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[ApolloEmu]

Hello everyone

Myself and a few friends are about to start a machinima series. For people who are unaware of what machinima is, it is using a video game to create a film by recording while playing. We'd like to sell it on DVD if it becomes popular, however, the company that owns the game (Valve Corporation) isn't very fond of machinima.

"Technically, the materials and models used in creating machinima videos belong to the game's creator, so they cannot be published with a price tag, and it is debatable whether most machinima violates copyright laws." - http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Machinima

Valve have stated that they are not interested in licensing their technology or IP for machinima. This includes providing copyright approvals.

So what we've been thinking is, if we were to sell a DVD that doesn't contain any game footage, but contains a "making of" or live action shorts, and include the machinima series on a separate DVD for FREE (and including them in DVD bundle together), would that be legal?

Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated

Thank you

[MYK]

No, it doesn't matter whether you give something away for free or for cash.  You're still infringing on their IP rights.

[JSonnabend]

What MYC meant to say, I imagine, is that "giving it away doesn't change anything.  If you are infringing their rights, you still are when you give it away."

- Jeff

[MYK]

What MYC meant to say, I imagine, is that "giving it away doesn't change anything.  If you are infringing their rights, you still are when you give it away."

- Jeff

Ooops. (blush).

Thank you, Jeff.