My flash game has been ripped off, is there anything I can do?

Originally Posted by Julian Get a lawyer on to it Jon, don't fool around in here asking for advice because you keep getting the same replies that you don't accept. If you are adamant that you have a solid case, and you competitors are profiting from their version then get a lawyer.

The only good advice posted so far.

Ideas can be copyrighted.

Also, yes, you can take him to court and win, if you can prove your case. Often times, all you need is a threat. Other times you need to actually file for the case and then settle before it goes.

He is right who carries the biggest stick. In this example, whatever company that made Tetris could most likely sue and win if a game came out that looked and behaved similar. For example, same or similar shapes with better graphics. There's many games that are very similar to tetris but they don't "cross the line". If you have the money and time and are confident you or your lawyer can persuade a judge that it was stolen intellectual property, then YOU will likely end up right.

Disclaimer: my answer is based on working in a law firm and having a friend that works in the intellectual copyright law arena, but in actuality this is pure opinion and I don't know anything at all.

EDIT: Also, I think you take pretty much anything to small claims court ("SUE EVERYBODY!"). AND the interesting thing here is that the person you sue is required to show up in YOUR court and if he doesn't show is almost always judged against. If he lives a few states away, this alone might be enough to persuade him, or the company, to "settle". Then again, I believe if he wins the actual case, calls your bluff so to speak, he can get you to pay court costs, including I believe his expenses (at least court costs for sure). So it pays, if I am right about this, to be sure you can prove your case.

Originally Posted by NetAtom Ideas can be copyrighted.

Not to try to pick a fight or anything, but that's actually incorrect. Also, most places internationally abide by the same rules. For example,

Here's the "official" answer from www.patent.gov.uk in relation to rules in the UK:

"...So the above works are protected by copyright, regardless of the medium in which they exist and this includes the internet. You should also note that copyright does not protect ideas. It protects the way the idea is expressed in a piece of work, but it does not protect the idea itself." Here's a direct link to the page if you want to see what is covered by UK copyright protection: http://www.patent.gov.uk/copy/definition.htm

Here's the "official" answer from the US Copyright office:

"How do I protect my idea?
Copyright does not protect ideas, concepts, systems, or methods of doing something. You may express your ideas in writing or drawings and claim copyright in your description, but be aware that copyright will not protect the idea itself as revealed in your written or artistic work." - Found in the agency's FAQs.

I'm not a lawyer, but I am extremely versed in US copyright law. I also occasionally work with artists overseas, and these are the kinds of questions I have to answer regularly. Most of my clients are musicians, so as you can imagine, we're forced to work through issues such as these on a very regular basis. Please understand that ideas, names, titles, and other similar things can NOT be copyrighted in any way. Only the process by which the idea is carried out (in this case your code), or something physically created from the idea (in this care, your graphics). There's nothing you can do just because someone used a very similar, or even the same, idea.

Good thing I added that disclaimer to my post. But couldn't he at least take it to small claims?

Originally Posted by NetAtom Good thing I added that disclaimer to my post. But couldn't he at least take it to small claims?

Technically, yes, you can take just about anything to small claims these days. But in my opinion, the amount of money he could claim to be losing would never justify the cost of hiring an attorney. In addition, I'd say that given the laws as I've laid them out for you, there is no chance he would collect anything ... therefore just throwing money and time away when he could be improving his product.

What we're seeing in this particular case is a prime example of the "build a better mousetrap" philosophy of business. Your ideas don't need to be unique at all to enter a market ... they simply need to offer some kind of improvement that would make your product more attractive to consumers than what currently exists. In this case, they've taken this individual's basic idea (although it doesn't appear that it was entirely unique anyway), and they've improved it and are marketing it. There's nothing illegal about that, and you really can't take someone to civil court because they've bested you at your own game - quite literally in this case.

My advice for the original poster is to stop wasting time in forums and start spending that time to improve your game to make it more attractive than this new competitor.

Originally Posted by NetAtom EDIT: Also, I think you take pretty much anything to small claims court ("SUE EVERYBODY!"). AND the interesting thing here is that the person you sue is required to show up in YOUR court and if he doesn't show is almost always judged against. If he lives a few states away, this alone might be enough to persuade him, or the company, to "settle". Then again, I believe if he wins the actual case, calls your bluff so to speak, he can get you to pay court costs, including I believe his expenses (at least court costs for sure). So it pays, if I am right about this, to be sure you can prove your case.

Actually, that's not entirely true. Not showing up in civil court doesn't guarantee any kind of judgement against you. That rule generally only applies in debt collection cases. You are right, however, about having to be sure you can prove your case. That's essential whether the defendent is there in person or not. And also please keep in mind, being several states away doesn't really mean anything. It's very common practice to hire a lawyer in the plaintiff's local area to represent you in court, w/o you having to travel anywhere. In this case though (and see my other, more lengthy post I just made) you really can't prove a case, because there's no violation of any kind of copyright law.

Once you put something down in physical form you have no control of who uses the idea. The only way for your idea to be original in every form, is to never let it leave your brain.