may be a complex web of copyright and/or trademark
> issues across international boundaries.  While there are lots of
> unauthorized pacman rip-offs in the U.S. that suffer no consequences,
> a court upheld Namco's copyright in a Japanese case and awarded Namco
> over 3 million yen plus interest back in 1984.
> 
> http://www.tuj.ac.jp/newsite/main/law/lawresources/TUJonline/ComputerandInternet/ThePacman%20.html
> 
> - Greg
> 
> On Jan 30, 2008 8:42 AM, Nicu Buculei <nicu_gfx at nicubunu.ro> wrote:
> > Greg Bulmash wrote:
> > > My dad used to do IP law in the video game industry in the 80s, mainly
> > > for Nichibutsu (Crazy Climber) and Irem (UniWarS).  I remember him
> > > telling me that Pac-Man and Space Invaders weren't properly
> > > copyrighted, which is why there were so many knock-off machines in
> > > bars.
> > >
> > > I can't be sure, but I think you'd be clean, at least on the ghosts
> > > from the original game, even if they were precise copies.
> >
> > Thanks for sharing!
> >
> > My main concern is about trademarks, I don't want the images to be
> > tagged as "may be a PD Issue" because I used the game name inside the
> > description.
> >
> > --
> >
> > nicu :: http://nicubunu.ro :: http://nicubunu.blogspot.com
> > Open Clip Art Library: http://www.openclipart.org
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> > my clipart collection: http://clipart.nicubunu.ro/
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Jon Phillips

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