copyright internet software licensing
Recreating images from video games in a stats app
<p>I am making a Discord bot that tracks in game stats for many popular video games and I'm having trouble discerning whether it's ok or not to display these stats in a format that replicates the in game schema.</p>

<p>Essentially, what I'm doing, is taking an in game screenshot of let's say my gamer profile, erasing all the data and from this, my app inputs the statistical data with the players info, essentially replicating the look and feel of the game but my plans are to extend the data to include some more statistics when possible or needed.</p>

<p>Atop the recreated in-game profile images I am using images I found on google of the in game charaters to provide a visual representation of what each player uses or their stats for each charater. </p>

<p><em>(None of the images I've mentioned include logos or anything I think would be considered a trademarked item/image, nor have I deliberately removed any)</em></p>

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<p><strong>Note</strong> I am currently self hosting the bot with no company/business being the owner (just myself) I charge for extra features on the bot using patreon by means of these features being perks of being a Patreon supporter but these perks do not apply to the image use, they just offer small bonus features to the bot itself.</p>

<p>I do plan to make a website for this app as well in the future if this holds any value to the question.</p>

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<p><strong>P.S.</strong> <sub>I'm unsure what tags to put here if someone doesn't mind helping me please. Thanks!</sub></p>

<p>You're running into one of those grey areas of copyright law.  You can't copyright facts or non-creative work (so <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feist_Publications,_Inc.,_v._Rural_Telephone_Service_Co." rel="nofollow noreferrer">a list of telephone numbers sorted alphabetically by owner's name can't be copyrighted</a>).  However, &quot;look and feel&quot; can to some extent be copyrighted; the closer you get to the appearance of the original, the more likely you are to be infringing.</p>
<p>However, you also note this:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Essentially, what I'm doing, is taking an in game screenshot of let's say my gamer profile, erasing all the data and from this, my app inputs the statistical data with the players info, essentially replicating the look and feel of the game...</p>
<p>Atop the recreated in-game profile images I am using images I found on google of the in game charaters to provide a visual representation of what each player uses or their stats for each charater.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>These aren't grey.  These are both clear copyright infringement.</p>
<p>By overlaying score information on a screenshot taken from the game, you are copying a protected work (the game's score screen) and creating a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derivative_work" rel="nofollow noreferrer">derivative work</a> of it.  Copying character images has the same issue; additionally, if the images are fan art rather than screenshots, you're <em>also</em> infringing the copyright of the artist.  Character images also have a decent chance of being trademarked, adding trademark infringement to the mix.</p>
