The James Stewart Compound/VitalMX

[Ridethebike]

Just awesome track!
But.. does the red SX track get an own "track" for starting race?

[yzmxer608]

He's going to release that pretty soon.

[Travi]

How I can get the textures and objects of this map?
I get white textures

[jlv]

Also, JLV, if you could, what are the licencing in the game? I realize there are no true brands in this game, because it doesn't say Yamaha, Suzuki, etc., but what are the ways of making that work? Or have you talked to OEM's?

I don't believe I need permission. This usually goes to court with athletes trying to license their names/likenesses. A couple of fairly recent cases are CBS vs NFLPA and Jim Brown vs EA. The NFLPA and Jim Brown both lost.

Hopefully the disclaimer that comes up when you start the game eliminates any "likelihood of confusion" as far as trademarks go.

[i_Bite#21]

Aren't the stock bikes already in the game when you first buy it though? Wouldn't that be selling their bikes, with the game of course, for profit?

[jlv]

No. I'm selling a computer game for profit. I don't sell motorcycles. Read the two articles I linked.

[Voutare]

Hmm, I'll have to read up on that a little bit. Could they argue that your bikes may hurt their sales by portraying them in a negative manner (whatever that may be)? Seems as if loopholes are ways in place for everything, which in turn could make you liable for 'losses' and they'd sue?

But then again, how much can they really get out of a small market videogame like this anyway.

[137]

really sick MB. You did a amazing job on this track. A lot of hard work, time has been put into this. Really nice job. Keep doing what your doing.

[checkerz]

Hmm, I'll have to read up on that a little bit. Could they argue that your bikes may hurt their sales by portraying them in a negative manner (whatever that may be)? Seems as if loopholes are ways in place for everything, which in turn could make you liable for 'losses' and they'd sue?

But then again, how much can they really get out of a small market videogame like this anyway.

I've heard the opposite, but not necessarily the truth. The manufacturers can sue because using their name helps sell more video games; therefore, they can claim they are entitled to part of your profits. With that being said, unless you are selling 1 million + games, it's not likely they will ever even know or care to spend the resources to pursue it - even if they had a legitimate case.

[Davinho222]

sorry when im wrong but i see muc people who are new here cant get it done that the track will show up normal in the game. So i can make a video Tutorial how to when you want??

[jlv]

I've heard the opposite, but not necessarily the truth. The manufacturers can sue because using their name helps sell more video games; therefore, they can claim they are entitled to part of your profits. With that being said, unless you are selling 1 million + games, it's not likely they will ever even know or care to spend the resources to pursue it - even if they had a legitimate case.

I've heard the same thing, but I haven't been able to find a single case where someone won using that argument. When it goes to court the decision usually talks about the likelihood of confusion between the brands rather than whether depicting the branded product improves the value of the software. I assume the monetary gain would only come into play if the court decided you had abused the trademark and was determining the damages.

The thing where you can buy a CRF450R in Alive is a little different since in that case the virtual bike is the whole product and someone could easily think Honda is selling it. Apparently this is a big issue in Second Life.

[MXJProductions]

Seeing as this whole argument was based on Elliot hating, and being immature. He or anyone could sue for any reason based on the track, seeing as is not a exact replica of ALIVE, or real live. MB changed it enough to see the difference, at least I can. As for the bikes, the only argument I could see hurting. Is the fact that all these videos are showing these replicated brands/graphics, and In general that has produced the mass majority of this games sales ( at least I think so ). I do not think we have anything to worry about.

[i_Bite#21]

When I started first checking MXS out, I saw all these Monster, Rockstar, etc. brands that aren't in THQ's games. I always thought they couldn't get them because they would have to buy rights to every brand. Therefore I thought it was illegal for MXS to have all of these brands, guess I was wrong.

[jlv]

Just because it's legal doesn't mean they won't sue anyway. If you follow the NFLPA's lawsuits, you'll find they sue, and then drop it or settle for an undisclosed amount when it looks like the defendant is actually going to take it to court. That's why the CBS was the plaintiff vs the NFLPA. They wanted a judgement and it was the only way to get them into court. Based on their reluctance to actually go to court, I'd say even the NFLPA's lawyers know they're full of it. But a lawsuit is such an expensive pain in the ass that most people will just cough up the licensing fees or abide by the terms the IP owner asks for. (E.g. "I can't use that shade of yellow? OK, as long as you don't sue me!")

[i_Bite#21]

To me, it's just having something in a game to add to the realism and imaginative abilities. To the companies, they should just consider it as free advertising.