Lemma Soft Forums

Hello there!
I've been here for some times (and been lost from here for some times too, ehehehe...) and I've been writing for quite a while. As I write and code for a VN, a few questions came into my mind. Do I need to do something about the legal aspect of the game if I want to publish it for sale? I mean, do I need to register it somewhere? And what about the art? Do I need to register the artist's name or just credit him/her after I paid for the work?
Sorry for the list of question, but I have those questions hanging on my mind for a while now and I want to know if any of you have experience in those subject of the VN.
Well, thank you for reading!

You don't need to register anything. The Berne Convention gives you automatic international copyright. In certain countries you can register a copyright, which costs a fee but is typically necessary if you want to sue people for bajillions of dollars. If the normal copyright protections are enough for you, as they are for most people, you don't have to do a thing. It's already protected.

In terms of the art, you should of course credit your artist, but again you don't need to do anything copyright-wise.

Asceai wrote:You don't need to register anything. The Berne Convention gives you automatic international copyright.

The Berne Convention eh? I've never heard about that before. And I'm reading the wiki right now, hehehe...

Asceai wrote:If the normal copyright protections are enough for you, as they are for most people, you don't have to do a thing. It's already protected.

Is there an official statement about what do I get with the "normal copyright protection"?

Asceai wrote:In terms of the art, you should of course credit your artist, but again you don't need to do anything copyright-wise.

Oh yes, yes, of course. I'll credit the artist. So as long as I credit the artist, it is copyright protected? And I am paying the artist to draw the stuff I'm using.

And another thing. Does the same protection applied to something like novel or light novel work? I'm just curious. Well, thanks again!

Shad12ow wrote:Is there an official statement about what do I get with the "normal copyright protection"?

Here's a summary. Basically, it's a little different from country to country, but it means that without permission people can't reproduce, modify and distribute, translate etc. your work without permission. If they do, you can sue them. Of course, you need to register copyright if you want to sue them for a lot. Plus, there are fair-use exceptions for parody, critical comment etc.

Shad12ow wrote:Oh yes, yes, of course. I'll credit the artist. So as long as I credit the artist, it is copyright protected? And I am paying the artist to draw the stuff I'm using.

Whether you credit the artist or not, it's protected. Now, who owns it depends on the agreement between you and the artist; your artist may still have copyright over the art and has simply given you permission to use it, or your artist may have created it under a 'work for hire' understanding, in which case you own it. This isn't so important for your VN as it is important if you wanted to take the art out of the VN and use it for something else.

Shad12ow wrote:And another thing. Does the same protection applied to something like novel or light novel work?

Yes. All artistic works are covered. The only things not covered are things like the individual recipes in recipe books, words in a dictionary etc.

Hmmmm I think you should go up a level and think of branding... it is optional but branding help you go a long way (apple, coca-cola, microsoft, McDonald long)~

a good introduction will be in the Branding section in "Midas Touch" by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Donald Trump

It is the branding that need registration

ippherita wrote:Hmmmm I think you should go up a level and think of branding... it is optional but branding help you go a long way (apple, coca-cola, microsoft, McDonald long)~

a good introduction will be in the Branding section in "Midas Touch" by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Donald Trump

It is the branding that need registration

But isn't branding need you to have a company first? And from what I know, a company name need to be registered first, right? I think that will need a lot of money.

So here's another question. What if the work is from a circle? Do I need to register the name under the circle name or under a single person name? I know that from Asceai's reply that any work that is made has the automatic protection of the Benne Convention. But I still don't understand to whom the copyright fell to. If I work with a circle, should I publish it under the circle's name? If yes, should the circle register something to have international copyright? Oh yes, I mean circle as in like the Japanese doujin circle, you know?