Yeah, that weirded me out when I ran into it. How does a Touhou fangame end up on the Switch store?
Multiple Touhou fan games have been on the PSN store for a good while now. Even Urban legend in limbo is on the PSN store. Boxed versions also are available for some as well.
because zun approved it and western companies were impressed enough by it to bring it over.
Seriously? I know ZUN is mighty generous about touhou derivatives, but allowing doujin game into console seriously fright me about ZUN's copyright. Imagine some asshole claim touhou as his copyright.
I wonder this would spike up touhou's fanbase again... Its been a while since I follow touhou (DDC was the last time I follow the main game).
Seriously? I know ZUN is mighty generous about touhou derivatives, but allowing doujin game into console seriously fright me about ZUN's copyright. Imagine some asshole claim touhou as his copyright.
I wonder this would spike up touhou's fanbase again... Its been a while since I follow touhou (DDC was the last time I follow the main game).
I could of course go and read an article to enlighten myself on the matter, but I'm already pretty certain this is done by a group that ZUN personally knows and trusts to stay respectful to his franchise and even so, have most likely included a disclaimer that it's derivative work + please support the official release, yadda yadda-
Seriously? I know ZUN is mighty generous about touhou derivatives, but allowing doujin game into console seriously fright me about ZUN's copyright. Imagine some asshole claim touhou as his copyright.
I wonder this would spike up touhou's fanbase again... Its been a while since I follow touhou (DDC was the last time I follow the main game).
Basically speaking, copyrights are only maintained when you keep fighting for them. This is why companies like King try to sue the makers of Banner Saga for naming their game "Banner Saga" BEFORE King tried to copyright the entire notion of naming anything "____ Saga". (They dropped the case.)
If there are enough people that use a name already, then you just can't copyright it at all (or at least, it won't be held up in court), so trying to cheat ZUN out of his copyright would be pretty meaningless and it would likely just wind up some sort of public domain name, the way that anyone can use names from Greek Mythology or fairy tales like Little Red Riding Hood or most of the Lovecraft mythos, since nobody can legitimately claim those as their creations anymore. ZUN would lose full legal control of the name "Touhou", which would mean he couldn't stop people from using the name in ways he didn't want (which he's not really done, anyway), but by the same token, nobody could stop him from using it, and he would still maintain control over the specific titles that he personally produced. (I.E. He retains copyrights over Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, Perfect Cherry Blossom, etc.)
Basically speaking, copyrightstrademarks are only maintained when you keep fighting for them. This is why companies like King try to sue the makers of Banner Saga for naming their game "Banner Saga" BEFORE King tried to copyright the entire notion of naming anything "____ Saga". (They dropped the case.)
Fixed that. I don't know about Japanese copyright law, but in the US, copyright is automatic and doesn't require defending. However, it's trademark we're discussing (the content of a Touhou game is copyrighted, but the name "Touhou Project" is trademarked), so your post is still on point.
Of course, I don't know if Japanese trademark law requires an active defense either. However, I suspect that laws are largely similar in most countries that are signatory to the Madrid Protocol (which includes Japan and the US).
Imagine some asshole claim touhou as his copyright.
IIRC someone actually copyright/trademarked (not sure which is correct term) his circle name he used for releasing Touhou games, except that guy registered the wrong name.