i see quite a few of them on the web, but I really am not sure if they are legal or not? I mean wouldn't that be breaking some kind of IP law or something?

You mean fan-made mods using the original game's assets? For most games those are not illegal unless you try to sell them.

No I mean fan games... not mods.


Ex. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U2njsRhaDA

You mean, for example, if someone tried to make Baldur's Gate III by themselves and release it online?

Yes, in most cases that's illegal and breaks IP laws, etc. And in many cases projects like that are stopped by whoever owns the rights, which, in case of the BG3 example would probably be Wizards of the Coast and Atari.

No... I don't mean remaking a game. What I mean is making a standalone title using pre existing characters. Once again i would like to refer you to the link I posted in my last response.

Depends what assets the fan games use.

Fan games are not allowed to use any of the stuff (data,music,drawings) from the original game unless the original publisher/developer/author gives his or her blessing or the source code is open source.

Beyond that, fan games are a legal gray area. Fan games have occasionally been threatened with legal action, but they are usually alright in most instances.

A good example of a fan game that received blessing from the original publisher and therefore is legal: Ragnarok Battle Online (based on Ragnarok Online)

A good example of a "fan" game that is legal because it uses its own assets: 3d Dot game Heroes (obviously based on the Zelda games)

A good example of a fan game that was threatened with legal action: 3D Chrono Trigger Remake

If a fan game hasn't been threatened with legal action, chances are the publishers are ok with it.

Baldur's Gate III doesn't exist... So my example fits your description.

It is absolutely illegal to use the IP of someone else without his permission, and even worse if you use the original graphics.

Fan games aren't defacto illegal because they're not commercial works, otherwise someone just drawing a picture of an existing character would be an illegal act. However copyright holders still have the right to stop large fan projects on the grounds that it could be confused with official releases.

I agree with UBIvis here, but ultimately I guess you have to assess each game individually, that's why they come with EULAs.

It all comes down to what the original owner of the rights allows you, a fan, to do with said rights. If he makes it clear, in legal writing, that he will not take legal action in case you make a game with their IP in it, then you're in the green. As I see it, very few games come with this get out of jail free card, at least in the first few years of life.

EULAs don't even enter into it, it's copyright law. Under copyright law you have limited fair use rights, that is a right to use that copyright non-commercially, with various clauses relating to how much of the work you're reproducing and whether it could feasibly impact on the market of the original work.

It's the latter part that almost all shutdown fangames fall foul of.

Well damn...

Alright. I was just looking for some Freeware Zelda-esque games & the only things that I can find are Fan games (besides Guardian of Paradise... which really isn't as much of a Zelda clone as some would like to make you think). Sucks that it is illegal but oh well...

I'm with the "it's not legal" crowd, but most publishers will look away from them. There are exceptions of course, like EA getting the System shock fan project as Mod for Doom 3 pulled and such.