Topic: Konami Facebook team responding to Operation: Akumajo

[Esco]

Let me make something crystal clear: if a cease and desist was ever ordered on me, the only people it would hurt is ALL OF THE FANS! It would mean no more blog, no more demo releases, no more public nothing. I would instantly go underground, and that would be that.

However, what I then do in the privacy of my home, would be my own business. And I guarantee you all that I would not lose out at all. You can all come to your own conclusions as to what I mean by that. 

Considering how few descent projects this "community" has, if I were most of you, I would hope that I actually succeed, rather than anyone wishing malice on me for doing what EVERYONE here should be trying to do, but many are too lazy too attempt.

On that note, I will thank you all NOT to start saying things like "I am playing with fire" or how my project will be "shut down." I don't need that bad juju sent my way, and the negative attention/suggestion are not wanted. It is however a quick way to get yourself put on my ignore list.

Just about everyone here is technically using intellectual property that doesn't belong to them, so before anyone points at anyone else, they might want to take a look at themselves. 

[A-Yty]

Yeah, you guys. It's so simple and we're being such whiny lazy tards. Let's just add a PayPal donation system so we can buy the rights to Castlevania. And if that doesn't work, we'll keep that money for legal defense.

[uzo]

Fan game legality basics:

1) Companies that own intellectual property can shut you down for unauthorized use of it, regardless if it is for profit or non profit.
2) They can outright sue you, without warning, for unauthorized use of their property.
3) They have the right to deny any request for use of their property.
4) Parody material is exempt from this. You can make fun of anything without permission.

Why does it happen?:

It makes the company look loose with their IP. It's seen by some to be tolerance on the use of their property, which makes them look weak, or unable to handle people using it without permission. A corporate pissing contest so to speak. It can also be seen as other people making non-money profit; hits to a webpage, merchandising, popularity, etc. These can lead to actual derived money profits.

What usually happens if they want to shut you down:

They give you a warning to cease and desist. Law suits cost money, so they'd rather intimidate you into doing what they want for free. Refusal to that can go to a law suit, but they usually will try and persuade you once more. Again, law suits cost money. Eventually they will sue you, and it will be a lose lose situation for you.

Not all companies are the same:

Not all companies have the same tolerances and policies, outside of selling it as they all crack down on that. Some companies do not allow fan games to even exist, while others encourage it. Here are some examples;

Paramount - Unauthorized Star Trek IP did not exist. You made so much as a fan website, you got sued, end of story. Ever wonder why there were so many PARODY (see above) Star Trek sites?
Funimation - You try to make a fan game of DBZ, and you will be facing a real law suit threat. They do NOT fuck around.
Nintendo - Does not allow actual/quality fan games. Flash games you may get away with, but anything actually good will be shut down (ie that Metroid Remake).
Konami - While they have no official stance on things, as far as I've heard, they seem to let fan games go. I don't recall a single fan game being shut out.
Capcom - Encourages fan sites, games, and more. They even have fan page starter kits, and officially allow the unauthorized uploading and sharing of their game music, believe it or not (I have asked and verified it myself). Their relatively new website (http://www.capcom-unity.com/) is dedicated to fan interaction and content.

Final comments about this issue, especially for Konami:

I really haven't seen a true high quality fan game to come of Konami's IP. It is possible Esco and I could become the first 'examples' of a crack down. Not often do we the fans have an opportunity to make a game noticeably BETTER than the official titles. That may NOT be taken lightly. Only time can tell though. This is also another reason I dont publicly update too much, keeping it on the low.

[X]

Paramount - Unauthorized Star Trek IP did not exist. You made so much as a fan website, you got sued, end of story. Ever wonder why there were so many PARODY (see above) Star Trek sites?
Funimation - You try to make a fan game of DBZ, and you will be facing a real law suit threat. They do NOT fuck around.
Nintendo - Does not allow actual/quality fan games. Flash games you may get away with, but anything actually good will be shut down (ie that Metroid Remake).
Konami - While they have no official stance on things, as far as I've heard, they seem to let fan games go. I don't recall a single fan game being shut out.
Capcom - Encourages fan sites, games, and more. They even have fan page starter kits, and officially allow the unauthorized uploading and sharing of their game music, believe it or not (I have asked and verified it myself). Their relatively new website (http://www.capcom-unity.com/) is dedicated to fan interaction and content.

You forgot about Square Enix and Sega. I'm curious as to what they say about fan-based projects. I had heard that Sega gave a cease & desist order to the creators of SoR Remake and Sqare Enix did them same with that fan project of Chrono Trigger.

[Esco]

You forgot about Square Enix and Sega. I'm curious as to what they say about fan-based projects. I had heard that Sega gave a cease & desist order to the creators of SoR Remake and Sqare Enix did them same with that fan project of Chrono Trigger.

Yes Sega did; but it was after it was completed, and everything was released already.

Square Enix shut down the chrono trigger remake; mostly because they wanted to make chrono cross, and were going to re-release chrono trigger it appears.

[C Belmont]

Konami - While they have no official stance on things, as far as I've heard, they seem to let fan games go. I don't recall a single fan game being shut out

Oh they have an official stance, people just aren't willing to ask them about it because they know very well that they won't like it.Here is what Konami told me in an email I sent them a while back "We are sorry to inform you that Konami of America does not allow outside parties to create games or business around our licensed material due to legal reasons"

I really haven't seen a true high quality fan game to come of Konami's IP. It is possible Esco and I could become the first 'examples' of a crack down. Not often do we the fans have an opportunity to make a game noticeably BETTER than the official titles. That may NOT be taken lightly. Only time can tell though. This is also another reason I dont publicly update too much, keeping it on the low.

This gave me a good laugh, Creating any kind of game is certainly an achievement but I’ve yet to see anything more ambitious than any of Konami's official titles not even there lazily made ones just more sprite recycling and remakes.

[Flame]

Unless you profit off of the IP, most companies don't really care if you make fan games. At least Sega and Capcom dont. and I havent heard of Konami putting their foot down on any Castlevania fan material.

Meanwhile, Nintendo even shut down a fan film.

[Danial]

Didn't Konami put a stop to Ben Isaac's CV movie?  I don't remember if he was trying to make a profit on it, but they still kept him from distributing it.

[TheouAegis]

Konami shut down an online card game. I found out about that googling.

I'm not saying anything bad about anybody, I'm just pointing out that maybe someday Konami will want to do what some of you are doing. Of course it would just be in their best interests to buy people off rather than hiring a new team of programmers at higher wages/salaries to do what you're already doing. Orchestra Of The Evening could be a lucrative venture for them. ... *Copyrights the title "Orchestra of the Evening" for himself *

Castlevania Wiki says Isaac's movie was shut down,and his site is gone too. Actually yeah, it's been shut down. Supposedly Isaac himself created a petition to Konami to have it released. But that could maybe mean Konami has something bigger planned and they just don't want anyone cutting into it.

[JR]

I really like the Occupy: Castlevania concept...it's something I could support without hesitation. Although I have to admit my indifference to seeing the Demon Castle War storyline being concluded (I mostly like the story itself, but don't know if I want to see it finished), I feel comfortable supporting all points because of the approach.

[Omegasigma]

being the director of several projects, I can say, its impossible to please everyone, however in this case, Konami can please the majourity, issue is, would it please konami's higherups, every company has expectations of their products, to cover the costs of development, and then funding for the next project and payment for the employees, but all we can really do is sit back and watch

[Koutei]

KONAMI Style Japan has begun such project.

Social Factory (Japanese)
http://www.konamistyle.jp/sp/social_factory/index.html (Google Translate)

*Attention: This is for Japanese Language only. Hash Tag: #ソーシャルファクトリー ("#social factory" hash tag is NOT working)

KONAMI may be asking for the user's voice.

[cecil-kain]

KONAMI Style Japan has begun such project.

Social Factory (Japanese)
http://www.konamistyle.jp/sp/social_factory/index.html (Google Translate)

*Attention: This is for Japanese Language only. Hash Tag: #ソーシャルファクトリー ("#social factory" hash tag is NOT working)

KONAMI may be asking for the user's voice.

Now this is interesting...  Unfortunately the translator isn't much help...   

[Neobelmont]

KONAMI Style Japan has begun such project.

Social Factory (Japanese)

KONAMI may be asking for the user's voice.

First off why Japan where they do not even give a crap about Cv. What about the other countries?

[Sumac]

First off why Japan where they do not even give a crap about Cv. What about the other countries?

I think it's because for the last few years Konami really tried to make Castlevania relevant in Japan.