Because blueprints are not considered as intellectual property are we allowed to recreate,copy or have improved or largely altered versions of certain blueprints and resell them as our own?
For example there is a product on the marketplace called “Footsteps with Blueprint Setup”](Footsteps Sounds with Blueprint Setup in Sound Effects - UE Marketplace) I had to spend countless hours (over 72 hours) to figure out the entire blueprint setup and had to fix a large amount of mistakes that this developer had made and never bothered to fix for almost a year now. Not only did I spend $20 of my own money on broken blueprints I also had to spend almost several days working on this blueprint fixing all of the mistakes that he had made and selling me a broken and untested product.
I have my own version of this blueprint setup that is similar with large changes made to it and I plan to sell my version on the marketplace. As long as I replace the sound effects with my own sound effects I will not be breaking any intellectual property and it will be considered as my own product.
I just want to make this clear before submitting this and putting it up for sale. I intend to make superior versions of blueprints mostly due to the fact that these inferior versions are either broken or have remained broken for several months or years with the developers having no intention of fixing their mistakes.
If a blueprint design is so drastically different and because blueprints are not intellectual property and are no different then nothing is plagiarized or copyright abused. I know I am simply correct but I am playing it safe and asking the right questions before submitting my blueprint setup; Otherwise I would have submitted it anyways if I simply did not care.
Just image if it was a 3d model. You could optimize it, create a new high poly for it, bake it down, create new UVs and textures, and LODs, but it’s still not your own original model and you cannot resell it. Even though there’s nothing from the original model that was untouched.
You could though, deconstruct the project, figure out how it was made and put together, and make your own version of the same blueprint (hopefully making a better version with more features). And you could copy and paste chunks that you made from fixing that project into a new one.
That is just modifying an already existing intellectual property. That is blatant copyright infringement. Blueprints are not and are simply basic code.
Now that is exactly what I talking about. Basically all I have to do is make a large improvement with drastic changes to it and simply add more content than the previous design.
Welp,my question has been answered. Because once I submit this product when it is ready it will definitely beat the so-called original concept that it was based off on.
Actually yes I can. That is like claiming for a patent on a propeller. There are several patents for a propeller but if the design is drastically different then you can file it as your own design. This goes for auto-mobile engines as well.
The sound effects are not my intellectual property and they will be removed but blueprints are available to anyone as long it is not an exact replica or blatant copy of the original and if it a drastic redesign.
Like I have said these are blueprints. Blueprints are a visual scripting language and can be shared or sold to anyone as you seem fit.
My question has been answered and I know that I am not breaking any rules. Period.
Blueprints are a visual scripting language. You can be butthurt as you please but that won’t change the fact that as long as I make my own version of it and it serves the same function and purpose like a similar design then it is my own. Game. Set. Match.
It’s more like you bought a propeller and you changed the shape, it’s still not your propeller. But you could make your own propeller with those design changes.
If this was allowed people would frequently download a blueprint, add the functionality they need out of it, and upload it as their own to sell, and probably undercut the original.
Unreal Staff would obviously not allowed that because that is blatant copying and secondly my version ACTUALLY WORKS. The version that I had purchased does NOT WORK at all and MAJOR CHANGES had to be made. I even filed for a refund and Unreal didn’t think it justified giving me a refund. I took the greater road and decided to RECREATE my own version with a FUNCTIONAL version of it.
I simply took responsibility and decided to create my own. I already am aware of what needs to be done not to be considered as a blatant copy and simply prove that my version actually is functional and actually works.
The issue here is not whether you have a legal right to make a modified version of the original Marketplace asset, but rather whether Epic will allow you to sell said modified asset on their Marketplace.
They have made it clear in their TOS that they will not do that.
