Resurrection of a Dead Online Game

[Yu-Gi-Oh!]

The game I want resurrect is this:
Yu-Gi-Oh! Online: Duel Evolution | Yu-Gi-Oh! Wiki | Fandom

This Game is since 12 years dead (not online, not playable).
I want to copy the same game, but with my own codes ect.

I don't want to make money from the game.
The game will only be available for download from my website.

I know that there is trademark, copyright ect. , will i get a severe punishment right away?


is there any way to revive the game without incurring a punishment?
I sent Konami a message, but I did not get an answer.

 

[CParsons]

I know that there is trademark, copyright ect. , will i get a severe punishment right away?

is there any way to revive the game without incurring a punishment?

What you do personally on your computer is up to you. However, adding it to your site and making it available for download is where you run into potential trouble. Whether or not someone comes after with a legal case, no one here can answer that but what you're suggesting would be against the law in any case.

 

[Yu-Gi-Oh!]

What you do personally on your computer is up to you. However, adding it to your site and making it available for download is where you run into potential trouble. Whether or not someone comes after with a legal case, no one here can answer that but what you're suggesting would be against the law in any case.

Lets say I do not add it to my Website to download. Lets say I give this game to some of my friends and we play it online is this still illegal?

 

[Brian Boru]

is this still illegal

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, this is not legal advice.

I recommend you read up on the sad and sorry state of a 20-year-old classic, No One Lives Forever.

The Operative: No One Lives Forever - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It's still illegal, just like photocopying an out-of-print book and handing copies out to pals is illegal.

In case you think this is all crazy and shouldn't be, you are of course right from a layman's POV. But sadly, you're wrong from a lawyer's POV.

 

[Zloth]

I take it this is "online" in the sense that two people with the same game can contact each other DIRECTLY to play the game? Because, if there's any sort of server at all, you're going to need to spend a lot of time figuring out how that worked.

 

[Pifanjr]

Typically, only the art, text and the names used in a game are copyrighted/trademarked. Mechanics can only be patented (see for example the now expired patent for Magic the Gathering). So if the mechanics for the game don't have an active patent, you could reverse engineer the game using your own art, text and names but with the exact same mechanics. Since patents only last 20 years and Yu-Gi-Oh is 22 years old now, there's a good chance there isn't an active patent on the game.

Of course, each country might have additional laws that can come into play, so do your own research as well.

 

[Brian Boru]

only the art, text and the names used in a game are copyrighted/trademarked

I'm pretty sure the code is also copyrighted, that I've read—years ago, so could be mis-remembering—of lawsuits based on code copying.

 

[Pifanjr]

I'm pretty sure the code is also copyrighted, that I've read—years ago, so could be mis-remembering—of lawsuits based on code copying.

You're right. I was assuming the OP didn't have access to the source code, so I didn't include that, but source code is indeed also protected by copyright and can't be copied (at least not wholly).

 

[Brian Boru]

"Picasso had a saying -- 'good artists copy; great artists steal' -- and we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas."
—Steve Jobs 1996