What Is Your Opinion On Game Cover Scans/Screenshots?

[racketboy]

As I was writing about the Segagaga site, I wondered about all the cover scans. Do they "own" those images if they scanned them? I would say no. If you take their images, do they have any claim? I guess not. Property that is stolen from someone who stole it from somebody else is still stolen property, and the first thief can't complain.

"Fair Use" in copyright law is not clear. If it can be proven that a substantial amount of a copyrighted work is used, and especially used to make money, then there is a problem. Are you using the database to make money? You are certainly doing it to make us happy (thank you) but there are also advertising clicks going on.

I was recording all day, I think my brain has gone. Anyway, I can't imagine Sega ever coming after you, but maybe some internet jerks who think they own an image after scanning might...but they don't have the right.

I hope to keep the database relatively clean of ads. I will probably have some small links for looking for a given game on eBay or Amazon, but that's about it. I hope for it to mostly be a vehicle to keep the site busy and be a platform to expand off of. The main motivation is I want it to eventually be the ideal game management and recommendation system I've been waiting for somebody else to build. Nobody has gotten it right in my eyes, so I wanted to do it myself.

However, I've already invested well over $1,000 US into development costs not to mention hundreds of my own hours of design work and data gathering/cleaning, so I hope to re-coup at least most of the costs over time.

At the same time, even if I have lots of images on the site, I hope the database reaches the point where the images are very low on the scale of what makes the system enjoyable and useful. If we can get enough people contributing, I hope the unique data and features will far outwheigh any copyrighted content. If all goes well, this will not just be another bare-bones database, but more of an open-ended system for everyone being able to share their thoughts and information about every game in existence. Sure, it sounds ambitious, but this is very important to me and I plan to keep evolving it over the years instead of just updating it with new XBox 360 or PS3 games.

that's enough rambling for this session

[dudex77]

Underground Gamer has scans/screen shots for a load of games already. I doubt if you used them anyone would be that mad. The only reason someone wold have a problem is if you were making money off this database which as far as I know you're not.

[racketboy]

Underground Gamer has scans/screen shots for a load of games already. I doubt if you used them anyone would be that mad. The only reason someone wold have a problem is if you were making money off this database which as far as I know you're not.

Yeah, I've seen those. I've also seen some other screenshot and cover packs that were initially designed to be used with emulator front ends like those on the XBox.

And like I said, I may be bringing in some revenue from the site, but it will be a long time before it actually makes me a profit between what I'm putting into development and the extra hosting costs involved.

[spiritplx]

They watermark them, which is pretty much why I quit submitting stuff to them.

I'm pretty anti-watermark when it comes to screenshots and scans. It always bothers me when people go out of their way to try to claim ownership of something that very obviously isn't theirs. Kind of holds true for a lot of other things, for that matter.

Rather than cull the internet for unwatermarked material, you should just leave an empty spot / placeholder there and add the relevant scans/screenshots as you get them (either through your own work or through submissions). The submission process at Mobygames is actually a pretty decent template to follow if you're inclined.

Dang, I guess the ones I saw didn't have them (or I just didn't look close enough), but I checked and lots are marked. I don't understand why people bother to mark them, trying to claim ownership to something that can't be owned.

I like the idea of just leaving a place holder until it gets filled as well. If people find un-marked images, or create their own (through emulators, or any other way they would like), they can submit them to the DB.

Underground Gamer has scans/screen shots for a load of games already. I doubt if you used them anyone would be that mad.

Yeah, UG has some images as well. And I doubt a torrent site would care if their images were shared.


As far as the profit issue is concerned, I am sure there are many ways around this, such as putting the money earned from the DB towards costs of maintaining the DB and site (and therefore no profit is made). Although I am not a lawyer, so I don't know the specifics of all the loopholes.

[aaron]

And like I said, I may be bringing in some revenue from the site, but it will be a long time before it actually makes me a profit between what I'm putting into development and the extra hosting costs involved.

Racketboy - Doin' It For the Kids since 2004.