Marvel Clamps Down On Game Skins

mrleemrlee writes "Marvel Entertainment has sent a cease-and-desist letter to The Skindex, which houses skins for customizing computer games such as The Sims and Freedom Force. The Webmaster has responded by pulling the website's content and publishing a copy of the letter. This is interesting in that such skinning has been going on for a decade, at least since Doom. Only now has Marvel decided to protect its IP; what might it have in store? Do other sites have anything to worry about?" Are user-created game skins of their characters good publicity for companies like Marvel, or an unacceptable copyright violation?

Comments

Matt Murdock to the rescue?

[AtariAmarok]

When it comes to the legal department, Marvel is more Rupert Murdoch than Matt Murdock.

hear hear

[DrSkwid]

You want to have a personalised skin so you pick a Marvel Comic Character, that's so lame!

I think Josh said it best [about making fps mods] :
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Step Two: Pick a Hot Property

You have to base your mod on something, and nothing works better than somebody else's copyrighted property. Heck, George Lucas isn't going to mind if you steal his beloved characters for personal use. Neither is old Tolkien, who is probably burning in hell for writing such blasphemous nonsense. Here are a couple suggestions for possible mod material:

Star Wars
X-Men
Harry Potter
The Matrix
Lord of the Rings
Dragonball Z
Denver the Last Dinosaur
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My money is also proximal to my mouth