There’s a video game called Smite that has around 130 playable mythological figures. Can another game have the same list of figures (exclusively) or even a smaller list of figures that are also used in Smite?
It gets tricky, because the character itself might be public domain, but the specific representation of the character may not be.
There’s also the issue of the fact that you may be right, but still not be able to afford to prove it.
A lawyer would obviously be able to provide more details if they knew the specifics, but it really depends on the context and what exactly is being replicated.
If they use original art, no, even if the characters are owned by a company.
It may be trademark infringement, however. Depends on how close you get. See Spirt Halloween costumes for examples.
Okay, not trying to be dense here…is there a “Spirt Halloween” that tries to rip off “Spirit Halloween”?
Nah, just a typo.
Wondering too because spirit halloween has licensed costumes…
Assuming you’re referring to U.S. law, I’m not a lawyer, but if a character is in the public domain, they’re available for anyone to create new material with. Using the same list of characters in a different game/story that’s your own creation should be fine.
Age of Mythology has a lot of gods from various religions. I havent seen Microsoft sue Marvel over it though
In SMITE’s case, the characters come from mythological sources and those sources are public domain. However, the way they’re depicted was chosen by the game developer and their depictions are copyrighted by them.
If someone copied the list of characters and made their own game with their own artwork and gameplay and everything, SMITE’s creators could do absolutely nothing about it. But if they copied any substantial elements from SMITE directly, then it starts to go in the direction where lawyers start rising eyebrows. At that point it’s no longer making original stuff based on the same PD material.