MArcomage

Please don't use that image for Shadow priestess. It's from the online game Last Chaos http://lastchaos.aeriagames.com/ and is used in banner ads very regularly. It's too easily recognizable as a stolen graphic.

I don't know anything about game Last Chaos, nor its site. This picture was downloaded from a free wallpaper download page.

Regardless of where you found it, it uses art from their game.

I'm not familiar with the game, but I've searched around a bit. It turns out that she is not from Last Chaos as I thought, but another game from the same company named Shaiya. http://shaiya.aeriagames.com/ If you run a Google image search for "Shaiya" you will see that other images of her.

At this link http://games.fileheaven.co.uk/?Shaiya/Adventure/FreeGames/download/2365 you will see that very image used with information for the game.

I don't think it's my duty to check if the image, which is hosted at free download site is copyrighted or not. If someone will prove his ownership of such image, we will have such image removed from our site.

That's not the point. Just because an image is free to download does not mean that you are granted the right to use it in your own projects.

It actually is your responsibility to determine the rights to each image before you use it. I'm not going to ask that you do so because that would be a monumental task, but in this one case you have been made aware that you do not have the rights to that image. Please don't use it. I don't care if you substitute another wallpaper image for it, just so long as no one can easily identify it as being from a copyrighted entity. I'll even draw you another graphic that may not look as good, but at least you'd have the artist's expressed consent for its use.

Edit: Just to be clear, I'm not trying to cause trouble. I just want to prevent any possible trouble in the future. I love this site too much to allow anything to happen to it that could have been avoided.

All right, I try to find a substitute picture. Thx for reporting.

I think we can use these pictures because the card size is only 80 x 60 pix. It is smaller than image preview.

Still not preferable as long as there are viable alternatives.

@ DPsycho: Not actually true. Images distributed freely over the Internet are essentially in the public domain, so any claim to copyright is basically irrelevant. Even were the issue to be forced, given that the image did come from a free site, and given the low quality (in digital terms) of the image, it certainly qualifies as fair use. There's really no legal action that could be taken based on use of the image here.

Absolute worst case scenario would be that a theoretical copyright owner sees it, and asks Mojko to remove it. Really, they can't do anything more then ask; there's no evil law-magic that allows them to shut down the site remotely with the click of a button. If they're particularly full of themselves, they might 'ask' formally with a Cease & Desist. That's rather unlikely... and again, given the fair use issue, it probably wouldn't go any further then that... any attempt to force Mojko to stop would be a waste of time and money on their part; it wouldn't even get as far as court.

There is no requirement to determine your rights to use an image, when that image is in the public domain. That's what the public domain is for. Seriously, even you got it wrong when you 'identified' it the first time, so it's clearly not that big of an issue. Copyright law doesn't help anyone when people assume it means more then it actually does.

There are other recourses that can be taken, actually. The easiest is for them to have the host shut down the site in a case of non-compliance. This does happen, and it happens over the most mundane of things.

Most importantly, however, is the fact that this entire game and use of the name "Arcomage" is in violation of copyright. We don't want any unnecessary legal attention drawn to the site.

I can assure you, it doesn't matter how the images were obtained, released freely over the Internet or not. If the images depict copyrighted characters, their use is in violation of copyright. I've gone through this kind of situation before and it's a lot easier to avoid than to resolve.

At the very least, if we were to be using art that doesn't belong to us, we should be crediting our sources. Also, what you say about it being public domain because it's on the Internet simply is not true. There are websites where this is the case (Flickr) and those submitting to them specifically make them public domain in doing so, but for the most part an image made available online is the property of its creator. Sites that host images are often supported by their advertising, just as television programs are. They are not offered for free and they don't grant ownership to those who view them. Reposting or claiming work as your own is generally prohibited, and arguing that they can't or won't get back at you for it does not make it acceptable.

You just gotta get some witty clause for entering the site that when entering the site you agree to never use anything seen as evidence for copyright infringement or whtvr ;P

I created this separate thread for this disccusion. Moved all relevant posts here.

"this entire game and use of the name "Arcomage" is in violation of copyright"

I disagree on this one. Our game is only inspired by the original Arcomage. We have different cards, different rules and different gameplay.

Actually there are many games out there that are also inspired by Arcomage, but aren't an Arcomage clone and nobody has any problems with that.

I shrug. Some things are legal in some places and not in others. For example, DPsycho, your profile lists you as being in America, which is probably the worst place in the world for this kind of thing, thanks to Big Media buying your government. I do advise that your laws do not apply everywhere, so don't assume they do just because America is big.

The Internet lies between everywhere, so the only laws Mojko needs to worry about are those which apply in his own locality, and any polices his hosting provider wants to hold him to over and above that. If he does indeed receive a C&D, the easiest response is simply to C&D, as 'requested'. But in the absence of such a demand, or some obscure fascist local regulation, he's under no obligation either to completely avoid using copyrighted material or even to credit sources.

This is mostly because the site is free. If he was charging money for it, it'd be a different story. Since he's not, it's fair use not only according to established international copyright standards, but even quite arguably under your own restrictive laws.

How about this? We just get another picture or something. It's simple, and no-one can get in trouble :)

Still the use of the "name" might technically be a violation, even when the "game" is not.

Of course there are international agreements on matters like these, might be interesting for this discussion to look them up.

I did a swift search on Ubisoft's site (publisher of HoM&M), and all I found on Arcomage were some forum messages referring to other outside sources. No evil comments from moderators between them. Things can't be that bad from that point.

Yeah, I'm not really afraid that anyone would make any threats based on the use of the name Arcomage, though they do have every right to do so. It would be a worst-case scenario, is all.

I am aware that my county's laws do not extend globally, but copyright is a global issue with plenty of global cooperation. I'm not going to claim that things -will- happen just because they -can-, but it is a concern nonetheless.

I'd just prefer to err on the side of caution and use an ounce of prevention, especially for something as simple as avoiding the use of one recognized image. Like I said before, I'll not ask to go through and learn the source of every image. That would be insane.

... 99% of graphics in the game are form: anime, games and other card games...


it's true about the copyright issues, but they don't exist if the images are used with not commercial intentions.

the only thing that you can do is at least name from where are the graphics and that's all

I'm concerned that this and other cards by the same poster violate copyright law in regards to their images.

[Progressor: Moved from Bazaars trader Thread, has nothing to do with the card. (begin)]