Now that both Brian Fargo and Jason Anderson are working on the next in the "Wasteland" series at InXile; (and since both worked on the original Fallout Series); will Bethesda scrutinize the next Wasteland when it comes out for any possible copywrite infringements or infractions in case they have carried some of their Fallout ideas into Wasteland? I noticed other games that came out after Oblivion that used actual buildings and rooms from the Oblivion game, and wondered what Bethesda does if it finds certain parts of their products have been copied by another company; either storyline ideas or the buildings, etc. - and do they scrutinize certain games that they feel might be close enough in basis that they feel the need to be extra careful? (or like in this instance where they have bought the rights to a series where another company is doing a similar series with several of the X developers in their employ)? What happens when they do find infringements?

Well, they'd have to first prove that they are copying Fallout and that both ideas aren't simply modeled on the original Wasteland, as much of Fallout was.

You can't infringe on a theme. Post-apocalyptic is available to any company that wishes to have a go. Wasteland wouldn't have to rely on Fallout content to be a great game in its own right. There are plenty of other angles that can be taken with post-apocalyptic science-fiction.

I vote they go the Hokuto no Ken route.

As long as EA games is not involved AT ALL, then I will welcome this with open arms. I love Fallout, and playing in the world that started it all (since I doubt a 1988 game would work on my PC) is something I feel that i'd really enjoy.

I'm sorry, but I don't quite understand the question? I hope the OP does know that Wasteland was the inspiration for the first Fallout game, and that InExile holds the license to do another Wasteland game.

As for copyright infringement, I don't see this happen. Plenty of movies are set in New York and have different plots and narrative structures. Some (or many?) games have a post-apoc setting not just Fallout 3. [I once played a demo from a game that had the same theme, and wasn't the theme for Hellgate: London the same].

There's only one game that has used the buildings etc. from the Oblivion game and that was *limbo of the lost* -it even used the exact same meshes and textures from the Oblivion game.

I'm pretty sure that Brian Fargo etc. are very well aware of not doing this; even if they were to set the game in the area around Washington, I don't see how this could be copyright or trademark infringement? It would probably if they had a faction named Brotherhood of Steel or the Enclave or outright stole ideas (or at least their implementation) from Fallout 3 or whole quest-lines. As I understand, you can't really steal an idea? but I could be wrong, of course.

DOSBox.

Yeah, I was wondering if Bethesda did anything about that game that used their meshes and textures, and if so, (what did they do?). I knew the original Wasteland was the forerunner for the Fallout series, and that InXile had the rights to do another Wasteland; what I wondered was if Bethesda would be scrutinizing the game carefully due to the fact that Jason Anderson not only had a hand in all the early Fallouts, but also worked on V13 for 6 months, and may be tempted to insert some of the Fallout themes into Wasteland. (Also Jason is an avid Fallout 3 player as well) - and if he did, what would Bethesda do if anything? I know you can make anything post-apocolyptic, but how close to a theme can you get before copywrite infringements take place? (like you said, would you just look for Enclave, super mutants, etc. ; similar quests or characters, etc. ; or similar meshes and textures like that one game did with Oblivion? I was just wondering how games handle that. Do you know what Bethesda did about the obvious use of their textures and meshes in that one game? I saw a game play vid of that other game, it was exact right down to the Skingrad carpet, I think they used the Construction set to make their game! (lol).

You're probably thinking of Limbo of the Lost, which used screenshots from many games to make the backgrounds. It was pulled from the shelves and is no longer being sold. I don't know if additional legal action was taken.


I'm not a lawyer but I'm pretty sure you have to be very similar before it's considered infringement (parody can get away with more, but that's not a factor here)

Let's use ghouls as an example. They're very common in post-apocalyptic settings, sometimes as actual undead and sometimes as irritated husks. A game could include things like ghouls, and even call them ghouls, and I doubt Bethesda would care - it's a PA staple. Now, if those ghouls live in a museum of natural history, particularly an old exhibit about death and the underworld, that might be infringement. By itself it may not be enough for legal action, but if there's also a grounded aircraft carrier called Bolt City, and a city called Warhead built around an unexploded missile . . . .


I seriously, seriously doubt that Wasteland would copy things so closely and I'm sure they wouldn't use actual art resources. They're a professional developer and they know not to commit obvious theft. In fact in general I think the concern that a Wasteland game might infringe on Fallout is unfounded. The games may have very similar themes, but there's nothing wrong with that.

You can't infringe on ideas, but you can expose yourself to litigation if you copy "look and feel" or use systems from other works...like SPECIAL for example. I agree with Chris...there are plenty of ways to tell the wasteland story.

Well 'Wasteland' is just a word, not a title. That would be like EA copyrighted the word 'dead' because they made Dead Space and no one could ever use the word dead anymore in their games :\ .

Except http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasteland_(computer_game) is a running title, Fallout exists because of Wasteland. There is a http://wasteland.wikia.com/wiki/Wasteland_2_FAQ in the works by game developer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InXile_Entertainment. That is what this thread is refering to, the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasteland_(computer_game), not an actual post-apocalyptic "wasteland", although the two would likely be synonymous.

Yeah I noticed, but still, wasteland is just an area in fallout where it takes place I believe. Well these are weird times, anyone can sue anyone for anything. Quite freaky if you ask me.

The focus is on the fact that because Wasteland (game) is essentially the inspiration that brought Fallout to life, there might be some in-game content or backstory that might interfere with Fallout now being in the hands of another company. Wasteland and Fallout are two separate stories and worlds (as I'm aware) but their affiliation to eachother is why the OP questioned the possible infringement when Wasteland 2 is released.

By the way, while Wasteland now looks retro because of when it was made, I'd love it if a Wasteland 2 was retrofuturistic, only showing how people in the 1980s imagined the future, not 1950s as in Fallout.

I heard they had to quit selling LOTL, but wondered if any legal steps had been taken for them to pay back the moneys to the companies they lifted the textures from (from the monies they earned from games they did sell before the ban)? On the conjecture I was using Fallout series and Wasteland as an example because of the fact that they had Brian and Jason there, just an example of a place or situation where something like that could happen - not that I was suspect of their ethics, sorry about that, I should have worded it better.




I would like that better too, it would be more realistic than an alternative universe, and I think a lot of fun because of the differences and realism - great idea!

Here's a freakish fact: UPS has trademarked the color Brown, and Cadbury chocolates did the same for Purple
~and its legal (within the context). No mail carriers can infringe on UPS's "ownership" of the color Brown, and No Chocolate brand can use Cad's Purple.

Fallout http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj125/Gizmojunk/example2.jpg if one was to call it that, but Wasteland need not use Fallout trappings like the Brotherhood, the Vaults or the Vault Boy; Or even Inkspot tunes.
[But I'd say they can certainly use the "Rangers", since that was originally a reference to Wasteland itself.]

I'd call Fallout a spiritual successor to Wasteland, not a "rip".
That's like saying Wasteland was a rip off of Hiroshima...

Personally, I would love two post-ap series... but inXile's
last game was the strange reimagining of Bard's Tale.
And that was centuries ago(video game time). Not that
graphics are a significant lure for me, but I gotta wonder
if it'll end up in Duke Nukem Forever heaven...

Well, the difference is that Jason Anderson is heading the development of Wasteland 2.

So... Jason Anderson is working on both the Fallout MMO and Wasteland 2?

Jason Anderson left Interplay. He is no longer working on PV13. He's now at InXile, likely working on Wasteland 2.

He did do some designs on the Fallout MMO already, though. So setting-wise, if the game is released, chances are Jason's ideas will still be there.

A Copyright is protection against a specific application of an idea. You can write a story about a Wizard at a magical boarding school - JK Cant touch you - as long as its different enough. However, if you drop one of JK' Trademarks (lets say you call one of the teachers harry potter), then you're in trouble.

IIRC Brian Fargo only had the name to play with, and made a new game called Bard's Tale ~that was otherwise unrelated, and in no way meant as a sequel.

Actually, with Wasteland he also only has the rights to the name.