How fast my game will be shut down if I use celebrities models as themselves in renpy game?

[MadHeadMaster]

Someone probably asked this before. But let's say if I want to creat a renpy game using not one, but multiple celebrities models (Scarlett Johansson, Gal Gadot... etc) in a renpy game. Like all my female characters will be using celebrities models in two scenarios:

1. Just using their face, but give them a different name and identities. Like using Gal Gadot's model but make her MC's hot neighbor Jane who works as a teacher.

2. Use their face and who they are, like Gal Gadot as Gal Gadot. Could be like a fucking celebrity simulator where MC is like a small movie actor trying to survive in the Hollywood while getting some pussies.

In this two different scenarios. I'm guessing that both scenarios are risky but 1 is probably safer right? While 2 is more risky it's still possible to do it without getting shut down by... let's say Patreon?

 

[Brosewood]

With both scenarios, you'd get shut down before you started making any real money. Using people without their permission in adult content is a big no-no. You also might risk a lawsuit from people who can bury you.

 

[Meaning Less]

I'll just say that this game is still up, maybe the dev is lucky or maybe there aren't many people going after fanart in the first place...

Now for sure you wouldn't be able to sell your game on steam or similar platforms unless you had explicit permission for that, so it is something to consider.

 

[Brosewood]

I'll just say that this game is still up, maybe the dev is lucky or maybe there aren't many people going after fanart in the first place...

Both honestly. Celebs might have the right to take things down, but the Streisand Effect is a real thing. That being said, you could also be one bad day away from that happening, and I don't think the risk is really worth it. Fan art and renders probably have a little more leeway than using actual pictures of a celebrity (which is what I assume OP meant), but I'd still caution against intentionally making anything look like anyone famous.

Granted, take this with a grain of salt. I'm no lawyer and nor do I play one on the internet.

 

[woody554]

the emergence of deep fakes might make it much more likely to get caught. earlier the internet illiterate celebs and their pr back end didn't have a clue what's been made, but now they're suddenly very aware of porn being made with literally their face on it. where as before it was always some sketchy lookalike who was easy to ignore as she didn't really look anything like them. also now there's actual legislation prohibiting deepfakes so using their likeness is more clearly seen as a crime, which lowers the threshold to do something about it.

and also there's the massive screen actors guild strike going on which is largely about copying and using their likeness in digital products without their consent, which is almost guaranteed to spawn new control systems over unlicenced usage and maybe even legislation against it.

2 years ago I would've thought there's almost no chance of getting well-known enough to get their attention, but now it seems like playing with fire.

 

[woody554]

oh. for case 1 the character needs to have REALLY good likeness for them to have any chance of shutting it down, and frankly the daz models aren't really there yet.

otherwise it falls under the 'character was inspired by X' which is another way of saying it's NOT them. like blueberry was inspired by paul belmondo, batman by douglas fairbanks, ironman by howard hughes and wolverine by clint eastwood. there's been a million of these for last 100 years and they're not bannable unless you really push it.

that said, they don't need to have a winning case to bury you in an expensive legal battle you can't afford.

 

[MadHeadMaster]

Both honestly. Celebs might have the right to take things down, but the Streisand Effect is a real thing. That being said, you could also be one bad day away from that happening, and I don't think the risk is really worth it. Fan art and renders probably have a little more leeway than using actual pictures of a celebrity (which is what I assume OP meant), but I'd still caution against intentionally making anything look like anyone famous.

Granted, take this with a grain of salt. I'm no lawyer and nor do I play one on the internet.

Oh I didn't mean using actual pictures of a celebrity or deep fakes, I meant using 3d models that look like them as either another character, the characters they played (Black Widow, Wonder Woman), or themselves.

For example:

You must be registered to see the links

, Wonder Woman

So as I understand, using 3d models are maybe, probably less likely to be caught, depending on how well known my project ends up becoming or just... how lucky I am, right?

The reason I asked was because I've heard games like Miss Adventures In Hollywood or Celebrity Brothel, but I haven't seen people doing a celebrity renpy game using 3d models. (Or maybe I didn't look hard enough?)

I know there are games like Whore of the Thrones, having 3d celebrities models as their characters, but I rarely saw a game featuring celebrity as themselves, it's mostly just a cameo like Angelina Jolie in Battle of the Bulges.

Anyway, I do understand there's a risk when using lookalike 3d models. I'm just contemplating if the risk will be too high for me to create a renpy game like Avengers XXX with Black Widow that looks like Scar Jo or a celebrity game that literally has a celebrity character that looks like Scar Jo and has the same name as well.

 

[Brosewood]

Oh I didn't mean using actual pictures of a celebrity or deep fakes, I meant using 3d models that look like them as either another character, the characters they played (Black Widow, Wonder Woman), or themselves.

For example:

You must be registered to see the links

, Wonder Woman

So as I understand, using 3d models are maybe, probably less likely to be caught, depending on how well known my project ends up becoming or just... how lucky I am, right?

The reason I asked was because I've heard games like Miss Adventures In Hollywood or Celebrity Brothel, but I haven't seen people doing a celebrity renpy game using 3d models. (Or maybe I didn't look hard enough?)

I know there are games like Whore of the Thrones, having 3d celebrities models as their characters, but I rarely saw a game featuring celebrity as themselves, it's mostly just a cameo like Angelina Jolie in Battle of the Bulges.

Anyway, I do understand there's a risk when using lookalike 3d models. I'm just contemplating if the risk will be too high for me to create a renpy game like Avengers XXX with Black Widow that looks like Scar Jo or a celebrity game that literally has a celebrity character that looks like Scar Jo and has the same name as well.

I'd avoid using actual celebrity names like the plague.

Parody games like Whore of the Thrones are probably a bit safer. There's certainly a fair bit of porn games/3D videos inspired by various properties that are still around and have been so for years. Not sure I'd want to do anything too accurately modelled to any real persons, but that might just be me being paranoid (again, not a lawyer so take what I say with a grain of salt).

 

[Doorknob22]

I'm not a lawyer but I'd recommend against using real people's likeness in your renders. Here are some considerations.

1. The law is against you. You are not allowed to use another person's likeness, especially for porn when you can't honestly claim you're just parodying them.

2. No one is likely to ever find out that you did use someone's image. The internet is huge and VIPs have other problems on their head than looking for random people doing their porn images.

3. Even if a celeb did find out you have rendered their image fucking dogs, the reasonable response would be to ignore it and let it drown in the overall internet noise, for fear of invoking the Streisand Effect, i.e. if they do come after you, everyone will see the images of which they'll otherwise be oblivious to.

4. Finally is the human factor: people are unpredictable. It might be unlikely for the celeb to find out you have used her image and not very wise to come after you, but you might get unlucky and really piss someone off, a person who will come after you regardless of the damage it may do to them. Do you with to take that risk? Your call.

So: the wisest way to use celeb figures is for your personal "amusement" only. The second wisest is to share them anonymously, without associating them with anything related to profit (thus tying them to you). Finally, you can take a risk and try to make money and hope everything will be all right. It might turn out fine and it might turn out very very bad.

Good luck!

 

[MadHeadMaster]

Thank you all for your replies, sharing them anonymously sounds like a good idea.

While we're at it, is using famous fictional characters like Claire Redfield, Tifa Lockhart less risky than using celebrity likeness? I do see a lot of porn pics, comics, animations using fictional characters like them.

 

[EpicLust]

I know there are games like Whore of the Thrones, having 3d celebrities models as their characters, but I rarely saw a game featuring celebrity as themselves, it's mostly just a cameo like Angelina Jolie in Battle of the Bulges.

Anyway, I do understand there's a risk when using lookalike 3d models. I'm just contemplating if the risk will be too high for me to create a renpy game like Avengers XXX with Black Widow that looks like Scar Jo or a celebrity game that literally has a celebrity character that looks like Scar Jo and has the same name as well.

Actually, Apocalypse has Scar Jo playing as herself playing as the Black Widow... It also has Ivanka Trump, Melania Trump and the Donald himself, and despite him being the most litigating person on planet Earth, my game is still up there...
Cockham Superheroes, my new ongoing game has Scar Jo as the Black Widow and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman.
Still up and running...

 

[rk-47]

i highly doubt celebs are spending their days searching for themselves in porn games, lets not forget deepfake videos of celeb faces poorly plastered over a pornstar currently exist and have been so for a few years at this point

 

[MadHeadMaster]

Actually, Apocalypse has Scar Jo playing as herself playing as the Black Widow... It also has Ivanka Trump, Melania Trump and the Donald himself, and despite him being the most litigating person on planet Earth, my game is still up there...
Cockham Superheroes, my new ongoing game has Scar Jo as the Black Widow and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman.
Still up and running...

View attachment 2952953

True, I've played your games and they're defintely not subtle about it.

i highly doubt celebs are spending their days searching for themselves in porn games, lets not forget deepfake videos of celeb faces poorly plastered over a pornstar currently exist and have been so for a few years at this point

Yeah, unless my game is getting too popular it's probably unlikely they will notice.

 

[Jugurthine]

Someone probably asked this before. But let's say if I want to creat a renpy game using not one, but multiple celebrities models (Scarlett Johansson, Gal Gadot... etc) in a renpy game. Like all my female characters will be using celebrities models in two scenarios:

1. Just using their face, but give them a different name and identities. Like using Gal Gadot's model but make her MC's hot neighbor Jane who works as a teacher.

2. Use their face and who they are, like Gal Gadot as Gal Gadot. Could be like a fucking celebrity simulator where MC is like a small movie actor trying to survive in the Hollywood while getting some pussies.

In this two different scenarios. I'm guessing that both scenarios are risky but 1 is probably safer right? While 2 is more risky it's still possible to do it without getting shut down by... let's say Patreon?

Depends on the game. Will it be free or a product for purchase? If the intent is to create a game with no purchase required it falls under fair use as a parody or some such other category. Since you are using public figures, they have no right to claim defamation for their likeness in any case. If your product goes for sale I can imagine a C&D would be in your cards and it would be best to not go forward with your idea in such a case.

 

[MadHeadMaster]

Depends on the game. Will it be free or a product for purchase? If the intent is to create a game with no purchase required it falls under fair use as a parody or some such other category. Since you are using public figures, they have no right to claim defamation for their likeness in any case. If your product goes for sale I can imagine a C&D would be in your cards and it would be best to not go forward with your idea in such a case.

Does putting it on Patreon count?

 

[Jugurthine]

Does putting it on Patreon count?

If you're making ANY money directly or indirectly it's liable to C&D and lawsuit, doesn't matter where the revenue stream comes from.