Expert: Nyall Engfield - 3/2/2010

Question
If writing a guide about a published game, does the rights owner of the game have any intellectual property claims to the guide?

Answer
Copyright protects the computer code that makes up the game, the characters in the game, and the sound and images used in the game. There may also be trade-mark rights in the name. If, in the course of writing about this game, you use any of the code, depictions of characters, sounds (if the guide is online) or screen shots from the game, you should obtain permission first. The manufacturer may be quite open to allowing use of screen shots because a guide would, in turn, promote its game as well. If you reference a trade-mark, you may do so by placing a TM or encircled R after it, depending on whether it is registered. Other than that, however, you are free to write a guide about the game, so long as the expression you use is your creation.