Thread: using the words 'runescape' or 'jagex' in your open source projects

Originally Posted by Graham

You can't copyright a name...

They do, however, have trademarks on the names RuneScape, Jagex, etc.

That's what I meant
I was thinking trademark but didn't feel like searching the word so I just put copyright

You can use the words RuneScape and Jagex in probably any form or context. But you can't name e.g. an official company or product similar to them. As Graham said, it's trademarked.

Originally Posted by Gnarly

really? so if i made a super popular rsps (hypothetically) and named it 'runescape', and i took all the precautions to prevent jagex from having leverage on me in a dmca (don't host client/cache), could i get away with it?

this is all hypothetically of course

Not quite, because that server is still a product so to speak, even if you aren't profiting from it. Also based on the fact that what you'd be hosting is an emulator of their game which is called RuneScape, you'd have literally no defence.

Originally Posted by Gnarly

this is where this subject gets touchy, because although it is an emulator it is our own code that us as a rsps community wrote, and in no way does jagex have copyright over our code, rite guys?

Originally Posted by Jagex

You must not create or provide any other means by which any Jagex Product may be played by others (including, without limitation, replacement or modified client/server software, server emulators). Please note that any such activity may constitute civil wrongs and/or criminal offences, and Jagex reserves the right to take such action as appropriate in the circumstances should it become aware that such offences are being committed.

Even though it's our code, it provides an exact way to emulate the RuneScape gaming experience. Legally, RuneScape private servers don't stand a chance because of the simple fact that they are, in fact, breaking the law.

Originally Posted by Gnarly

this is where this subject gets touchy, because although it is an emulator it is our own code that us as a rsps community wrote, and in no way does jagex have copyright over our code, rite guys?

Correct, the problem is though the name is still trademarked and so even if your product wasn't a private server they could still push for legal action (if you ignore their warnings though I'd imagine), it being a private server though will likely just exacerbate the problem. So yeah, I think you'd be OK to reference RuneScape and Jagex in your projects but I really doubt you'd get away with naming it RuneScape, unless the project was directly related to RuneScape and could aide RuneScape in some way (like a client loader with calculators and other stuff). I'm guessing so anyway, idk much about this sort of stuff.