Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New York
Copyright infringement and video game modification...
Valve software corporation produces a popular video game series called ''Half Life''. Valve provides software tools so that end users with a knowledge of programming and 3D design can replace all existing art assets, effectively creating a new game using Valve's ''Source'' engine. Unfort., these days, well over 1/3 of all user created HL2 mods involve IP infringing content. The ability to play and make games with popular (and infringing) IPs as their subject certainly helps to drive sales of the Source engine.
1. Is Valve liable for ''for contributory and vicarious copyright infringement'' under the DMCA?
2. Could the aggrieved IP holders start a class action suit?
3. What would the most likely outcome of such a lawsuit be?
I think a similar instance is seen in the suit Marvel brought against NCSoft's ''City of Heroes'' franchise. NCSoft settled out of court.
BTW, this is not a ''homework question''. I'm a legitimate game dev (hence the email addy!), concerned that the future of game modding is being jeopardized by ppl who create IP infringing mods. I'm looking for ways to inform the modding community about the pitfalls of IP infringement. If you don't want to answer the question, fine, but there's no reason to be insulting.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Copyright infringement and video game modification...
A rejection for being a homework question is directed at the law students who post their hypotheticals ("homework questions") here, hoping someone will give them the "right" answer.
Your question IS a law-school hypothetical (a "homework question"), whether you intended it to be or not; it is virtually identical to a question routinely asked on copyright class midterm or final exams. We do not answer such questions fully here, since (1) this board inadvertently provides an excellent means for a law student to -- um -- study less than s/he should and (2) engaging in hypothetical q&a is a dramatic waste of an attorney's very expensive time.
For this reason, the only answers that can legitimately get posted to your questions are:
1. Maybe.
2. Maybe.
3. It depends.
These are, I'm sure, resoundingly unsatisfactory responses (for both legitimate developers and law students). However, if you are a developer who is truly interested and is merely coincidentally asking this law-school-hypo question, you should contact an IP attorney directly for full and complete answers (for which, yes, you will have to pay). If you need a referral to one, check with your county's bar association or with the NYS Bar Association (www.nysba.org). You can also get an up-to-date roster of patent attorneys (who very often also do copyright and trademark work), at the US Patent & Trademark Office's website (www.uspto.gov).
BTW, you assume incorrectly that the attorneys posting to this board have access to your email address: we do not. Even if we did have access to your email address, email addresses have zero evidentiary value as to a questioner's law-student status. Lots of law students work in Real Jobs (with corporate email addresses) while they're in school.
THE INFORMATION PRESENTED HERE IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND IS NOT INTENDED, NOR SHOULD IT BE CONSTRUED, AS LEGAL ADVICE. THIS POSTING DOES NOT CREATE ANY ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN US. FOR SPECIFIC ADVICE ABOUT YOUR PARTICULAR SITUATION, CONSULT YOUR ATTORNEY.
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