Dungeon Master porting and copyright...

[Summy73]

Hi,
i have a project to porting Dungeon Master series on mobile phones, doesn anyone know if there are any copyright problems?
I know there is no more FTL games but i don't know if other software house has bought rights for Dungeon Master series


Many Thanks

Summy

[beowuuf]

The copyright still exists. Gambit or Christophe can better help with exactly who does.

If this is a fan port to mobile phones, you might find it will slip under the radar as all the fan clones have. If there is any money involved, it will not.

[Summy73]

im a great fan of Dungeon Master since the beginning, i'd like to invest some money just to see the game ported on mobile new generation phones. Of course i'd like to have the money back for the developing not for earn more.
How can i do in your opinion? i think it's not cheap to do it but i'd like to try.
Can i ask permision to the copyright owner? (but i don't know who is he)

thnks

Summy

[Gambit37]

The copyright on Dungeon Master is still held by Wayne Holder.

You can't develop anything commercial with that name and make money from it and you can't re-distribute anything reverse engineered for commercial purposes either. This has been made very clear to the DM community several times, through Doug Bell and Wayne contacting clone authors directly. They will not tolerate any commercial exploitation of the name and are not going to pass on the copyright to anyone else as far as I'm still aware.

In fact, technically speaking, all the current clones (CSBWin, RTC, DSB etc.) are illegal since they use original data from the original game. Wayne is aware of these clones however and tolerates them since they are just fan projects which keep the memory of the game alive.

You can develop something from scratch in the spirit of DM and sell it, but it would have to be an original work with all your own code and graphics and a name that is not associated with DM, since DM is still a trademark owned by Wayne.

[beowuuf]

Yes, I believe you would have to get a license from the copyright holders. The names of those involved are on the front page of the DM Encyclopaedia. You would presumably need all their consent to use the various ideas, images, and the engine.

As for contacting them, again Christophe and Gambit are probably the best people to contact privately in that regard.

I think before even that, you need to have invested enough time into the project to have something to show for it and to prove you are serious. I cannot imagine anyone entering onto a contract that would tie up the rights on the mobile platform, if it will come to nothing and block a different attempt later from happening.

Edit: Gambit beat me too it.

[Sophia]

The fact is, the "Dungeon Master" name isn't worth a lot on the video/computer game market, except for the sentimental value it has to weirdos like us. There is no (and cannot be any) trademark on the mechanics used in DM, so your best bet would be to develop some kind of pseudo-3D dungeon crawl in the spirit of DM, without actually using the name. If you hope to have any sort of commercial success, then you might as well start with something marketable.

For that matter, to most people who have any associations with the name at all, the "Dungeon Master" is the person who runs a D&D game. Those associations were probably why they chose the name in the first place, as D&D had its big rise to prominence in the 80s. That said, Wizards of the Coast is much bigger now than TSR ever was in the 80s, so they might feel threatened by someone using that term, too.

Probably best to just avoid the legal morass entirely and come up with something new!

[Summy73]

thanks i understand now, it's a lost war. i really dreamed to bring dungeon master on iphone

[beowuuf]

Can iphone run Mac apps? The energy might be better invested seeing if the CSBwin mac port can be made to run on iphone

[Sophia]

No, iPhone apps are quite different from Mac apps.

In addition, Apple has the iPhone development process locked down pretty good, and it'd be impossible to release CSBwin legally on the iPhone, even for free. You could make it only work on jailbroken iPhones, but that severely limits your potential audience.

[beowuuf]

Ah, that rings a bell. Bit of a shame really.

[Gambit37]

It's worth noting that TSR forgot to trademark the term "Dungeon Master" which is how FTL managed to grab it As far as I know, it's still a legal trademark owned by him, unless he sold it to TSR / WoC.

[Summy73]

ok.. if someone want to help me and have some idea how to realize this, i can invest on this project. I can give all the earnings to the owner of the trademark, i just want to have back money of my investment, nothing more.

I Imagine many young people playing dungeon master for the first time on iphone maye with little better graphic. I absolutely don't want to create a different game. Dungeon master is one and only (sorry 4 my bad english)!!

[beowuuf]

Not to be. You can't do things ahead of time and then pay for it afterwards. You would need the permission first to secure your investment.

If you want to enhance the graphics, etc aswell, then you are now talking about making a new engine. There are four-six clones already in existence. If you see the itme taken to get them to where they are, you will hopefully realise how much effort it will take to build from scratch.

It would be easiest to approach one of the clone creators about the possibility of porting their clone to the iPhone. If it were possible, you could then approach the holders of the copyright with that plan and see if you could obtain an agreement with limited rights.

Only then could you go ahead and pour whatever resources in terms of further time and money would be needed for the port to the iPhone to be undertaken. And, of course, the artistic talent required to upgrade the graphics.

I think your effort will die at steps one or two, but if you are serious, those are the first two hurdles you have to overcome before you would even need to commit money to the project.

[Summy73]

thnk u!