Copyright Names

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#1

I’ve noticed a mixture of approaches to interpreting Animes within Roblox Experiences.

Approach 1 (most common): Copy the style/look of the anime, swap out some letters in names (sort of like a pseudo-cryptic approach). For example, real character is Kyojuro Rengoku, they will name him ‘Kyohiro Renkoko’.

Approach 2 (not so common): Copy the style/look of the anime, but totally change the names. For example, real character is Kyojuro Rengoku, but they might name him ‘Purgatory’ (Rengoku translation in English), or Fire Breather (due to his fire breathing style).

Approach 3 (surprisingly more common than Approach 2): Copy the style/look of the anime, change absolutely nothing about the names. For example, real character is Kyojuro Rengoku, they will name him ‘Rengoku’.

My main question is: Is Approach 3 punishable by Copyright Laws (DMCA or CDPA 1988)?
My seconds question is: Is there any logical reason to take Approach 2 over Approach 1 ?
My final question is: If the above approaches do not seem safe to any legally-educated people, what is your opinion on best approach(/es)?

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#2

  • If the company of that anime files a DMCA request of a game that takes approach 3, they are entirely done. They cannot defend themselves since they copied the whole thing.

  • You can take approach 2 instead since even if the player doesen’t understand the name, they can get it from the look of the character.

  • I would personally just make a whole new character with the same trait as the real one.

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#3

Japan’s copyright and DMCA laws are much different than what you are used to if you are in the states.They can still take your game down,but only if it gets so popular to where Shindo Life got,where Studio Pierrot and their legal team decided to DMCA it.

#4

So, what is the threshold of popularity something must reach before it’s considered to break copyright laws?

#5

No. There is no threshold. It just gains the companies attention to take action. They don’t want anyone getting a cent or popularity out of their stuff.

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