Re: Real names in a football game

2004-09-15 Thread Isaac Clerencia
On Wednesday 15 September 2004 11:56, Jacobo Tarrio wrote:
> O Martes, 14 de Setembro de 2004 ás 22:18:46 +0200, Isaac Clerencia 
escribía:
>  I'd remove the names (i.e. change them to other, innocuous names) even
> without asking as I know the answer beforehand.
I've uploaded a new package without the player names.

> > I already have a version without player names ready to be uploaded,
> > removing team names should take a little more effort.
>
>  Use city names. Or common prefix + city name + common suffix ("Sporting
> Club de A Coruña", "Atlético de Valencia", "Madrid S.A.D.", "Berlin 89",
> etc.), but this would possibly re-create actual teams' names.
I started doing this, but I got tired as there are lots of team names. I'll do 
it ASAP.

Best regards


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Re: Real names in a football game

2004-09-15 Thread Jacobo Tarrio
O Martes, 14 de Setembro de 2004 ás 22:18:46 +0200, Isaac Clerencia escribía:

> I think this can be illegal (also team names?).

 Yes, it falls under trade mark protection laws. Since team names and logos,
and players' names are big assets for their teams and national leagues (put
Beckam's name in a 5-euro t-shirt and now it's worth 50 euros), they're
"defended" very aggresively.

 Some football ("soccer") games have been released with players with names
like "José García" and "Roberto da Silva" because they couldn't get the
rights to the actual names.

 I'd remove the names (i.e. change them to other, innocuous names) even
without asking as I know the answer beforehand.

> I already have a version without player names ready to be uploaded, removing 
> team names should take a little more effort.

 Use city names. Or common prefix + city name + common suffix ("Sporting
Club de A Coruña", "Atlético de Valencia", "Madrid S.A.D.", "Berlin 89",
etc.), but this would possibly re-create actual teams' names.

 Or turn the teams into national selections. Country names (or any
geographical names) aren't protected by trademark laws.

-- 
   Jacobo Tarrío | http://jacobo.tarrio.org/



Re: Real names in a football game

2004-09-15 Thread Edmund GRIMLEY EVANS
David Schleef <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:

> Names of people are (curiously) less protected.  It's probably
> defendable to use players' names in a game, but (at least in the
> US) it would likely attract annoying lawyers, too.  I wouldn't
> recommend it.  But then, I morally feel celebrities deserve the
> same protection in their own name as a corporation.

There has to be a free way of referring to people and things, or free
speech and free communication are no longer possible. As I understand
it, when a corporation registers their name as a trademark you are
still allowed to use that name to refer to that corporation.

Obviously I have no idea how the law really works, but it would be
strange if you were not allowed to use someone's name but you were
allowed to refer to them in some other way (in the case of a football
game, for example, by the colours and number of their shirt). Take
this to its "logical" conclusion and you'd end up with a situation
like that which I am told existed in some North American Indian
nations: people had a real name which they kept secret while everyone
referred to them with a different, publicly known name. In the new
situation the real names would be "protected" rather than secret, but
that would be sufficient to stop journalists from using the real
names, so people would end up being known to the public under a
different, unprotected name.



Re: Real names in a football game

2004-09-14 Thread Isaac Clerencia
On Tuesday 14 September 2004 22:47, David Schleef wrote:
> Using team names (and especially team logos) is a good way to get
> to the pointy end of a lawsuit.  The names and logos are almost
> certainly under trademark protection, and generally aggressively
> guarded, since licensing names and logos to shirt makers (and
> game producers) is a huge revenue stream.
>
> Names of people are (curiously) less protected.  It's probably
> defendable to use players' names in a game, but (at least in the
> US) it would likely attract annoying lawyers, too.  I wouldn't
> recommend it.  But then, I morally feel celebrities deserve the
> same protection in their own name as a corporation.

I suppose using only city names for teams would be ok. Right?


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Re: Real names in a football game

2004-09-14 Thread Florian Weimer
* David Schleef:

> Names of people are (curiously) less protected.

Depends on the jurisdiction.  If you use football player names in a
football game, you'll most likely get sued (because commercial game
developers have to pay $$$ to get licenses and the football
organizations don't want to lose that income).

It *might* be possible to get a license for free software, though,
especially in countries where football is heavily subsidized.



Re: Real names in a football game

2004-09-14 Thread David Schleef
On Tue, Sep 14, 2004 at 10:18:46PM +0200, Isaac Clerencia wrote:
> Hi, I'm the maintainer of the bygfoot package.
> 
> It is a football (soccer) simulator game, and currently it includes some 
> "real 
> player" names.
> 
> I think this can be illegal (also team names?).
> 
> I already have a version without player names ready to be uploaded, removing 
> team names should take a little more effort.
> 
> What do you think?

Using team names (and especially team logos) is a good way to get
to the pointy end of a lawsuit.  The names and logos are almost
certainly under trademark protection, and generally aggressively
guarded, since licensing names and logos to shirt makers (and
game producers) is a huge revenue stream.

Names of people are (curiously) less protected.  It's probably
defendable to use players' names in a game, but (at least in the
US) it would likely attract annoying lawyers, too.  I wouldn't
recommend it.  But then, I morally feel celebrities deserve the
same protection in their own name as a corporation.



dave...



Real names in a football game

2004-09-14 Thread Isaac Clerencia
Hi, I'm the maintainer of the bygfoot package.

It is a football (soccer) simulator game, and currently it includes some "real 
player" names.

I think this can be illegal (also team names?).

I already have a version without player names ready to be uploaded, removing 
team names should take a little more effort.

What do you think?

Best regards

P.S. Include me in the CC as I'm not subscribed.


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