Arcade artwork legality

[vcoleiro1]

I know using rom's is not legal unless perhaps if you have the pcb of the game. However, I was wondering what the legality of using artwork from old games is. For example if I wished to use Galaga or Mortal Kombat artwork on a cab I have built, is it legal or would I be breaking some copyright or licensing by doing so?.  I know on Nintendo's site for example there is a page talking about the legality of roms and emulators.  But I have not seen an official page (from Namco etc ) on the legility of reproducing the artwork.  I suspect its not legal, but I would like to see an official page somewhere (on Namco, Atari's etc sites) that talk's about it.

Can anyone shed some light on the matter and any official links that go through this.

[Sjaak]

I think you should use common sense in these cases.

If you build a cab for private use and print copyrighted artwork for that cab, then you won't get into trouble.
If you sell the cab to someone, you should be fine.

If you sell a lot of those cabs, you could get into trouble.
If you start selling copies of the artwork without permission from the copyright owner, you're getting into trouble.

[Thenasty]

Just like those VHS/DVD movies that you/I/we copied, if you use it for your HOME personal use only and not sell it, no problem.

Now if you do sell and do other things (drugs,guns,pimping etc..) inside your home and get caught, thats probably when you get into more trouble.  

[SavannahLion]

Despite what a bunch of useless crack heads or a bunch of overpaid, overweight greedy executives will tell you, there is no official word on copyright, trademarks or patents or whatever except one (well more than one really but the point will still stand) and those are the laws a set forth in the respective countries.

Any other source from Nintendo's own to a certain ROM sharing website is an interpretation of that law and is always incorrect in some manner. Hell, ask anyone here about copyrights and you'll get 12 different answers when ten people respond.  You'll also get a blurb about a patent as well.

[Necro]

If you're talking about home use, just do whatever.  Just don't sell anything and be a moron in that regard. 

Otherwise, if you want to know the 'law' and what the corporations want?  Well, then your screwed and never doing anything with anything.  period. 

[Sjaak]

Despite what a bunch of useless crack heads or a bunch of overpaid, overweight greedy executives will tell you, there is no official word on copyright, trademarks or patents or whatever except one (well more than one really but the point will still stand) and those are the laws a set forth in the respective countries.

True, here in the Netherlands it's perfectly legal to download music, tv shows and movies. But uploading is illegal...

[vcoleiro1]

Thanks for everyones reply. 

Does anyone know of an official (US) copyright page that talks about artwork in this regard?

Also, I was just thinking the companies that openly sell arcade art (marquees, side art etc) must have have some kind of licensing arrangement?.

[Necro]

Eh...good point there.   I don't think anyone's selling posters of characters, etc., that people would still be making money from...but still...cab art would be covered and is something you could be sued for I guess.

[SavannahLion]

Does anyone know of an official (US) copyright page that talks about artwork in this regard?

Try the U.S. Copyright Office. 

You'll discover something interesting about U.S. laws and how they're written. Have fun.

Also, I was just thinking the companies that openly sell arcade art (marquees, side art etc) must have have some kind of licensing arrangement?.

Not really. Not as far as I know anyways. The only ones I know that (re)prints "licensed" video game related artwork is whomever prints the Pac-Man stuff and it's generally accepted that they do pretty shoddy work so most people worth their salt will go find N.O.S. stuff on eBay instead or go so far as to stencil their own artwork, and NGF who is a raging Dick-a-holic who doesn't deserve to be in the business because he sells his stuff as "licensed reproductions" when he A) slaps his crappo NGF logo on every reprint B) Alters the artwork to be "correct" because the original printer had printing errors C) strong armed the daughter in court to turn over U.S. rights. D) strong arms anyone else who disagrees with him or his dicky business practices.

In a nutshell. Most of the unlicensed reproductions are generally of better quality* because those guys actually care and the licensed stuff is usually just a bunch of ---uvulas--- out to make a buck.

*As always, this statement is not a hard and fast rule and it's best to check with forums like KLOV and BYOAC to figure out who is on the up and up.

[taylormadelv]

I am an artist and I have had to deal with copyright issues in the past. It is really very, very simple.
Whomever is the initial creator of any artistic product (painting, book, screenplay, arcade art, ect) is the copyright holder of that piece of artwork. It does NOT have to be registered to be "copyrighted". It is inherintly the intellectual property of the intitial creator no matter what. That means if someone took a screenplay and rewrote everything except one page, the initial creator STILL owns the copyright because it was their initial executed concept. You cannot copyright an "idea", it must be an executed piece of artwork.
So yeah, all that cool arcade art out there is copyrighted but unless you are trying to resell it, no big deal for your personal use.
The biggest deal in arcade art legality is without a doubt--Ms Pacman artwork. Namco has all the rights to Ms Pac/Pacman and Galaga artwork. Only twobits.com sells this legally, as far as I know. It is even hard to find scans and vectorized versions of Ms Pac artwork. Other printers can produce Ms Pac art but it is illegal for them to sell it, technically speaking.
In fact, a client gave me a full set of Ms Pac art to install on a Ms Pac cabinet. Everything, kick plate, both full sides on vinyl and a nice CPO. Because he buys in bulk, he printer sells him full sets for $60!!! But we are talking volume discounts here and the source cannot be revealed, of course.

[Crazy Cooter]

Capcom used to have a "fair use" type of thing on it's website allowing people to copy/edit/print stuff for their own use.  Somebody may still have a link to that.

In general, no, you cannot legally print stuff even by yourself and for yourself.  In practice, it isn't enforced except in extreme cases.  It isn't difficult to argue in court that if you are selling something with Mario on it people will believe it is associated with nintendo... So Nintendo will want money for it.  Nintendo of course realizes it isn't in their interest to look through your window and bring you to court over your homegrown cabinet, but I wouldn't commercially sell cabinets with their art on it.  Your mileage may vary.

[Blanka]

Most use artwork to restore and preserve old cabs. Although some companies are earning a nickel on replacement parts, I think it would be wise (read: their responsibility) for the original copyright holders not to bother about it. Ferrari still sells original paint. None of the arcade builders sells repair stuff. If Namco and co don't care about their heritage, they should at least don't mind others taking their responsibility.

[SavannahLion]

I am an artist and I have had to deal with copyright issues in the past. It is really very, very simple.
Whomever is the initial creator of any artistic product (painting, book, screenplay, arcade art, ect) is the copyright holder of that piece of artwork. It does NOT have to be registered to be "copyrighted". It is inherintly the intellectual property of the intitial creator no matter what. That means if someone took a screenplay and rewrote everything except one page, the initial creator STILL owns the copyright because it was their initial executed concept. You cannot copyright an "idea", it must be an executed piece of artwork.
So yeah, all that cool arcade art out there is copyrighted but unless you are trying to resell it, no big deal for your personal use.
The biggest deal in arcade art legality is without a doubt--Ms Pacman artwork. Namco has all the rights to Ms Pac/Pacman and Galaga artwork. Only twobits.com sells this legally, as far as I know. It is even hard to find scans and vectorized versions of Ms Pac artwork. Other printers can produce Ms Pac art but it is illegal for them to sell it, technically speaking.
In fact, a client gave me a full set of Ms Pac art to install on a Ms Pac cabinet. Everything, kick plate, both full sides on vinyl and a nice CPO. Because he buys in bulk, he printer sells him full sets for $60!!! But we are talking volume discounts here and the source cannot be revealed, of course.

Don't worry the music industry is working hard to change that.