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tux
17-06-2003, 12:03 PM
me and my team have started to make an f1 sim (well were thinking of making it into a lemans game instead now :shock: ) and i emailed williamsf1 about if they can send over some blue prints of the 1993 car so we can make acuret modles. they had this to say :cry:

..."After consultation with our legal department I regret to say that I am not
in a position to fulfil your request despite the fact you are not looking
to charge your website visitors to download the cars or the game. The
reason being that we are under contract with the FIA/FOM for using our
image within interactive gaming along side other Formula One teams. We can
not therefore appear to condone or support such projects.

I trust you will understand our reasoning behind such a decision."

so, if we take note of that and proceed making the f1 sim, but making the cars on our own. would i expect to be in court the next day/week the game is released (for free download)?

im just interested in case i need to wake up my lawyers early :lol:


(btw, yay for my first post :twisted: :roll: 8) )

Harry Hunt
17-06-2003, 12:40 PM
Well, that's not really a problem. Alter the geometry a tiny bit and change the textures slightly. Don't use real names but instead call "Williams" "Bill's" or whatever.
You won't get a license unless you're able to pay tons of money for it.

tux
17-06-2003, 01:23 PM
so without paying loads of money i cant put the real names in? even if its a free game :shock:

damn :(

Sander
17-06-2003, 06:35 PM
If I'm correct(but I may be wrong), you can just use the names and stuff anyway, as long as you say it is a parody on the real thing, and not chrage money for it. At least, that's how I think it works, but you'd better seek some more professional advice if you really want the names...;)

WILL
17-06-2003, 09:44 PM
Or, you could just list all the labels on your cars and see if they'll sponsor you. ;)

cairnswm
18-06-2003, 06:28 AM
As I understand the issues with licensing is that you can use the names, pictures etc as long as you clearly say that the game IS NOT endoresed by the FIA/Williams etc.

Harry Hunt
18-06-2003, 07:23 AM
As I understand the issues with licensing is that you can use the names, pictures etc as long as you clearly say that the game IS NOT endoresed by the FIA/Williams etc.

that is not the case and you can get in serious trouble if you use the names without permission.

Traveler
18-06-2003, 07:51 AM
Perhaps you should read nehe's (http://nehe.gamedev.net) recent problems (start reading from post 06-16-2003) about his zelda remake. A couple days ago the IDSA filed a complaint about this remake. It's now removed... :(

tux
18-06-2003, 11:15 AM
hmm, my teams ditched f1 anyway now and working on a alms/lemans sim :)

heres that emails....


Dear Jon,

All I question of interpretation I think. Within an F1, racing enviroment
it would be in my opinion quite clear that it is a play off our IP so it
would really be a question for our company lawyer as to whether it would
stand up in court or not. We would certainly take a dim view on such a
product.

We trademark all the cars livery (paint designs) and car shapes whilst the
helmet designs are the property of the respective drivers so there may well
be the risk of litigation from them also.

I hope this is of some help.

Kind regards,

Simon Forester
WilliamsF1



--- Original message ---
From: xxx
Date: 17/06/2003 19:56:16
To: xxx
Cc:
Subject: Re:


Dear Simon,

Thank you for the reply. I understand the reasons behind the decision.
However i have one question for the future.

That is, what are the limits for an unlicenced freeware game? are they
allowed to have the graphics of the real life part but not the names?

eg. call, williamsf1 something like lillians1f

and what are the results of develeping an unlicenced freeware game with the
full team names and graphics.

Thank you for your time.

Jon Walton

Alimonster
18-06-2003, 12:07 PM
You can actually see the small dollar signs in that guy's eyes if you look closely. :x

Good luck with your new choice of game, assuming you don't fall afoul of the same problem. Also, I would like to state for the record that F1 is pretty dull versus other motorsports, and that people only watch it for the (too rare) crashes. ;) Le Mans should be more interesting methinks.

tux
18-06-2003, 12:55 PM
hehe, yeah.

50 cars in the lemans race should be interesting :)

savage
24-06-2003, 12:02 PM
I have to agree with Alimonster. I think Rally is alot more interesting and NASCAR must be one of the most boring. What is it about just going round and round, even if it is fast.