WHAT
So you’ve built or are building your game in Unreal Engine 4 and are greatly looking forward to release. Now what? Epic’s General Counsel Canon Pence and VP of Business Affairs Jay Wilbur join the stream to talk about the business and legal side of making games.
Come find out about licensing, learn how to avoid potential pitfalls, and gain knowledge that will help put you and your game on the path to success. Looking to crowdfund? Curious about IP ownership? Questions about working with publishers or third-party content? Getting ready to release and not sure what’s next? Here’s your chance to get answers to all of the tough questions surrounding the less alluring parts of building games. Oh, and wear a suit!
This topic is one that I never really thought would be covered in the live stream, but very glad you’re taking it on!
When it comes to IP, copyright and trademarks, especially other companies, there is a very narrow line to follow. The old saying, “Better to ask forgiveness, the seek permission”, does not work in this world, especially when you want to release your own product.
Our current project is completely focused in a major companies IP, and have worked with them on getting their approval, what can and can’t be done and what would be next on the roadmap when it is completed. After we started talking, they were glad we approached them instead of trying to go the forgiveness route, which never worked out for others. Of course, approval may not happen for a vast majority of ideas, it did work out for us.
This is going to be a fun stream to watch.
Looking forward to this stream. Any chance this will cover use and application of trademarks or general branding in the game business? submitting content to the USPTO can be pretty challenging and i wonder if it may not always be necessary.
Although some questions mentioned will be covered in some way, want to post some general questions for the stream to make sure they are covered in some way:
(some questions may sound simple & they are, best way to cover a wide range of scenarios without getting into too specific of a topic)
(please cover any International laws & how they effect these questions as best they can be explained)
[Questions]
Copyright - Correct way to Display a Copyright as to protect a Game or other Asset (When & How)(Please Cover Displaying Copyrights in UE4)
Public Domain - Use of this License as well as other Licenses commonly used by like CCO etc. (some are Vague especially Public Domain)
At what point should one declare themselves an actual Business & what type of Businesses are best for Indie Developers, and how this applies to Individuals & Small Teams.
How all this applies to Taxes (US & International)
How to handle all of this if a Business fails or declines later on.
** Hope the question above about Eula is covered in detail and advise on what & where to display **
*** These might seem like simple questions that may or may not be covered, they are intended to be that way. ***
*** How & when should we hire You (Guests) & when, do you work for peanuts or small percentage of Game Income? ***
Hope to make it to this stream, very important Topic
Hi! Do you have a document you can refer us to so that indie(s) can model as a partner to grow with you? Like, “We wish more indie developers could create a company like XYZZY?” I’m looking for a case study to attempt to emulate. Thanks! --Todd
&stc=1
***