The copyright laws protect the creators right to decide
over their work, which they have created. Examples of copyright
protected works are books, music, art and games. The Swedish
copyright is regulated in the copyright laws (1960:729).
The copyright gives the creators the right and possibility to make
a living of it's creation, similar to a worker like a carpenter or
a secretary gets a salary based on their work. If a game developer
can't make an earing based on their investments in time and money
which have been made into a game it gets difficult to make a living
on the work and almost impossible to develop more games.
By respecting the copyright of games you respect and ensure that
new games gets created today and in the future.
Copyright and games
The laws of copyright protect games. The creator has the sole
right to create copies and make them available for the public.
Making available means sales, rental, borrow, download through the
Internet etc.
Either the creator keeps and uses the right or license parts of
the right to another person, company or party. Example of a
transfer of rights is Sony Computer Entertainment Europe who works
with Nordisk Film Distribution as the rights owner of Playstation
in Sweden.
Dividing the earnings
A common, but wrong, perception is that every single crown ends up
in the pocket of rich managers. To give a more fair view of the
reality we have broken down the dividing of the earnings for the
sale of a single unit. Note that these figures could differ
depending on what type of game, platform and company.
300 SEK - 100% - Cost to consumer
60 SEK - 20% - the state, 25% VAT is added on the sale to
consumer
69 SEK - 23% - retailers, to cover marketing, stores, inventory
and salaries
54 SEK - 18% - distributors, to cover marketing, transport,
logistics, offices, inventory and salaries
117 SEK - 39% - the rights owners (developers and publishers), to
cover story creation, design, music, voice actors, programming,
Q&A, manual, production, localization, license fee for game
engines or other rights, offices, inventory and salaries
To create a game takes the skills from hundreds of people,
such as programmers, producers, directors, musicians, technicians,
marketers, publishers and distributors. Piracy harms everyone in
the games industry and in the end the consumers. If a game is not
sold enough due to piracy then the companies of the industry won't
have resources to create new games and pay salaries to their staff.
That's a development that not even the piracy scene wants since
that would mean no more games to copy…
The piracy of games could be divided into two fields, the physical
copy on a disc and piracy on the Internet. During the 1990's the
most common piracy were physical copies, but now the most common
piracy is on the Internet.
The international trade association Interactive Software
Federation of Europe (ISFE) calculated that the games industry lost
2.5 billion Euros during 2003 due to piracy.
Piracy on the Internet
It is forbidden to download and share games on the Internet if you
don't have the right from the copyright owner. Today's technology
has done progresses but also lead the piracy to increase. The laws
still apply even though the piracy has moved to the Internet.
The copyright owner seldom gives the right to the public to freely
spread their games. There are exceptions called abandonware were
the creator don't see any financial potential in an old game and
release the game for free. However even though the copyright owner
makes the game free it is still protected by the copyright, which
means that the game can't be modified in a way that the creator
didn't intend it to be from the beginning. You have to have the
permission of the copyright owner; an old game can't be copied just
because you thought it were free.
Is it illegal to download games from the Internet
without paying for it?
Yes, it's illegal if the game has been made available on the
Internet without the copyright owners permission.
Is it illegal to make a game available on the
Internet?
Yes, it's illegal to spread the game without the copyright owners
permission.
Can I download a game from the Internet for my private
purpose?
No, games cannot be copied, not even for private purpose. It's
illegal to download games which have been made available on the
Internet without the copyright owners permission.
Is illegal to share a game on the Internet to make it
available to a friend?
Yes, it's illegal to share a game without the copyright owners
permission.
Can I make a back up copy of my purchased
game?
No, you can't make a back up of any software unless it's necessary
or if the program gives you the opportunity. So far no court have
found a back up of game necessary when playing a game.
You CAN:
Share a game you have made
yourself
Download a game, which have been
made available freely on the Internet with copyright owners
permission
Pay and download a game through a
service for digital distribution on the Internet
You CAN'T:
Copy games
Download a game, which have been
made available without the copyright owners permission.
Share games on the Internet
Make back up copies of a game
Counterfeit
Games that a pirated and looks like an authentic game are
called counterfeits. It's illegal to import counterfeits and sell
in Sweden. Counterfeits have decreased while the piracy on the
Internet has increased.
You CAN'T:
Spread imported counterfeits
Import counterfeits
Try to or plan to import
counterfeits