united-states intellectual-property
Using a similar concept and art style to cause confusion
<p>Super Zoo Story is a game in development that is accused of ripping off Stardew Valley.</p>
<p>One of the issues is that the game uses a very similar pixel art style, similar themes, and above all gives they impression that it's a mod of Stardew Valley or is otherwise affiliated with them. The developers seem to be doing this on purpose- though they are an entirely different company with no permission to do this.</p>
<p>Assuming none of their assets are actually stolen, what laws (if any) could they be breaking by doing this?</p>

<h2>Copyright infringement</h2>
<p>Copyright protects the &quot;look and feel&quot; of an artistic work.</p>
<p>For example, in <a href="https://jade.io/article/88168" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Elwood Clothing Pty Ltd v Cotton On Clothing Pty Ltd [2008] FCAFC 197</a> the full bench of the Federal court found that this:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/ipfTa.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/ipfTa.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>was a unauthorised derivative of this:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/OOwIL.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/OOwIL.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>even though that actually share no individual elements.</p>

<p>Generally, distinct art styles are not copyrighted in and of themselves.  Even when they have a unique look to the product, copying them to evoke that product's aesthetic is not in and of itself illegal and when it is in violation, could be met with an affirmative defense of &quot;Fair Use&quot; which protects derivative works that are transformative in nature of the original.</p>
<p>What most likely be happening here though seems to be that the company that is making Super Zoo Story may have purchased the rights to the game engine that is being used by Stardew Valley (or acquired them through other legal means).  In gaming terms, a game engine is an underling set of codes that form the games backbone.  It's not uncommon for game makers to reuse their in house engines or engines for which they have licenses to use, as much of the game world's physics are coded in the engine.  This allows for more streamlined code if new assests are required, as the basics are there for such things.  The big change between two games running the same engine would be world layout and tweaks with new features.</p>
<p>For example, among the first two Pokemon generations, there was little difference in the physics of the world with Gold/Silver only having a few new features over Red/Blue in that respect.  The combat system remains the same, and the general rules of the over world were almost identical.  Most of the differences were new interactions with these systems, updated visuals and some asset changes to existing maps.</p>
<p>Similarly, Rockstar Entertainment uses RAGE (Rockstar Advanced Gaming Engine) as the backbone just about every game they have released since 2006.  The only major changes are new features that might improve on previous releases and better graphics capability.  Compare GTA IV to GTAV and both of those to Read Dead Redemption 2 (each successive one blows the predecessor out of the water).</p>
