Request for opinion on Apple's "review" policies RE: content
synthesis
Member Posts: 1,693
I have some ideas for games but not sure about how to interpret Apple's app blessing policies. I will use a few hypotheticals below to try to get a consensus as to what Apple would reject or approve...if any.
Suppose you designed a game that uses a known brand identity or concept...but you play on the brand...in a tongue and cheek way.
Example 1:
Your game is basically "Mr. Potato Head" which is a known brand. You name the game "iPotato" and your base character is an illustration of a potato. Then you have the player drag eyes and ears and stuff onto the head.
Will this app be rejected?
Example 2:
Your game is an "iShave" game. You have lots of pictures of people, objects and stuff...all with a beard. Then the player "shaves" the object. The pictures might be of Volkswagons, Televisions, Known Celebrities, The US President, The Pope, a kangaroo...etc.
Will this app be rejected?
Example 3:
Your game is a game with a play on the known brand icon: The Big Mac.
You have a game where you build your own hamburgers with french fries and cola. Basically a fast food game. You call it... "iMacAttack".
Will this app be rejected?
Example 4:
You want to build a game that is a near exact match to the magic 8 ball toy (the old 70s and 80s toy that was filled with water and revealed an answer to your question after you shake it...like a fortune teller). You name the game "Magic 8 Ball"
Will this app be rejected? If so, what if it were named "The Magic 9 ball" or "The Magic 8 Sphere"? or "The Super 8 Ball Fortune Teller"?
Your thoughts?
Suppose you designed a game that uses a known brand identity or concept...but you play on the brand...in a tongue and cheek way.
Example 1:
Your game is basically "Mr. Potato Head" which is a known brand. You name the game "iPotato" and your base character is an illustration of a potato. Then you have the player drag eyes and ears and stuff onto the head.
Will this app be rejected?
Example 2:
Your game is an "iShave" game. You have lots of pictures of people, objects and stuff...all with a beard. Then the player "shaves" the object. The pictures might be of Volkswagons, Televisions, Known Celebrities, The US President, The Pope, a kangaroo...etc.
Will this app be rejected?
Example 3:
Your game is a game with a play on the known brand icon: The Big Mac.
You have a game where you build your own hamburgers with french fries and cola. Basically a fast food game. You call it... "iMacAttack".
Will this app be rejected?
Example 4:
You want to build a game that is a near exact match to the magic 8 ball toy (the old 70s and 80s toy that was filled with water and revealed an answer to your question after you shake it...like a fortune teller). You name the game "Magic 8 Ball"
Will this app be rejected? If so, what if it were named "The Magic 9 ball" or "The Magic 8 Sphere"? or "The Super 8 Ball Fortune Teller"?
Your thoughts?
Comments
No big deal....I changed the art a bit. But I think unless you are not the "obvious" holder of the mark (brand) it will get rejected. OR look for other examples in the app store to use as prior art? Just my 2¢
I am always worried i will lose my developer status (they can boot you out)...so I stay in the rules.
I too wish to stay in the rules...but I guess what I am searching for is...WHERE ARE THE BOUNDARIES. As you know...there are hardly any truly "original ideas" anymore...everything is a derivation of something else. When you get into concept regeneration...ie...take something in pop-culture and then build an original concept around a pop-icon (like the Big Mac example)...are you breaking copyright infringements for creating a unique idea/concept around a recognized pop-culture icon...or are you "stealing" that icon's identity rights or are you building on a "public" idea of the icon and that would be something considered original.
For example...the short animation film that won in the Oscars the other night was a film that was creating a vast city (called logoville or something) and everything was a corporate logo or icon. Ronald McDonald was riding the bike and the entire city was blanketed by thousands of logos and corporate icons.
I don't know...its like trying to figure out when you should be be paranoid about litigation and when should it be considered original (since its using pop iconography as a subject and not actually slanderous or misrepresentation). Does the Andy Warhol (estate) owe royalties to Campbell's Soup or the Marilyn Monroe foundation every time one of his paintings are printed in a book?
It's a very interesting point you bring up, and I think if you're talking strictly about the app store, it's very hit or miss. You could do any of the above ideas, and more than likely get accepted, but it's a matter of, will the companies (for example) magic 8 ball take offense, or think it's an infringement on their product?
Or will they be flattered, and consider it additional marketing for their products?
It's really hard, and I don't think there is one "magical" answer for this.
For example: I was thinking about making a game (not getting into too much detail) that is in the "likeness" of a semi-famous producer. And I mean, I say this generously, because most people may not even know the guy. But for people that do, I think the app would do modestly well.
I'm not using his exact name, but rather, naming the app after a "nick-name" that he has been called, and including elements in there that people will laugh at and understand if they knew this person well.
I'm also creating an "exaggerated" version of this guy, so he is recognizable, but not an exact version of him
Could I get into trouble with this? Quite possibly!
But it's a risk I'm willing to take once, and if they decide they don't like the app, I think the worst that could happen is the app will get pulled. End of story
So in a nutshell, I don't have an exact answer, but would I take a chance on something like that at least once? Sure!
The potato head thing..
If you do it, just dont do it with poop because i already did that one lol
Although its a little fancier than that but its in review now