Note: I’m assuming in live in the US; rules and laws can change country to country.
A copyright is put on your work upon release.
Every work has a copyright to it (just make sure you put the symbol for safety).
What a copyright will protect is YOUR version of a work.
Example:
Think of Space Invaders vs Galaxian.
The copyright on Space Invaders forced Galaxian to choose different colors and sounds.
Namco couldn’t RECREATE (Copy) Space Invaders, but they could create their own version.
The same thing happened to DOOM when it was released.
Think of all the clones.
With that said, a copyright will protect YOUR version of a “teleporter,” but will, of course, not give you the rights to the fictional object of a “teleporter” (as you didn’t create it).
I’m not really sure if this answered your question, though.
I wasn’t sure if you were asking if your game objects will be protected (Yes) or you will hold ownership over the idea (No).
Alternatively, a you could look into a trademark which will protect things such as the name of your game.
Useful Reading:
- Copyright vs Trademark
a. ://www.gamasutra/view/feature/131951/hey_thats_my_game_intellectual_.php?print=1
- Unregistered Trademark vs Registered Trademark
a. ://info.legalzoom/registered-vs-unregistered-trademark-21089.html
- Trademark Database (Click “Search Trademark Database,” then “Trademark Electronic Search System,” then type the name you want to check… if there are no matches the name is safe to use for the most part)
a. ://www.uspto.gov/trademark
Keep in mind, I’m not a lawyer this is information I’ve picked up after doing a bit of digging and information hunting.
I hope this helped.
Good Luck,
~ Jason