Quote:
Originally Posted by derangedhermit
Do you think the judge comparing a video game to a screenplay is unreasonable? Is a video game like other works of creation, like novels or screenplays, or is it different?
Do you think changes in "plot, theme, dialogue, mood, setting, pace, and character" have value?
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I think the comparison breaks down. With a screenplay you have one definite ending to the story and you know exactly what, where and how it ends. A game can have multiple endings that don't necessarily all have the same result. I don't think you can copyright a theme either. If that is possible then the makers of "West Side Story" should have been charged with a crime for using the same theme as William Shakespeare. After all the basic story is an updating of Romeo and Juliet. And what of Jaws? The idea of a hunt for a dangerous sea creature was in Moby Dick long before Mr. Benchley wrote his book. There are only so many themes and plots. It's the setting and characters that make one story different from another.