Other people's Intellectual Property

[Psork]

I have a little idea for uDevgame '04, but it involves (obviously) pretending to be a stripped down version of Microsoft Windows, ie. little blue/grey windows and a taskbar.

If I don't use any of their logos, and I never mention their name, would this be legal? I'm prepared to change the proportions and colours a bit.

[NCarter]

You may actually be allowed to use Windows imagery directly because it may qualify as "fair use" under copyright law, if your game is parodying Windows rather than (for example) replicating Windows' features. Read this (http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html) and this (http://www.publaw.com/parody.html) for more information on this subject.

Two things to be aware of:

I am not a lawyer.
Microsoft might have you shot anyway. ;)

[applekid]

I've seen so many parodies of Mac and Windows interfaces in commercial games and software, I think you'll be fine.

[madmacgames]

yes it should be ok if a parody is your intent AND it is clear to any normal person that it is a parody. However, if parody is not your intent, then using the excuse "it was a parody" is not ok.

[Carlos Camacho]

Why not parody BeOS or AmigaOS 4 -- I'm sure they will welcome the attention :D

[Psork]

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll go ahead with the project, on the grounds that:

It's being made for educational purposes
I won't get any profit from it
The copyrighted content is used for criticism/parody
I probably won't finish the game
Not many people will see it anyway

Why not parody BeOS or AmigaOS 4 -- I'm sure they will welcome the attention :D
Sorry, but for the OS to qualify it has to have a comprehensive library of spyware available for it. :D