Chrono Ressurrection Forced to Cease & Desist

Kethinov writes "The Chrono Ressurrection Project (previously mentioned on /. here), an attempted 3d remake of the popular 2d game Chrono Trigger, has been shut down by Squenix in the form of a cease and desist letter. Quoth their website, "it is with our deepest regrets in that we have to announce the closure of the Chrono Resurrection project. Square Enix Co., Ltd recently issued a Cease and Desist letter which will mean the project is closed indefinitely." The site retains two trailers and a number of screenshots."

Just saw the trailer.

[tod_miller]

Awesome * pi ^ tan(90)

Great work on this, I think it was a closed source endeavour?

The engine is his XUEngine, with the following tools.

- XuStudio (World Editor, Character Editor, Particle Editor, Cinema Editor)
- XuExporter
- XuViewer
- XuConverter

I'd love to have a go with these tools, the work is good quality.

*cough*open source*cough* think about dual licensing, open source GPL and a commercial license.

I am not sure how those work in though, IANAL.

Implications for "unofficial sequels"

[Gangis]

Disclaimer: IANAL!

I've been working on an "unofficial sequel" [uct2.net] of Chrono Trigger for a number of years now, albeit slowly. We're now at the point where our development is progressing much faster than ever before. Last night when I found out about this, I started writing a letter to the EFF [eff.org] in order to consult with them regarding the legal implications of creating a not-for-profit derivation of a commercial game made a decade ago. The way I look at it, after researching a few court cases, such as the Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music [cornell.edu], which ruled that it is legal to parodize a commercial project, AS LONG AS one does not market it commerically. However, UCT2 isn't a parody in the sense that it makes fun of Chrono Trigger. It's a honest-to-goodness sequel that closes up a lot of plot holes that Chrono Trigger and the bastard sequel, Chrono Cross, created.

I used to think that as long as I wasn't duplicating the product and wasn't marketing it at all, and making it available for free download, I would be safe from any legal issues but in light of the cease-and-desist order for CT:R, I'm starting to get nervous. I mean, I'm no match for a team of highly paid corporate lawyers.

Re:Really, is anyone surprised by this?

[Blakey Rat]

Yeah, but did they even ask?

Here's two scenarios:

1) You have a few buddies and you want to make a rename of Chrono Trigger for PC. You send a politely-worded request to the legal department at Square-Enix asking about the legal status of the game and for permission to re-use some of its assets in a way that is harmless to future Square-Enix games. The lawyer at the company reads this politely-worded email.

2) You have a few buddies and you go ahead and start making a clone of Chrono Trigger without asking permission from anyone. You steal all the art, music, and sound effects assets. You create trailers for your clone and promote it all over the Internet. The lawyer at the company, tipped off by someone, sees this all happening.

Which situation do you think would make Square-Enix happier? If these guys didn't ask permission, then it's GOOD they were shut down because they're idiots anyway. On the other hand, if they did ask permission, were granted it, and now Square-Enix is pulling a 180, then the company certainly has its head way up its ass.

So, in summary, I need more information to judge for sure. I'd wager these guys never asked permission in the first place.

Heres an idea

[tod_miller]

Read my post. I said open source the engine. I said remove copyrights/trademarks.

Except for the first line (my beautiful words) the rest was pretty redundant.

And, because it's open source, nobody will be able to stop us!

Hey you can't spell Open Source with out SCO dontchaknow.

Because this kind of stuff is common in japan

[rsilvergun]

Dojinshi and what not. They probably didn't expect a cease and desist, since Japan is traditionally pretty lax about this sort of thing. Heck, it's encouraged. I guess it's another sign of corporate America cramming our ideals down everyone's throats. Oh well, square's been becomming more and more about money making lately anyway. And yes, I know making money is important, but there are some things you just don't do to your fan base (FFX-2 anybody?).

Re:Really, is anyone surprised by this?

[Doodlepants]

I am a close friend to some of the artists in the project. Here are some facts : 1) None of the original assets were used. Its all Fan-Art. 2) Square was contacted to ask permission to do this. 3) Square never answered that letter. 4) Square was contacted again asking about the first letter. 5) Square never answered that letter either.