What's the rule on full fledged rip offs of other IPs? Im seeing a lot of it

GM Edit: If you've somehow found this thread and not any of the others that deal with this issue, please note that the policy has changed as of September 2019: 

 

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Im seeing a crap load of rip off characters lately with the complete names (a nick fury, silver surfer, captain marvel, Joker, Iron Man, the hulk and that was just in the last 2 hours). Maybe im wrong, and i hope i am, but i feel like NCsoft could be pressured by Marvel and DC to shut us down over blatant copyright violations like that. Theyll say NCsoft has a responsibility to shut us down in order to prevent their product from being used to rip off IPs  from marvel and DC (and whomever else). Come on people. At least make your uncreative characters have a different name. Dont freakin call yourself captain marvel and make your char look exactly like her.

Edited September 25, 2019 by GM Capocollo

Considering that this is an unauthorized server to begin with, I really don't think they're fussed over it. Still, I do think it's tacky. Show some creativity, guys.

meh, let people enjoy things

Dude, you need to relax and get a hold of yourself. Aside from it not being your responsibility and the GMs are all easily accessible for your concerns just about every character is a rip off of another.

 

Deadpool is an OPEN rip of Deathstrole the terminator

 

The X- Men are a rip off of the Doom Patrol

 

Bumblebee ripped off The Wasp

 

Nova Corp ripped off the Green Lantern Corp which in turn was a rip off of the Lensmen

 

Thanos was a rip of Darkseid

 

and so on, and so on, and so on, and so.........

 

Its ridiculous and goes on forever and running around in a private server of a dead MMO in a robot suit calling yourself Tony Stank (Parcel for Mr Stank) is less likely to gain the attention of Marvels ever litigious lawyers than if you tied a red towel around your neck and ran down the street going "whoosh" and proclaiming yourself to be Superman....

Dude, you need to relax and get a hold of yourself. Aside from it not being your responsibility and the GMs are all easily accessible for your concerns just about every character is a rip off of another.

 

Deadpool is an OPEN rip of Deathstrole the terminator

 

The X- Men are a rip off of the Doom Patrol

 

Bumblebee ripped off The Wasp

 

Nova Corp ripped off the Green Lantern Corp which in turn was a rip off of the Lensmen

 

Thanos was a rip of Darkseid

 

and so on, and so on, and so on, and so.........

 

Its ridiculous and goes on forever and running around in a private server of a dead MMO in a robot suit calling yourself Tony Stank (Parcel for Mr Stank) is less likely to gain the attention of Marvels ever litigious lawyers than if you tied a red towel around your neck and ran down the street going "whoosh" and proclaiming yourself to be Superman....

 

Tells someone being polite and asking a question to chill; proceeds to go on ridiculous baseless rant pretending that the lawyers of DC and Marvel arent well known for attacking superhero games and IPs. LMFAO! Love it.

Back in 2004, Marvel did sue Cryptic Studios over City of Heroes since it was possible to create a character resembling their IP in the character creator.  From what I recall, Marvel lost.

 

That aside, it's up to the Homecoming team if they want to enforce players creating homages or even outright ripoff of established characters from Marvel, DC, etc.  Personally, I don't see much reason to given that this whole game is currently unauthorized anyway and carries its own risks.

Back in 2004, Marvel did sue Cryptic Studios over City of Heroes since it was possible to create a character resembling their IP in the character creator.  From what I recall, Marvel lost.

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That aside, it's up to the Homecoming team if they want to enforce players creating homages or even outright ripoff of established characters from Marvel, DC, etc.  Personally, I don't see much reason to given that this whole game is currently unauthorized anyway and carries its own risks.

 

The reason Marvel did not win is because CoH's lawyer proved that they players that had created Marvel IP and play in game were Marvel employees. CoH had a reporting process in place and players were very proactive in self-policing because they did not want to see a repeat. The lawyer, by the way got a standing ovation at HeroCon.

 

As for the current Overlords, I don't think they've said anything, but just because this is not an authorized server doesn't mean Marvel/DC/etc won't swing a hammer.

 

Personally, I think it best to err on the side of caution and avoid characters that outright copy someone's IP.

I have Rockit Raccoon and Gwoot (notice the altered spellings) because I didn't want to use the exact names, partially for legal reasons, but also because I didn't want to be "that guy".

Am I guilty too?

Considering that this is an unauthorized server to begin with, I really don't think they're fussed over it.

 

In the contrary, if I were a member of The Cabal (there is no Cabal), I would want to be extra careful about this sort of thing.  NCSoft may be allowing us to (so far...) fly under their radar, but, if we were to draw Marvel's attention, they may not be so accommodating.

All I'm saying is... supergroups of knockoffs of the same character should absolutely be a thing. Captain Britain Corps, Wolverine Squad, Deadpool Corps... Batman Inc, even.

More negative attention is bad. I would always suggest don't infringe, as that just adds fuel to the fire. Make something g original, and make it easier on the homecoming team.

All I'm saying is... supergroups of knockoffs of the same character should absolutely be a thing. Captain Britain Corps, Wolverine Squad, Deadpool Corps... Batman Inc, even.

lol funny idea, a Thor Corps was even a thing in Comics

Last night I was on a team with a guy that was the Rocketeer look and even name. He did look awesome though. But how lazy are you when you think about it. Here you get to create your own superhero and play it. I could never understand just copying a known hero. It's just lazy to me. You can't give some thought of your own hero.

I saw Pumaman, and I was thrilled.

All I'm saying is... supergroups of knockoffs of the same character should absolutely be a thing. Captain Britain Corps, Wolverine Squad, Deadpool Corps... Batman Inc, even.

 

Less we have to remember Batman Inc the better.

More negative attention is bad. I would always suggest don't infringe, as that just adds fuel to the fire. Make something g original, and make it easier on the homecoming team.

 

QFT. Why poke the bear?  If you’re stuck on a name, www.thesaurus.com

I think there is a difference between a rip-off and an homage.  I have a super strength and invulnerability tanker.  Her name is Liberty Star, because Liberty used to be my main server, but she is essentially a supergirl homage. 

 

And yesterday I saw a big green guy named “Gamma Monstrositity” that was pretty cool looking.  It was an obvious Hulk clone but I think he was using the bio-armor.  You can do an homage without directly doing a copy/paste.

 

The legal aspect comes in at fair use and copyright/trademarks.  So long as no one is profiting, then companies can’t do much.  Except they can threaten and harass and cost money defending against spurious charges. 

 

In the defense of “Big Comics” and the Marvel suit of years gone by.....  Companies have to protect their trademark.  If they don’t, then someone can claim it is in the public domain.  So the Marvel suit was not as bad as some people make it out to be.

 

Personally, I am more concerned by the people who think that because this is a “free” game they can make offensive names referring to bodily functions and religious figures.  But those people are why we can’t have nice things without also having a reporting system. 

All I'm saying is... supergroups of knockoffs of the same character should absolutely be a thing. Captain Britain Corps, Wolverine Squad, Deadpool Corps... Batman Inc, even.

lol funny idea, a Thor Corps was even a thing in Comics

As were all of the ones I named... and for that matter, Iron Legion .

Down with FUD.

 

Players creating existing IP characters in this game is no different than making a home-grown cosplay costume.

The game provides crayons and we use them.

 

Making a great cosplay costume is not a crime.

 

This FUD is silly.

This server, and all others running City of Heroes could still be shut down by NCSoft, so peoples' concerns are legitimate. I totally agree that original/trademarked names of known characters should not be used, just to be on the safe side. I also agree that one of the reasons folks like to create known characters is because of how much they are loved. It's also way more fun AND clever to be creative to create a name for the known character that is the same only different. (“Gamma Monstrositity” for a hulk look-alike is a perfect example of this.) Better safe than sorry. I'd hate to lose this treasure of a game a second time....the first was hard enough.

Dude, you need to relax and get a hold of yourself. Aside from it not being your responsibility and the GMs are all easily accessible for your concerns just about every character is a rip off of another.

 

Deadpool is an OPEN rip of Deathstrole the terminator

 

The X- Men are a rip off of the Doom Patrol

 

Bumblebee ripped off The Wasp

 

Nova Corp ripped off the Green Lantern Corp which in turn was a rip off of the Lensmen

 

Thanos was a rip of Darkseid

 

and so on, and so on, and so on, and so.........

 

Its ridiculous and goes on forever and running around in a private server of a dead MMO in a robot suit calling yourself Tony Stank (Parcel for Mr Stank) is less likely to gain the attention of Marvels ever litigious lawyers than if you tied a red towel around your neck and ran down the street going "whoosh" and proclaiming yourself to be Superman....

 

Tells someone being polite and asking a question to chill; proceeds to go on ridiculous baseless rant pretending that the lawyers of DC and Marvel arent well known for attacking superhero games and IPs. LMFAO! Love it.

 

LMAO, someone tries to passive aggressively get their own preference by painting an outlandish scenario where an IP holder would sue NCsoft on a product they hadnt given out and was shut down over 7 years ago because some dude called his toon Super.man on a private server.

 

Tries to denigrate someone with a different point of view by mocking them

 

On top of that, all this, coming from someone who proudly proclaims having the names of Toxin (Third major symbiote of the Spider-Man series) and Whiplash (Iron man villain and main antagonist from the Iron Man 2 film which grossed well over half a billion dollars at the box office) because he self proclaims them to be generic enough.

 

You arent the name police though you clearly think you are an authority on what is and is not acceptable, as I clearly stated, all the GMs are easily accessible where you could raise the point with them without you trying to strong arm what you see as an issue on the forums.

Yes, but what happens to players who, like me, are the creators of said character? I said it earlier in another post but Jim Butcher had to jump through serious hoops just to play CoH as Harry Dresden. I have a whole hero team I'd like to roll up that is based on my ttrpg.

 

Though, granted, I am no Jim Butcher and my creations are nowhere near that popular. Still, how amenable are the current Devs and GMs to these situations?

Yes, but what happens to players who, like me, are the creators of said character? I said it earlier in another post but Jim Butcher had to jump through serious hoops just to play CoH as Harry Dresden. I have a whole hero team I'd like to roll up that is based on my ttrpg.

 

Though, granted, I am no Jim Butcher and my creations are nowhere near that popular. Still, how amenable are the current Devs and GMs to these situations?

 

Are you talking characters you rolled up in a TTRPG campaign, or an actual TTRPG system and setting you've created and have published? If it's the former, you're in the clear, no trademarks to violate as long as you adapt them into the setting and don't carry over too many distinct bits from the setting the TTRPG is set in. If the latter...you should be clear unless someone else holds the rights. You're not gonna sue yourself, right?

Yes, I am talking about ttrpgs that I myself have written, hold copywrites and trademarks for, everything. I know I can do it without suing myself    ;D  but I am talking about having other players calling my characters out to GMs. If I create Quotient in CoH and I get reported to a GM, are they going to give me a chance to prove IP before I become GenericHero 25734, or after? Or are GMs just not enforcing this? That's what I want to know.

 

8)

but I am talking about having other players calling my characters out to GMs.

Not for nothing, but is anyone likely to recognize your self made character from your self published game as a trademarked entity?  I think you are just borrowing trouble.  There isn’t much sense in stressing.