Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Illinois

Re: Intellectual for a software product.

If I understand you correctly, you'd like to take an existing work, modify it, change a few elements, and claim those changes as your own? What you are wanting to create is called a "derivative work" of the original.

One of the exclusive rights afforded a copyright holder is the right to prepare or license others the right to prepare derivative works of their copyrighted works. You must acquire a license from the copyright holder in order to prepare a derivative work. Yes, according to the terms of the license agreement, you may own your original input to the new work or sometimes even your original input will be owned by the copyright holder at the expiration of the license term. It all depends on how you negotiate.

If you'd like to approach this game company for a license, please contact me at the information provided.

Thanks,

DS