can I use pic that came with Dpaint ?

[rednova]

Dear Friends:

I started working on a new amiga game. It will be free.
Can I use one of the pictures that came with Deluxe paint 4 aga ?
It is the world map, from Dpaint.
If I give credit, is this legal ?
Thank you !!!

The game is gonna be really good !!!

Rednova

[Piru]

No

Giving credit doesn't make it legal. You need to have a permission form the (C) holder. If you don't know who that is, too bad.

[nagaflas]

More than likely the image may still be copyrighted, even though the program is ancient. But since the company that produced DP is still alive and strong (Electronic Arts), you can always ask them directly.

It's worth a shot; they may not mind.

[Amiga_Nut]

This is going to be interesting, I remember emailing Newtek a decade ago asking if they still had copies of their iconic Netwek Demo's for the Amiga and got some rude obnoxious fool with a very negative attitude to the Amiga. Of course I replied that if it wasn't for Digi-view and Video Toaster, hence Amiga, they wouldn't even exist. Only then did I get an apologetic reply from someone else with a reply to my original questions.

I suspect you will get no reply, a straight 'no' or 'what is an Amiga?' back from EA

[motrucker]

Dear Friends:

I started working on a new amiga game. It will be free.
Can I use one of the pictures that came with Deluxe paint 4 aga ?
It is the world map, from Dpaint.
If I give credit, is this legal ?
Thank you !!!

The game is gonna be really good !!!

Rednova

Maybe, Maybe not. YOU will have to search the copyright status of the graphic. Don't assume that because it was included in a commercial product that they have a copyright on it. Search it yourself!

[abbub]

This is a prime example of just how broken the copyright system is.  I suspect that even if EA does hold the copyright to it (I believe they made Dpaint, no?) there's probably no one working there that has any idea what the hell deluxe paint is, much less what an Amiga is. :/  Personally, I'd just use it, but then again, I've never been opposed to breaking stupid laws.

[Karlos]

There are plenty of freely available copyright-free world map images. Is it not possible to use one of those?

[Amiga_Nut]

I suspect that if it was included in the Dpaint 4 box then EA do indeed hold copyright on the contents of the disks, and hence the image in question. I doubt EA care, and I doubt they even have details on the name of the artist responsible for the image.

If it was Dpaint 3 you might get a more positive response from Dan Silva but Dpaint 4 had nothing to do with Dan I recall, he left to write some little program called 3D Studio on his own

I'm curious now, does anyone have a copy of this image to link to so we can all see this map?

Perhaps you could ask the nice people at Cinemaware if you can borrow the world map from Rocket Ranger? They will definitely know what you are talking about, they may even let you use it on a free game you are writing provided you credit the source.

[countzero]

just go ahead and use it. Chances are no one in EA will be aware of your game anyway. Even if they did, chances of someone working in the DP4 and recognising the image is next to none. And since this is a free project for an obsolete platform, they wouldn't bother at all, unless you start making millions with your game.

[Amiga_Nut]

I've added it now, just downloaded the disks from planetemu and cap'd a screen from UAE.

Doesn't look anything special really.

[rednova]

Amiga_nut:
 Yes,that is the pic I was talking about !!!
But now, I think I just will hand draw my own world map in dpaint, this way I do not
have to worry about the (c).
Thanks all !!!

Rednova

[ElPolloDiabl]

If you purchased Deluxe Paint you've purchased the right to use the map. Only if you intend to charge money for your game would it be an issue.

[Cammy]

If you're going to be pixelling the world map yourself in Deluxe Paint or something, you can get expert advice and help if you join these pixel art forums:

http://www.pixeljoint.com
http://pixelation.wayofthepixel.net/

You might even find people willing to help do graphics for your Amiga games, it's worth a try! If I was going to make a world map myself, I'd download one from Google Images first, reduce it to the right size and then pixel over the top of it so all the continents are the right size and shape.

[Amiga_Nut]

If you're going to be pixelling the world map yourself in Deluxe Paint or something, you can get expert advice and help if you join these pixel art forums:

http://www.pixeljoint.com
http://pixelation.wayofthepixel.net/

You might even find people willing to help do graphics for your Amiga games, it's worth a try! If I was going to make a world map myself, I'd download one from Google Images first, reduce it to the right size and then pixel over the top of it so all the continents are the right size and shape.

Amazingly I went through about 15 pages on Google before giving up, funny how the Goldilocks problem crops up where you least expect it lol

[Cammy]

I would search for "topographic world map" rather than just "world map" to find something similar to the original Deluxe Paint image.

This one wouldn't be bad to use as a base. Resize to 320x200/256 and reduce the colours to 16 or 32, then manually touch it up, change the colours, add some textures or manual antialiasing, make it our own image.