Fallout Monopoly : Fallout Series Discussion

» Tue May 17, 2011 10:58 am

If I made a custom Monopoly board (and custom pieces) would I be able to distribute it to my friends (for the cost of the materials). As long as I didn't mass-distribute it, would it be legal?

P.S. would a monopoly based off of The Elder Scrolls fall under the same legalities.

» Tue May 17, 2011 3:45 am

If you make any money off of it, at all, it's illegal. If you don't make any money off of it and just give it to people it should be fine. But you can't make a single cent off of it, even if your friends want to pay you.

» Tue May 17, 2011 2:43 pm

I see no harm in that unless you're making a profit out of it; a great deal of people still play pen & paper or board-game rpg's.

And even if you did make a small amount of money amongst friends like with gambling: Texas hold'm for example, who the hell cares?! Just don't post it on the internet.

Distributing your monopoly board under the guise of exclusive Fallout material is another issue of course.

» Tue May 17, 2011 10:01 am

Many years ago I got one of those gearshift knobs that looks like a skull, I was going to pay a guy to use it as a base to create gear shift knob that looked like the head of The Maxx. I never even considered the possibility of legal ramifications. I know that while gambling is illegal, the Friday night poker game or office pool are excepted because of the prior relationship amongst the participants. I would assume that if your friends bought the materials and you assembled for them it would fall under the classification of Fan Art. But if someone you don't really know that well (or at all) gives you $100 and says "buy what you need and keep the rest" then you're crossing over into the realm of copyright infringement. But thats just my guess.

» Tue May 17, 2011 2:09 pm

Many years ago I got one of those gearshift knobs that looks like a skull, I was going to pay a guy to use it as a base to create gear shift knob that looked like the head of The Maxx. I never even considered the possibility of legal ramifications. I know that while gambling is illegal, the Friday night poker game or office pool are excepted because of the prior relationship amongst the participants. I would assume that if your friends bought the materials and you assembled for them it would fall under the classification of Fan Art. But if someone you don't really know that well (or at all) gives you $100 and says "buy what you need and keep the rest" then you're crossing over into the realm of copyright infringement. But thats just my guess.

Even I didn't realize that gearshift knobs were copyrighted material. :laugh:

» Tue May 17, 2011 9:55 am

Just because it explains it well, I'm going to quote Steve Jackson Games' FAQ (Obviously SJ games have no involvement in this particular situation):

Q: I'm studying programming in high school/college. We have to write a game program. Can I base my program on one of your games?

A: This is complicated. The answer boils down to No . . .

1. We will not give permission for this, because giving permission implies approval, and we don't have the time or resources to oversee school projects.
2. It is completely legal for you to create a work derivative of someone else's intellectual property, if it's only for your own personal use. We tell you this in order to be upfront with you. But we hope you don't do it, because:
3.If you create an implementation of one of our games and it winds up on the net, then you have been responsible for distribution of an infringing item, and you have probably done us actual harm (or even interfered with a relationship with a commercial licensee). In that case, you, your teacher/prof, and the university might all be held liable under both copyright law (for the contents) and trademark law (for the name). That would be a really bad outcome, and it's easy to avoid . . . just create an original game for your project rather than copying somebody else's.

The key points here are 2 and 3. You can build a Monopoly board for your own use based on Fallout, no problem - Hasbro and Bethesda can't touch you. However Distrubiting the item (giving it to your friends) is possible infringement (to Bethesda and Hasbro).

» Tue May 17, 2011 5:08 am

Im sure someone did this a way back. Had the same thread on it.

http://swanboy.deviantart.com/art/Fallout-3-Monopoly-145365574#/d2ejosm

» Mon May 16, 2011 11:16 pm

Im sure someone did this a way back. Had the same thread on it.

http://swanboy.deviantart.com/art/Fallout-3-Monopoly-145365574#/d2ejosm

Thats actually pretty sweet, especially if it had special pieces to go with it. Now it would be illegal to make profits off of fan-anything based on copyrighted items(Unless you get permission from the owners) and it can be illegal even if you don't make profits off of it (Either by the company stating it before hand, or by them telling to stop, like Lucasarts did with a fan-made movie about Star Wars using the Battlefront 2 engine) but generally if you keep it on a small (very small) scale no one is going care, generally,

Note: This is only from what I know, which is very little, of copyright laws and copyright infringement.

» Tue May 17, 2011 12:09 am

SO if I distribute it to a few buddies of mine and don't get paid a single cent it's okay?

» Tue May 17, 2011 7:15 am

SO if I distribute it to a few buddies of mine and don't get paid a single cent it's okay?

Pretty much, it falls under fan-art (Kinda like how game mods based on other intellectual property does). Also its generally bad for a company's reputation to sue a non-profit nobody (Don't mean that as an insult, I mean on such a small-scale)

» Tue May 17, 2011 11:42 am

Yes I know what you mean. And besides I'm a loyal Bethesda fan :Bethesda-Fan-Emoticon:!

» Tue May 17, 2011 1:00 pm

If I made a custom Monopoly board (and custom pieces) would I be able to distribute it to my friends (for the cost of the materials). As long as I didn't mass-distribute it, would it be legal?

P.S. would a monopoly based off of The Elder Scrolls fall under the same legalities.

Didn't you ask this 17 months ago? (or was it someone else?)
Basically they have to say no whether they mind or not (its protecting their brand).

» Tue May 17, 2011 2:17 am

SO if I distribute it to a few buddies of mine and don't get paid a single cent it's okay?

I'm sure that these few buddies of yours won't tell on you (unless 'few' buddies is just a figure of speech of course) in which case you could do anything you want - and your chances of Bethesda finding out should be extremely low, unless you help them by... you know... declaring it on their official forum or something.

» Tue May 17, 2011 12:23 pm

I'm sure that these few buddies of yours won't tell on you (unless 'few' buddies is just a figure of speech of course) in which case you could do anything you want - and your chances of Bethesda finding out should be extremely low, unless you help them by... you know... declaring it on their official forum or something.

Not really sure we should be advivating the "Its okay as long as you don't get caught" legal theory....

» Tue May 17, 2011 1:05 am

Not really sure we should be advivating the "Its okay as long as you don't get caught" legal theory....

The whole point is that Bethesda (and Hasbro of course... did anyone mention that legally he should get permission from Hasbro as well?) would not mind if you want to have a bit of fun with some friends, without stealing or taking advantage from them in any remotely meaningful way (if he wants to make a Fallout Monopoly then he most probably owns a copy of both)... I bet they have more serious things to do than to worry what that one guy will do this weekend, ask them and they will say no though, because they have to as Gizmo said...
There's no ethical dilemma here... come on!

Legal conditions are often extremely absurd - for reasons that can make sense but still...
For example I think that if you buy a movie on DVD you are legally allowed to watch it buy yourself only, watching it with a friend is forbiden... Technically that friend "steals" the movie by watching it for free. And that makes you a pirate.
But you wouldn't seriously take that into account, would you?

» Tue May 17, 2011 1:13 am

The whole point is that Bethesda (and Hasbro of course... did anyone mention that legally he should get permission from Hasbro as well?) would not mind if you want to have a bit of fun with some friends, without stealing or taking advantage from them in any remotely meaningful way (if he wants to make a Fallout Monopoly then he most probably owns a copy of both)... I bet they have more serious things to do than to worry what that one guy will do this weekend, ask them and they will say no though, because they have to as Gizmo said...
There's no ethical dilemma here... come on!

Legal conditions are often extremely absurd - for reasons that can make sense but still...
For example I think that if you buy a movie on DVD you are legally allowed to watch it buy yourself only, watching it with a friend is forbiden... Technically that friend "steals" the movie by watching it for free. And that makes you a pirate.
But you wouldn't seriously take that into account, would you?

I'm not sure where you are, but I'm fairly sure your example is still considered "home use". Its not a public exhibition.

» Tue May 17, 2011 3:55 am

Or, you could just go to Hasbro, tell them what you want, and they will make the custom Monopoly game for you and it is all legal and nice and professional.

http://www.mymonopoly.com/home.php

» Tue May 17, 2011 8:40 am

How much would that cost? I don't want to pay too much.

» Tue May 17, 2011 6:37 am

Dude, who cares how much it would cost. You'd have your own version of Monopoly. Monopoly, the game that ends friendships!

(I'm not joking about the ending friendships part, a lot of games of Monopoly my friends have played have ended in fist fights)

» Tue May 17, 2011 1:54 pm

If you want to be sure, of all this though. You could just message Gstaff.

» Tue May 17, 2011 5:01 am

If my friends are that immature, then I don't think we should be friends. If we're going to fight, because you landed on Boardwalk when I have a hotel on it, then you can get out of my house...

» Tue May 17, 2011 12:45 pm

If my friends are that immature, then I don't think we should be friends. If we're going to fight, because you landed on Boardwalk when I have a hotel on it, then you can get out of my house...

In my experience, thats not where the arguments come from. Its the multi-player alliances/cartels that form as players get short that cause the arguments.

» Tue May 17, 2011 11:37 am

It happens. As long as if one partner lands on the other partner's space, he still has to pay. I don't care. If he doesn't then we can simply resolve it by reading the rules aloud.

» Tue May 17, 2011 1:04 am

In my experience, thats not where the arguments come from. Its the multi-player alliances/cartels that form as players get short that cause the arguments.

I would have guessed they would be caused by Player-Bankers with sticky fingers. :slap:

But it happens with just about any competative situation.
I once had the whole room want to beat me up after a game of Magic: The Gathering

» Tue May 17, 2011 5:35 am

If my friends are that immature, then I don't think we should be friends. If we're going to fight, because you landed on Boardwalk when I have a hotel on it, then you can get out of my house...

Haha, in my experience games like monopoly always lead to arguements and often someone storming off. Its not a matter of maturity or lack of.