See? Game mechanics are NOT protected by copyright...

[Treebore]

http://www.strebecklaw.com/court-rules- ... right-law/

Only the artwork and "esthetics" of how it is written are protected. The rules, or mechanics, are not.

[serleran]

In this case.

Try that against a big publisher or someone with a patent or trademark.

[Treebore]

In this case.

Try that against a big publisher or someone with a patent or trademark.

Patent or Trademark are entirely different things. Like the Trolls have the SIEGE engine trademarked, so you could use the SIEGE mechanics all you wanted, but you couldn't call it the SIEGE engine. Trademark only applies to protecting the name of the mechanics, not the mechanics themselves.

[Julian Grimm]

Which is why you have so many X-opoly games out now. Hasbro lost that one in a big way. And Tree is right, you can use write about and copy the mechanic all you want, you just can't call it SIEGE.