The videogame world and the copyright office do have their collisions. In our modern digital culture, a video game can have as much popular mindspace as a popular film or television show. So, naturally, a big game can create opportunities for parody, comment, and post-modern artistic manipulation.
We saw this question on Quora recently:
Can a parody style fan game have Fair Use protection if it uses the original game’s art assets?
And here’s our answer:
Yes, although you can still get taken to court if your original game’s publisher is aggressive. Fair Use isn’t guaranteed; it’s a legal line that gets tested in court when a case arises. There’s a couple good online tools that will help you assess and strengthen your argument like the Fair Use Evaluator . My advice is if your game is fan-built, truly parodic, and unlikely to make a profit, go for it. The publisher is unlikely to see it.
