Life is Feudal Official Forum

[Roycelbaker]

I found this on Google and was wondering. Do you think the creators of the original Settlers game will sue over name copyright?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Settle ... eo_game%29

[Antiblitz]

The game is over 20 years old with the LiF part being a surname to the actual title. I guess if they wanted to really reach for it they could, but it more so sounds like it would cost more money trying then the actual possibility of profit, since if they lose, they lose money to the lawyers and court fees. Since the most recent legal battles over names occurred, most of them were due to companies attempting to completely claim rights to certain words, meaning no other company could use those words because they would lead people to believe they are somehow related.

[Roycelbaker]

That was the most informative reply anyone has ever given to me in my life. thanks for answering my question.

[Kdchan]

The Settlers, a great game, expecially the III and IV (that i'm still playing sometimes). This is a perfect example of well made economy where everything is linked together, from trades to buildings, from gathering to combat. Also a great example of functional territory control and regional resources.

If will be good is some features of it are added to LIF, imagine a kindom that to be autosufficient need different kind od specializations and professions into the owner guild, trades to other kingdoms, and build a military force to defend assets, expansions, resources, and so on.

A very immersive and a true sandbox experience where everything has a meaning and everyone has an active role.

Lots of sandbox nowadays, DF and MO for example, forget the sandbox and socialize part and waste all the resources mainly for the massive combat, clan warfare and pvp while everything else is less developed and relevant.
These games aren't sandbox at all but hybrid brawlers disguised as one. DF is the perfect example of true potential wasted, 10 years of ideas and development trashed, expecially with the horrible 2.0 incarnation, completely different from the original vision of Razorwax back to 2001. T_T

ps: Sued for what? Then every RTS should be sued because is based on the same principle.

[Antiblitz]

its not the principles nor values of the game Royce has brought up that concerns him, its the name, and the legality of LiF being used as the name.

The thing is, the plaintiff company would have to show cause that the game is similar in nature(its gameplay), that the games title makes people believe the game is theirs(this occurred with most notably the Mojang vs Bethesda case http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/03/b ... olls-name/), and that they have the rights to the name or words Life is Feudal(this occurred most recently with the game Banner Saga http://kotaku.com/candy-crush-saga-make ... 1506188958). If they cant prove all that, then its a pointless task anyways, though im pondering whether or not they can even strike out with a claim since the game is over 20 years old, it might be considered some form of public domain or like i said earlier a surname to a game and not the actual title.

Im not a lawyer, but i work in and around law, really the only persons opinion that counts is a lawyers, one of which im not.

[Wrekkoning]

I've dealt with these situations in real life as well. When push cokes to shove the fact that both are PC games could be enough to warrant a lawsuit in most lawyer's eyes.

As far as businesses go I know for a fact two can share the same name or close to the same name if there products are unrelated. If they are close then expect a lawsuit if people want to fight about. The best part of this is that more then likely the license if they ever got one in the first place has more then likely expired.