Lots of talk about the importance of intellectual property (IP). From a developer’s point of view, they want to own as much IP of their game (ie, code, story, characters, tools, engine, music, etc, etc). This implies a greater potential for revenue (like when the Max Payne rights were sold to Take-2 for ~$45Million!). But, there’s a lot to understanding the various forms of IP (ie, patents, copyrights, trademarks) and what makes sense to use, to avoid, to be exploited by, etc. Anyway.

A few recent stories in the news related to IP have caught my eye…

For starters Nintendo has applied for a patent covering a “portable handheld game machine which includes a capability to download and execute code from a source such as another game machine”. The patent can be read online, but it sounds like stuff that any Java or BREW enabled phone can already do. It could be a situation where companies have to pay over mucho fees to Nintendo or face litigation… Interesting.

Next up, we have Marvel Comics cracking down on modders creating/distributing skins in the likeness of their IP (ie, their various comic book heros). Seems heavy handed, but shouldn’t Marvel have the exclusive right to use its IP? Still, sad when you read the site’s farewell note… Modders beware, this is not the first time companies have come looking for a fight (I believe there were similar actions from the Star Wars and Star Trek folks).

Finally, we have GameSpy discussing the recent “24 frames-per-second DVD patent“. This one just seems crazy, luckily games may only be a secondary target. Reminds me of the time some guy had a patent on “an animated character moving across a screen” and wanted to sue 3D Realms over Duke Nukem…

Many developers do not take the time to understand the pros and cons of IP and the potential impact on their bottom line and the industry as a whole… This would be a good time to plug the fact that the IGDA has an IP Rights Committee that has been working on an IP rights white paper the past several months. I believe it will be finalized later in the summer. Watch for it.

Also, I encourage anyone interested in the topic to look up Lawrence Lessig, his books (The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World / Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace), and the Creative Commons.