This is something that has been bugging me for some time now and now since the app I am creating is almost done I just wanted some input from anyone that has experience with this. Cause I do not want any trouble with the law and have to deal with lawsuits.
The app I am developing is a library app for an online game that I want to put on the market for .99 cents. I sent an email to the company stating:
“I want to make a Name of the game app for smartphone devices :). I was wondering if I can have permission to use your pictures on it.”
They then replied,
"Hello ****,
here’s a link: link to a press/media page. Here you can find everything you’re allowed to use."
Now my question here is, does this give me the right to use the pictures on the press/media page in my app fully on the market? Or was I not specific enough in my email stating that I wanted to put it on the market for profit?
Another question is, say I was to take screenshots while I am in the game for icons/picture images in sections of my app. Would this be a gray area, legal or just completely illegal?
On the page they linked you to, they have a terms of use or something similarly worded. You should be reading that. We cannot answer your question for you, because well we have not read the terms of use either.
Thank you logic_earth I believe I found my answer in there, which wasn’t good lol. But would it be legal to create an app on the whole game that just gives information such as stats for example, without using any of their images? or would that be considered:
(j) create any other software or content that incorporates the Software Product, Service or Site, or any portion thereof;?
I think you should contact the company properly, by first finding out exactly which person you need to speak to, most likely their legal department, sending them a very detailed breakdown of what you are proposing, and then asking for written confirmation of how they feel about it and any specific terms or fees involved. They may be very happy about you creating an app about their product. However some companies are less open to this stuff - if they are not happy about it, there may be nothing they can do to stop you if you are using openly available data (TBH, I’m not sure what your app does) - but if you have to pull data from their servers, then there’s most likely licensing issues involved. There’s also issues with using their trademarks - I would contact them in full, rather than accepting a quick response from one of their customer support people.
In any case, I would advice you to get a specific, written confirmation concerning anything that you are needing from them. This way, you have the proof that you were willing to comply by their TOS and even took the initiative to verify if you were not in the wrong. If anything turns bad, that would be a good thing to have before a judge.