Permission
by Charles Williams · in General Discussion · 10/28/2002 (5:25 pm) · 6 replies
I am in a bit of a predicament. Myself and my team are working on a game based off of a popular novel. We had two possible means of contact in mind, either to write up a proposal along with our completed design and mail that alone, or to send all of that and a playable demo. What do you think? Would one way be less evasive and more apt to get us a contract?
About the author
#2
1) Even doing a demo or design doc is technically a trademark/copyright violation, and you don't want to start negotations on the wrong foot.
2) If it looks like you've invested a lot of work in the project without a contract, they'll think they have you over a barrell, and you'll end up with very unfavorable terms if you do get a contract.
10/29/2002 (6:00 am)
You need permission first.1) Even doing a demo or design doc is technically a trademark/copyright violation, and you don't want to start negotations on the wrong foot.
2) If it looks like you've invested a lot of work in the project without a contract, they'll think they have you over a barrell, and you'll end up with very unfavorable terms if you do get a contract.
#3
10/29/2002 (7:36 am)
So you would all recomend not even sending a design doc? Only a proposal?
#4
10/29/2002 (9:02 am)
Yes, I'd recommend you send in a proposal before doing any serious design.
#5
10/29/2002 (9:56 am)
Yea I agree, get in direct contact with the person, and get a dialog going with them, and propose the idea. It would be best to test the waters on the idea before you put too much work into it, or as mentioned above, if you get to far along, they will try to give you a very unfavorable deal. See where this person or group stands on the idea and go from there.
#6
Keyword: Formality. Send your proposal via Priority or First-class mail.
The proposal should contain only factual information. Who you are, who you work with/for (a real company), why you are the person sending the proposal, and what you want.
(lets say you want to make a game "Guppie Ball" featuring pikachu)
Example
To the copyright holders of Pokemon:
I am Donald Donaldson of Illusions Interactive with a query as to what your requirements are for us to obtain a license to the character Pikachu for an independant game titled "Guppie Ball."
To help you decide what you feel is appropriate, you might want to know some more details. The character of Pikachu will be ongoing throughout the game, and is not a cameo appearance. We wish to use abilities that it known for, such as "Thunder Shock" and "Thunderbolt." We are more than willing to make prepare some design documents or a demonstration release if you wish to see more. We will need (X amount of time) to complete the demonstration/documents if you request them.
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So when you send your request, be very serious and specific. I am writing a draft proposal for my friend in college to ask Nintendo for a license to Link, (from The Legend of Zelda series) for an assignment he has to do.
It is non-profit, so they shouldn't really care much.
10/29/2002 (12:18 pm)
I talked with a lawyer at Starbucks about this...Keyword: Formality. Send your proposal via Priority or First-class mail.
The proposal should contain only factual information. Who you are, who you work with/for (a real company), why you are the person sending the proposal, and what you want.
(lets say you want to make a game "Guppie Ball" featuring pikachu)
Example
To the copyright holders of Pokemon:
I am Donald Donaldson of Illusions Interactive with a query as to what your requirements are for us to obtain a license to the character Pikachu for an independant game titled "Guppie Ball."
To help you decide what you feel is appropriate, you might want to know some more details. The character of Pikachu will be ongoing throughout the game, and is not a cameo appearance. We wish to use abilities that it known for, such as "Thunder Shock" and "Thunderbolt." We are more than willing to make prepare some design documents or a demonstration release if you wish to see more. We will need (X amount of time) to complete the demonstration/documents if you request them.
---
So when you send your request, be very serious and specific. I am writing a draft proposal for my friend in college to ask Nintendo for a license to Link, (from The Legend of Zelda series) for an assignment he has to do.
It is non-profit, so they shouldn't really care much.
Torque Owner Bryan Robertson