Game Developer's Bill of Rights

hot off the IGDA presses, figured this is an important thing for us developers of games to read:

http://www.igda.org/articles/ezimmerman_bill.php

The list:


1. The right to full ownership of what we fully create.

2. The right to be billed as the game creator in marketing and on game packaging at least as prominently as any mention of the game publisher.

3. The right for every individual involved in creating the project to be given accurate and prominent credit within the game.

4. The right to move freely between publishers on new game projects.

5. The right to a fair and equitable share of profits derived from a game.

6. The right to full and accurate accounting of any and all income and disbursements relative to our work.

7. The right to promote and the right of approval over any and all promotion of our games and ourselves.

8. The right of approval over means for distribution, as well as for licensing, merchandizing, and other derivative versions of our games.

9. The right to a publishing arrangement that reflects the iterative nature of game development; one that recognizes that changing a game as it is developed is part of creating a game.

10. The right to a publishing arrangement that results in a process that conforms to accepted standards regarding work hours, compensation, and labor practices.

11. The right to acquire publishing rights to a game if the publisher has stopped distributing the game.

12. The right to employ legal representation in any and all business transactions.

13. The right to final say in creative disputes regarding the game.

Eric is a neat guy, knowledgable, well spoken, and certainly to be taken seriously, and gameLab is a cool company but big budget game developer's sold thier souls to publishers long ago. The new generation of consoles, led by XBOX360 further ties up that relationship with the publishers.

Game Developers are rock stars and publishers are thier label.

The alternative? Be an indie rocker, start your own indie game company or work for someone like gameLab, but never expect to own the rights to the Xbox360 game you just designed with your license from Marvel Comics.

I also wanted to throw in that Eric is my vote for celebrity game dev judge for next years SL Game Dev Contest. Then he can get a first hand look at the indie'iest of all indie game developers.

Hiro, thanks for posting that.. it definitely was a good idea to throw that up for developers here in SL.

Satchmo, i agree with you.. i throw my vote in with yours. sounds like he would be a good choice..


..not that i've made any games here.. well, none that were completed. (oh, how i miss Tartarus) ..but i have ideas i'd like to get to someday. and progress in this area always interests me.

Appropriately enough, Eric's Gamelab is only a few blocks from New York Law School where SoP and SLCC were held, so there's that. I agree he'd make a great judge for next year's contest (if LL decides to have one), but how about we seek him out to have a group meeting in the next couple months? I believe he already has an SL account, and of course, he's well aware of us.

If the bill of rights were applied to SL, I believe the SL's Terms of Service precludes the following:We don't solely own our creations here in SL. User-created content (such as a game) is automatically licensed forever and permanently to Linden Lab, who may use the creations for marketing and/or promotional purposes without having to ask permission. This wouldn't be an ideal arrangement for people who agree fully with Zimmerman's bill.

Hamlet, if you arrange something, I'm sure they will come

MA

Yea, I'd be there. I just started reading his new book "Rules of Play" (co-written with Katie Salen) and it rocks. I recommend it to anyone interested in Game Design.