Originally Posted by TMM the rules state . Which one would assume that if you can't find it on this site, then it must be your own work, or work which you ahve been given the a-ok to use.
someone asked on this forum if its ok to use screen caps and pics from the game, and they said it was fine. which i imagine means, even if its not from the site, since any HL material valve would own and the work is for them so there shouldn't be a problem.
Well, that's tough one... Yea, Valve owns the HL2, and basicly the screenies too, but it's not that simple. Basicly I wouldn't use screenshots that other person have took from the game. Same thing when you go to city and take photo from building. The building is not yours but the photo itself is copyrighted to you when you took it. So basicly i'd say that if someone takes screenshot from game, its copyrighted to him/her.
One guy once took screenshots from a CS movie that i made and it was "illegal", since I have the copyrights to that material, and I did not give the rights to copy it.
But like always, in our great "dataworld", nothing is that simple :D. I'd say that it's mainly morale question, what to do and what to do not.
Originally Posted by Silec Well, that's tough one... Yea, Valve owns the HL2, and basicly the screenies too, but it's not that simple. Basicly I wouldn't use screenshots that other person have took from the game. Same thing when you go to city and take photo from building. The building is not yours but the photo itself is copyrighted to you when you took it. So basicly i'd say that if someone takes screenshot from game, its copyrighted to him/her.
One guy once took screenshots from a CS movie that i made and it was "illegal", since I have the copyrights to that material, and I did not give the rights to copy it.
But like always, in our great "dataworld", nothing is that simple :D. I'd say that it's mainly morale question, what to do and what to do not.
Valve owns the Half Life trademark, so they do own any sceenies, logos, or other trademarks in the game, its their IP.
Under the Fair Use law i can use screenies, logos for my website, or for an article about them or the game. However if i write a book about Half life and use screenshots that i took in game, they would still be able to sue me since its their IP and trademark, especially if i'm deriving financial gain from it. they would still own all the rights to it.
so it doesn't matter who took the screen shots, made the logo etc, it all still belongs to Valve.
Sure there are copyright issues involved with using game screenshots for profit, but that still doesn't mean you can use someone else's work (the screenshot). That said, if it was a clean screenshot, it would be very very hard to prove that it wasn't yours. You could argue you just stood in the exact same location and took a screeny :p
Originally Posted by TMM Sure there are copyright issues involved with using game screenshots for profit, but that still doesn't mean you can use someone else's work (the screenshot). That said, if it was a clean screenshot, it would be very very hard to prove that it wasn't yours. You could argue you just stood in the exact same location and took a screeny :p
All i'm saying is if you are doing work for Valve then it doesn't matter where the screen shot comes from they still own the IP and technically they are the copyright holders of said screenie.
Well, I personally disagree. If I took a screenie and some other person copies it, it's still my work and i have the rights for it. Limited, but still. If I edit it, I have the copyright for it and none should use it unless I give rights to do it. Because its my work, i created it. If I take screenie from game and ie. make it as desktop image, I dont think that even Valve can use it on their purposes with out asking me first.
I dont know anything about 'intellectual property' but i'm guessing the main thing that prevents us for using hl2 screens in commercial use is just because it's their trademark and not that they would have copyright for the specific screenshot. But does every gameshop, supermarket get a license and agreement for using HL2 screens as their posters, commercials etc?
But like said, normal screenshot is hard to prove that you took it and still mr X has same image also. It's more like moral issue here. I personally wouldn't have the guts to take screenshots from the net. Like i mentioned taking photo from building, I think its almost the same.
Ok, im going to sleep now and have a nice cup of shut the *beep* up...
hehe, i see your point, but i happen to know a little about IP and copyright, and having a pic or logo in a gameshop or for a review or article is fine because it falls under the "Fair Use" law.
and yes anything that falls under Valves IP and Copyright screenies, logo, ui, characters, etc they do own, regardless of where it comes from.
I was going to enter this debate about source material, but when all is said and done, the person who wins should win on merit. Any other matter should be left to the judges I think. If anything used from other web sources than bit-tech is an infingement of the rules, I guess we'll find out in due course.
Judging by the competition, I'm not so confident anymore anyhow... :)
Originally Posted by Pookeyhead [edit]
Judging by the competition, I'm not so confident anymore anyhow... :)
it is pretty tense, i'm sure whoever wins deserves it. judging by what i've seen i think yours was pretty awesome, and i would be surprised if you didn't win.
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someone asked on this forum if its ok to use screen caps and pics from the game, and they said it was fine. which i imagine means, even if its not from the site, since any HL material valve would own and the work is for them so there shouldn't be a problem.
One guy once took screenshots from a CS movie that i made and it was "illegal", since I have the copyrights to that material, and I did not give the rights to copy it.
But like always, in our great "dataworld", nothing is that simple :D. I'd say that it's mainly morale question, what to do and what to do not.
Valve owns the Half Life trademark, so they do own any sceenies, logos, or other trademarks in the game, its their IP.
Under the Fair Use law i can use screenies, logos for my website, or for an article about them or the game. However if i write a book about Half life and use screenshots that i took in game, they would still be able to sue me since its their IP and trademark, especially if i'm deriving financial gain from it. they would still own all the rights to it.
so it doesn't matter who took the screen shots, made the logo etc, it all still belongs to Valve.
All i'm saying is if you are doing work for Valve then it doesn't matter where the screen shot comes from they still own the IP and technically they are the copyright holders of said screenie.
I dont know anything about 'intellectual property' but i'm guessing the main thing that prevents us for using hl2 screens in commercial use is just because it's their trademark and not that they would have copyright for the specific screenshot. But does every gameshop, supermarket get a license and agreement for using HL2 screens as their posters, commercials etc?
But like said, normal screenshot is hard to prove that you took it and still mr X has same image also. It's more like moral issue here. I personally wouldn't have the guts to take screenshots from the net. Like i mentioned taking photo from building, I think its almost the same.
Ok, im going to sleep now and have a nice cup of shut the *beep* up...
and yes anything that falls under Valves IP and Copyright screenies, logo, ui, characters, etc they do own, regardless of where it comes from.
and now i will be quiet.
I was going to enter this debate about source material, but when all is said and done, the person who wins should win on merit. Any other matter should be left to the judges I think. If anything used from other web sources than bit-tech is an infingement of the rules, I guess we'll find out in due course.
Judging by the competition, I'm not so confident anymore anyhow... :)
it is pretty tense, i'm sure whoever wins deserves it. judging by what i've seen i think yours was pretty awesome, and i would be surprised if you didn't win.
Simo 'Silec' Loukusa!
We were massively impressed with all the entries we saw, but Silec's just pipped it. It was an incredibly close competition.
Congrats to all those who entered - you did a stunning job.
If you don't need the card, I'd love to buy it ;)