 What's up everybody I'm the Mangus, you were awesome and today we're going to talk about the legal ramifications of several different companies developing what is basically different versions of a game that uses the assets of and is based on another game. I'm a dude playing a dude disguises another dude. I'm going to focus particularly on how this will play out in regards to PlayStation release. Bottom line up front, whether these games can coexist on PlayStation is dependent on the discretion of Sony Interactive Entertainment. The good news is, Sony don't seem to care that much. I'm going to go through and talk about the use of the assets, why Epic can't come back in and take over, and why one pair of zombie developer can't successfully sue another for copyright infringement. You can sue for pretty much anything, it's just a matter of if you'll win or not. You could sue me for having sex with your mom even though I probably have not had sex with your mom, probably. Let's start with the assets. Everything released with the assets is fair game. This is why Epic can't come back in and reclaim Paragon. They can make another version of Paragon if they wish, but they can't simply muscle these other developers out through legal means because of how they release the assets. Epic sells many assets via their launcher, so using the same character models, terrain features or sound effects for different games isn't unheard of. It also isn't unheard of for one developer to take over the production of sequels or prequels to an existing game. Usually you would have to pay to license the original assets to do so, but since Epic released these for free, there's no need to pay. Everything in the process is the same, you're simply taking the money out of the transaction and offering the use to everyone. So now let's talk about the legality of these games coexisting on the PlayStation. This also applies to any platform like Steam or Epic Store. Sony or anyone else isn't going to go through and examine each and every game and developer that applies for a partnership to ensure that the game is original. That's why they have a department and procedures in place to file for copyright infringement in case something like that does happen. They of course hold the right to be the final arbiters of what is or is not infringement and can remove one game or another from the partnership if need be, but they aren't going to go looking for it. One developer would have to file a copyright claim against the other in order for Sony to get involved at all. Now you may think that it would look like a cut and dry case since Fault, Predecessor Core and Overprime are basically the same shit and the same assets, but this is where the threshold of originality comes into play. In order for copyright infringement claim to be successful, developer filing the claim needs to meet the threshold of originality. Section 308 of the Compendium of Copyright Ownership lays out the requirements to reach that threshold. The work to be copyrighted needs to be independently created by the author and possess a minimal degree of creativity. It then breaks it down further to say that you can copyright the components of the work that are original to the author. The work must possess some minimal degree of creativity and even a slight amount of creativity will suffice. Since all of these games are based on Paragon, none of them can claim authorship of the concept of a third person MOBA that uses like Murdock and Shibby. They are all based on the same game and they all have made slight changes in their own ways. Each one can copyright their own work without infringing on the copyright of the others. This only applies as long as they are doing their own slightly different thing with the assets. Some new developers sprung up and called themselves Stranger Matters and developed a pair of zombie called FALTS that included aspects and the same items with the same map then yeah, Stranger Matter could drop the hammer on them but that's not what's happening here. By the way, I need to add this in. Stranger Matter is not trying to sue anyone. I was just using them as an example. None of these companies have said that they are trying to sue the other ones or anything like that. I'm not trying to say that any of them are. I was just setting an example there. With all that being said, any platform PlayStation included has the right to not publish a game for any reason. So while there isn't anything within copyright law that prevents different pair of zombies from existing on the same platform, if Sony decides that they could benefit more by hosting one game and not the others, well that very well can happen. Like I said at the beginning, it all lies with how Sony wants to handle this situation. About 6 months ago I called Sony about this and sat on hold for hours and to be quite honest, a lot about who I was. In order to get an answer from a real person as to how they would proceed with multiple versions of the same game, applying for partnerships and in the end, the answer was that as long as there is no copyright infringement, they would be happy to host different variations from different publishers. I hope that was informative. If you enjoyed the video, hit that like button. If you have not subscribed, go ahead and do so if you want more of the same. For now, this is TheMangoo signing off. You guys, have a good one.