Front Office Football Central - View Single Post

Solecismic · 06-20-2023, 05:46 PM

Let's say you're out one day and someone assaults you and steals your wallet. That person is arrested, maybe ends up serving time.

There's no question you can file a civil suit as well. If the perpetrator had millions of dollars, you'd easily find a lawyer to take the case. Otherwise, a lawyer would tell you that it's not enough to win a civil case. You have to be able to collect the money. Can't collect money from someone who doesn't have it. And it's difficult to collect money from someone who refuses to pay it.

The recording industry made a name for itself decades ago, when Napster was flaunting copyright law, going after individuals, getting quick settlements with the threat of expensive lawsuits. So there's always that threat when it comes to "community mods" or anything like that.

But was it worthwhile for the recording industry? Was the harm to their reputations bigger than the token amounts they got for copyright infractions?

Promoting specific community mods would be the same as publishing them. But allowing mods and not promoting them? Seems impossible. Any graphic can be changed - if not through developer tools, through something like ResHack. That would be like suing a tee-shirt company if someone downloaded a picture of a popular player, printed it on an iron-on transfer, then applied it to the tee-shirt.

In short, you probably didn't dream it, but people threaten legal action all the time. It's one thing to claim you have a case. It's entirely another to find a lawyer to take it or go to the expense of filing it.

In my case, I have to weigh the knowledge that I'm too small to be worth anyone's attention against the "dream" we all have of striking it big and doing what we can to create the best possible product.

My product is better with "real" players. It gives people an important frame of reference. So I want to include player files. I've read enough law to feel safe about my decision to do so back in 1998. I have no desire to mislead anyone about publicity or endorsements. But it's a very different legal world today and not getting sued is perhaps more important than whether you're right or wrong.

Regarding political sims: Libel and slander law relates to the "public versus private" individual standard. Anyone who runs for a major office is clearly a public figure. You could argue a football player is as well. But there's so much precedent out there about politicians and controlling speech and the value of the right to publicity as it pertains to a political computer simulation is negligible. Endorsement would be the focus.

So unless the developer made the mistake of claiming a particular candidate endorsed the sim or used it to libel the candidate (and that's a hard case to prove with a public figure), I don't see any risk involved at all.

06-20-2023, 05:46 PM	#65
Solecismic Solecismic Software Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Canton, OH	Let's say you're out one day and someone assaults you and steals your wallet. That person is arrested, maybe ends up serving time. There's no question you can file a civil suit as well. If the perpetrator had millions of dollars, you'd easily find a lawyer to take the case. Otherwise, a lawyer would tell you that it's not enough to win a civil case. You have to be able to collect the money. Can't collect money from someone who doesn't have it. And it's difficult to collect money from someone who refuses to pay it. The recording industry made a name for itself decades ago, when Napster was flaunting copyright law, going after individuals, getting quick settlements with the threat of expensive lawsuits. So there's always that threat when it comes to "community mods" or anything like that. But was it worthwhile for the recording industry? Was the harm to their reputations bigger than the token amounts they got for copyright infractions? Promoting specific community mods would be the same as publishing them. But allowing mods and not promoting them? Seems impossible. Any graphic can be changed - if not through developer tools, through something like ResHack. That would be like suing a tee-shirt company if someone downloaded a picture of a popular player, printed it on an iron-on transfer, then applied it to the tee-shirt. In short, you probably didn't dream it, but people threaten legal action all the time. It's one thing to claim you have a case. It's entirely another to find a lawyer to take it or go to the expense of filing it. In my case, I have to weigh the knowledge that I'm too small to be worth anyone's attention against the "dream" we all have of striking it big and doing what we can to create the best possible product. My product is better with "real" players. It gives people an important frame of reference. So I want to include player files. I've read enough law to feel safe about my decision to do so back in 1998. I have no desire to mislead anyone about publicity or endorsements. But it's a very different legal world today and not getting sued is perhaps more important than whether you're right or wrong. Regarding political sims: Libel and slander law relates to the "public versus private" individual standard. Anyone who runs for a major office is clearly a public figure. You could argue a football player is as well. But there's so much precedent out there about politicians and controlling speech and the value of the right to publicity as it pertains to a political computer simulation is negligible. Endorsement would be the focus. So unless the developer made the mistake of claiming a particular candidate endorsed the sim or used it to libel the candidate (and that's a hard case to prove with a public figure), I don't see any risk involved at all.