I am 100% Sure they will accept your game on 2nd attempt. Create one document and explain differenace between angrybirds and your game. Like character, game play, graphics, concept etc. Dont worry it happens. You can create angrybirds and your game screenshot togeather and post into resolution center.
it really has to do with copyright laws, while you are not able to copy right angry and bird, you are able to copyright angry+bird, but that doesn't give you rights to angry+anything else...
the reason his app is rejected probably is for better of him because, you can copyright artwork and in order for the artwork to be under copyright protection he needs to at least modify 70% of it, which he didn't.
just as apple lost to the case of amazon creating an app store, they can't really send a cease and decease letter to angry sperm or angry zombie bird because they are generic terms that's out of reach of copy right protection.
hope that clears things up a bit more. i mean sure we can all try to fight back but what good does that do if we keep on having to fight for it on case to case. but if we learn the ropes on how the system works, you can create something that doesn't gets into this mess in the first place. You got to learn the rules before breaking them.
Ok well after a long five day wait I finally received a response back, in a few sentences they said thanks for your response to the trademark issue and patience while we reviewed your response, we'll notify you if there are any other issues. I'm so confused what can you take from this?
Are they saying it's ok to resubmit and it'll get approved this time? Or are they saying the app is infringing?
@tendrmer: Yeah it's ridiculous the amount of garbage they still accept in the app store, and clearly those ones I linked above are certainly no exception
@Rodrigo: sounds like a very vague response to me.... are you able to still message them through the system? I would ask them to call you to clear things up, although that could take ages as well... not sure what else you can do at this point, try resubmitting, or change the main character to another type of bird.
I notice a lot of bird apps keep getting featured, so if you changed it to look like something unique, it could still get picked up by N&N
There are so many cute bird images you could do, if you need any ideas, check out istockphoto, they have some really cute bird stuff there, it would be easy to change out
Well it's still in review so I don't know whats going on now..Does this mean that if and when it is released will it already be "pre-buried" underneath all the other new releases?
My app has been rejected too, due to a naming mistake I made. So I renamed, and resubmitted and it went straight back into 'In Review' after only 5 minutes!
Its now been 4 days and its still 'In Review', so I think its just the way their system must work when you resubmit something - but we're still probably back at the bottom of the list and will have to wait another week for someone to finally look at it!
Good luck this time. Let us know when you get accepted.
however I can actually see similarities in your game to angry birds, and don't think its all to do with the Birds name. The first is the Level Complete popup menu, compare it to an Angry Birds game and the fonts, scores and 3 Stars is incredibly similar. (perhaps change this?)
Then theres the angry faced bird character that creates a very similar look to rovio's game, especially with the pull finger and release game mechanism. However you should be happy at the quality of your game, the fact that someone at apple thought your game looks like Angry Birds is a good compliment.
Maybe someone said this already, but the standard for trademark infringement is whether there is a "likelihood of confusion." With a similar bird appearance and name for the app, a likelihood of confusion as to whether it came from Rovio could exist. Change the bird into a gopher or something?
Well after waiting for what felt like weeks for Apple's decision, they finally gave me an answer......Approved!!
I'm so excited, Bouncing Birds! releases on the 30th this Saturday.
So the lesson learned here is if you think your app is rejected for something you think is not right..then appeal...I did and I didn't even have to change a thing. The main character is exactly the same as in the gameplay video.
See I told you read my old post. Its happend allready with so many developers. I am aware with that. Sometimes they are rejecting app with silly reasons and once you explain them properly they understood. I am happy that they have approved. Good luck for sales.
I can't friggin believe this! After looking at the the Angry Zombie Birds links in this thread I decided to google it..lo and behold the hack that "made" Angry Zombie Birds also stole the artwork from polish illustrator Tomasz Kaczkowski. Here's the link:
Comments
the reason his app is rejected probably is for better of him because, you can copyright artwork and in order for the artwork to be under copyright protection he needs to at least modify 70% of it, which he didn't.
just as apple lost to the case of amazon creating an app store, they can't really send a cease and decease letter to angry sperm or angry zombie bird because they are generic terms that's out of reach of copy right protection.
hope that clears things up a bit more. i mean sure we can all try to fight back but what good does that do if we keep on having to fight for it on case to case. but if we learn the ropes on how the system works, you can create something that doesn't gets into this mess in the first place. You got to learn the rules before breaking them.
cheers.
Are they saying it's ok to resubmit and it'll get approved this time? Or are they saying the app is infringing?
@Rodrigo: sounds like a very vague response to me.... are you able to still message them through the system? I would ask them to call you to clear things up, although that could take ages as well... not sure what else you can do at this point, try resubmitting, or change the main character to another type of bird.
I notice a lot of bird apps keep getting featured, so if you changed it to look like something unique, it could still get picked up by N&N
My app has been rejected too, due to a naming mistake I made. So I renamed, and resubmitted and it went straight back into 'In Review' after only 5 minutes!
Its now been 4 days and its still 'In Review', so I think its just the way their system must work when you resubmit something - but we're still probably back at the bottom of the list and will have to wait another week for someone to finally look at it!
Good luck this time. Let us know when you get accepted.
however I can actually see similarities in your game to angry birds, and don't think its all to do with the Birds name. The first is the Level Complete popup menu, compare it to an Angry Birds game and the fonts, scores and 3 Stars is incredibly similar. (perhaps change this?)
Then theres the angry faced bird character that creates a very similar look to rovio's game, especially with the pull finger and release game mechanism. However you should be happy at the quality of your game, the fact that someone at apple thought your game looks like Angry Birds is a good compliment.
I'm so excited, Bouncing Birds! releases on the 30th this Saturday.
So the lesson learned here is if you think your app is rejected for something you think is not right..then appeal...I did and I didn't even have to change a thing. The main character is exactly the same as in the gameplay video.
http://www.gameranx.com/features/id/1374/article/angry-zombie-birds-want-to-feast-on-your-brains/
Anyways, congrats for approval this time!