[Update] KeSPA Speaks Out On Intellectual Property Rights…

On May 13 2010 07:10 Gearman wrote:
Ultimately, the IP belongs to Blizzard, so it's within their legal right to deny use by other parties that wish to use it in a for-profit manner (though whether or not they're making a profit from it makes no real difference). By using a trademarked name and IP (namely, Starcraft), and televising it, it's within Blizzard's legal rights to ask for compensation. Additionally, if you were to, say, sell maps for Starcraft, Blizzard could also seek compensation.

Ultimately, if you are making money in any way shape or form off of content created by Blizzard, it's within their legal right to seek compensation. KeSPA really has no leverage on that issue in particular -- the Starcraft name (in the realm of gaming) belongs to Blizzard, and they, ultimately, have the last say on how it is used.

To briefly address the previous poster that mentioned Photoshop: Adobe could ask for the video to be taken down, though that would be incredibly bad for their business as their products are specifically designed to create content in a variety of mediums. If you were selling those videos, you would most likely need to contact Adobe for legal approval before doing so (and you would most likely have to pay a licensing fee).

On May 12 2010 09:15 buhhy wrote:




Though Photoshop is more expensive, it is also much more complicated than a game and took much more expertise.

On May 13 2010 08:56 Disastorm wrote:

lol what? theres no way creating a an application is "much more complicated" than a game.

On May 13 2010 20:14 10or10 wrote:

Correct.
As Carmack put it infront of Nasa:
"this [Rockey science/aerospace] isn't that complicated. It is simple compared to many things in this modern world. The thing that I do in video games is far more complicated that aerospace work."

with that said Photoshop is alot of work but it isn't more complicated that creating a AAA video game title.

edit: sorry for derailing it further. he stepped on my toes as a video game developer.

On May 14 2010 02:13 Muaziz wrote:
One of the things that has been said is that Blizzard owns any maps and mini-games created using their Starcraft 2 Map Editor. I assume you give them this right by agreeing to the Terms of Service.

This is no different than Adobe owning the rights to anything you create with Photoshop, or Autodesk owning anything you create with AutoCAD. Well, my guess is that the only difference is that the latter two companies do not make you sign a ridiculous ToS when purchasing their products.

IANAL, but I really doubt that Blizzard owning maps that you create would hold up in court, regardless of ToS. There is far too much precedent of using applications to create content that the application owner has no rights to. This is pretty much true for just about every piece of application software ever developed.

Taking these features into consideration, if a game is to become a popular E-sports competition, the game developer and the E-sports organization must have a flexible relationship. If a game achieves success as an iconic E-sports competition (note: KeSPA does not name Starcraft specifically), and the developer pursues profits by declaring that their copyright is valid in the sports industry as well, then that is a large obstacle for E-sports’ growth and establishment as a future sports-entertainment industry.

On May 14 2010 07:05 Aduromors wrote:
I can't possibly get the mindset of these people playing devil's advocate for KespA

KeSPA does not, has never, and will never give one tiny bit of a shit about you or any foreigner



It's clearly obvious that copyright does actually mean something in Korea. Why the hell else would Special Force and Sudden Attack exist?

On May 14 2010 07:31 MaYuu wrote:


United states has baseball and American Football. In most countries these sports are not that big except United states. Do we see the major companies which make up NFL and such give a damn about other countries?

On May 14 2010 08:04 urashimakt wrote:


What you just said made no sense, having read the people you quoted.

As Day[9] said, this is all a ploy to get you to support KeSPA. Blizzard has been reasonably trying to negotiate for the past two years with KeSPA almost ignoring them, but as soon as SC2 hits a release date and Blizzard gets tired of trying to deal, they drop a bombshell of unreasonable demands on KeSPA (which is a regular negotiating move, it basically means we're done with you, no deal) and walk away from the table. KeSPA suddenly starts crying to the public now and only now. Why? Because they think they can make it look like they're the victim if they play it right.

On May 13 2010 23:35 epik151 wrote:
Blizzard has an inflated ego now, perhaps because of WoW and it's merging with Activision.

They are in the right to request a royalty fee but stepping in and taking control and profits of a business other people created is pretty low.

I feel like it's this simple: Blizzard created the game, people who are playing bought the game. GG.

If HD and Husky get so popular where hundreds of thousands of people are tuning in to watch their casts, is Blizzard going to step in and ask to have control and take a cut of the profits?

That's not something Blizzard created even though a game they created is being played. As long as each player bought their copy I think Blizzard should back off.