Has anyone faced legal issues with trivia applications? Copyright, trademark, etc. I'm putting together an app that has a trivia component, I'm generating my own questions, but I'm concerned whether merely mentioning professional sports teams will get me sued or bar the app from being accepted.
I think there is no problem. I have a trivia game in the App Store that features plenty of questions related to sport teams, movie stars, comic characters, etc and there was no problem getting it accepted.
Has anyone faced legal issues with trivia applications? Copyright, trademark, etc. I'm putting together an app that has a trivia component, I'm generating my own questions, but I'm concerned whether merely mentioning professional sports teams will get me sued or bar the app from being accepted.
Plain facts are not copyrightable, so if you're saying "What player ran the most touchdown yardage in Super Bowl X?" they can't stop you. You did say that you are writing your own questions, so if you're REALLY worried simply hold on to your notes - it'll prove it was all your own work.
Team logos are a different story. Small usage (say a team helmet / jersey next to the team name in your answer list) will likely fly under the radar and/or be ignored ... but you can't be sure. Some sports owners love the fans, some hate 'em. If it were me (and thus with MY tolerance for risk, NOT YOURS) ... I'd start with team helmets/jerseys/colors as a graphic that I could quickly replace with a fully transparent PNG if lawyers started hunting me. And I'd call my IP lawyer friend for a quick consultation
As for the app being denied - not likely. Apple has safe-harbor provisions under the DMCA. All the risk is on _YOU_. That said, there are a handful of companies that Apple will knock you down immediately for (like Apple itself, probably Disney) ... but I don't think the NFL / NBA / USCA are on that list.
I've actually spoken to a Lawyer about this topic.
Here's what is protected under the law:
1. The text (copy) of a question - not the fact. This includes the false answers that you're putting in your app. If you're writing your own questions and copy you're OK.
2. The order in which facts are presented is also protected.
There's definitely a difference between what Apple will accept and what is legally sound.
Logos are obviously copyrighted. Names are also copyrighted - i.e. NFL team names, the names of a movie, TV show, etc.
Let's say you name your App "Chicago Bears Trivia" - you're probably violating copyright law. But to have a trivia game called "Football Trivia" and put questions about teams players, etc should be fine.
As far as getting accepted - Apple doesn't exactly release that list.
You may get accepted, and then, as far as getting caught you might - but the legal fees to pay to pursue a small app developer is much more than the "reward" so you'll probably just get a nasty letter and have to take your app(s) down.
Thanks for the replies, they have been very useful. I wasn't exactly sure before and I'm probably going to still be on the safer side (no images of team logos and such).
I am doing something similar. suppose I wanted to use the question:
"who is the simpson's family physician on the Fox tv series "the simpsons"? answer Dr Julius Hibbert.
Does this require some legel wrangling with Fox or Matt Groening?
Trivia legal problems?
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