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[Retropunch]

do they have a trademark on the word Armageddon or the game or is it the planet?

Think of Registered Trademarks as logos - the word itself isn't copyrighted, but the way in which it is displayed is. This gets into a little bit of a grey area, because the lines can become a bit blurry as very close matches also count. As such, RT normally protects people from brands that try to pass off as the same brand by looking very similar subtle changes ('Niker' or 'Cocalola' with the same colors.)

For more info: http://www.technologystudent.com/prddes1/trade1.html

Flow's project is at no risk of this kind of thing, as long as he doesn't call himself 'Dungeonquesting' or 'Eldarian Attackers' with similar looking logos.

[LordBaal]

Neither. They have it for the apocalyptic event foretold by christian lore. I'm pretty sure they'll eventually sue God, Christ, the Devil, the Antichrist, Peter and all the people involved in it.

[sprinkled chariot]

They would probably sue ancient Rome for ultramarine elements in its culture, if they could.

[puke]

They would probably sue ancient Rome for ultramarine elements in its culture, if they could.

I dont think that lapis lazuli was imported as a pigment until the renaissance.  but yea, they're crazy with what they'll go after.

It wasn't so long ago that the Star Trek owners (paramount?) would go after mod makers.  I remember a guy who made a ship set for Space Empires 4 got a take down notice, I think his hosting service actually cut him off from his account. 

GW is usually the worst of the bunch.

[Ardent Debater]

While I was eating a bagel, I had an epiphany. What if a developer took Interstellar Army Simulator and made it into an actual game, and sold it for money, and then developed Chapter Master as a free to download mod for the Interstellar Army Simulator game? The developer wouldn't be making any money directly from Chapter Master, and as Chapter Master would be an unofficial free mod for the paid game, it wouldn't be violating any copyright laws. But because Interstellar Army Simulator would be making money the developer would be compensated for their work on Chapter Master!

[Rolan7]

Without touching the morality of it (I don't even have an opinion, maan) mods have received C&D for far less than that.

[Retropunch]

While I was eating a bagel, I had an epiphany. What if a developer took Interstellar Army Simulator and made it into an actual game, and sold it for money, and then developed Chapter Master as a free to download mod for the Interstellar Army Simulator game? The developer wouldn't be making any money directly from Chapter Master, and as Chapter Master would be an unofficial free mod for the paid game, it wouldn't be violating any copyright laws. But because Interstellar Army Simulator would be making money the developer would be compensated for their work on Chapter Master!

That's not how copyright law works unfortunately - It's not the 'free or paid' bit which is a problem. The problem is using any assets or trademarks without permission, it doesn't matter if you do it for profit or not.

Obviously, if you start charging for something which uses those assets/trademarks it gets a lot more serious as you've directly made earnings off those trademarks (and then they could sue you for loss of potential earnings), but you're still violating copyright law by using those assets in any capacity. In this particular scenario though, you are right that the most GW could do would be to ask for the CM mod to be taken down - they couldn't take any action against IAS itself.   

As, if IAS was made without any mention to any of the trademarks and without using any of the GW assets, there's not a single thing in any possible universe they could do. If someone else then decided to make a chapter master mod, or a dune mod, or a star trek mod, it would only be those mods and their creators that would be at risk of a C&D.

[Xeron]

Ignoring the legal bs stuff, there was someone that picked up development for Chapter Master a while ago, has there been any download ?

[LordBaal]

By that standard mod like Call of Warhammer or Beginning of the End Times for Medieval Total War Two wouldn't exist. Of course a developer could sneakily do that as long it can cover it developed the mod itself or GW can't prove they did. Something easily done releasing the mod under a pseudonym on amy forum some months  (at least) latter after the release of the game.

[nenjin]

Ignoring the legal bs stuff, there was someone that picked up development for Chapter Master a while ago, has there been any download ?

He said as though the two are not directly related. Sometimes the more I read the thread, the more irritated I get. People want the game and yet don't care about the legalities anyone touching it might face. "Yeah yeah someone might get their face sued off, w/e, please give free download naow k thx."

[Xeron]

Yes, how fucking dare I ask for a recent download link in the thread for the game instead of whining about legal bullshit I have no power over.

[Flow]

Journier has not posted any updated download at any point. If you mean SSME then all download links are available at streamlinedev.blogspot.com though its barely playable and not really a game.

[Xeron]

Thanks for the heads up, Flow, and yeah I meant Journier.

[NivlacSupreme]

breaking news: GWs head of IP, Alan Merret, has supposedly left. this could issue in a new age of not being sued into oblivion

[sprinkled chariot]

And Journier dropped his pure code crusade?