Ren'Py Illusion Koikatsu ISN'T copyrighted anymore...?

[AnotherCrystal]

The question is self explanatory.

I saw that, apparently, illusion went to BANKRUPT in 2023.

So is it correct to say that we are free to do whatever we want with the game, including making others based on their models and char studio? Or perhaps another company I don't know now owns Koikatsu's rights?

I really love the anime way their characters are made and want to use their models for a game with Ren'py or RPGMAKER but -it scares me a little- the possible consequences of it.

There aren't any posts (Or I didn't see them x.x) about illusion and this situation, so I decided to create one.

UPDATED! I've seen that some say that ''illgames '' is the succesor, It makes similar games to Koikatsu and it was created soon after the downfall of illusion.

However, others say that it isn't since they literally stated that they weren't going to have one.


So does anyone have updated information about this case and its implications for people who want to use for the first time or keep using their models?

THANKS FOR READING MY POST!!

 

[Turning Tricks]

Just because a company goes bankrupt, doesn't mean they lose all their IP rights. Somebody (or some company) is still collecting the royalties. Heck, two of the big three automakers went bankrupt in the 2008 recession. That didn't mean Ford could start building Dodge Challengers for free.

 

[AnotherCrystal]

Just because a company goes bankrupt, doesn't mean they lose all their IP rights. Somebody (or some company) is still collecting the royalties. Heck, two of the big three automakers went bankrupt in the 2008 recession. That didn't mean Ford could start building Dodge Challengers for free.

Thanks for your insight, my knowledge related to laws is next to zero.

 

[idrisz19]

Signatories to the Berne Convention regard copy-monopolies as an "inalienable right" that doesn't require registration or renewal. Under the Convention, the copy-monopoly lasts at least 50 years beyond the author's death, meaning that the copy-monopoly is inherited by the author's successor(s), who then maintains and enforces the monopoly for 50 years or more.

Japan and the United States passed laws extending the copy-monopoly duration to 70 years beyond the author's death.

 

[AnotherCrystal]

Signatories to the Berne Convention regard copy-monopolies as an "inalienable right" that doesn't require registration or renewal. Under the Convention, the copy-monopoly lasts at least 50 years beyond the author's death, meaning that the copy-monopoly is inherited by the author's successor(s), who then maintains and enforces the monopoly for 50 years or more.

Japan and the United States passed laws extending the copy-monopoly duration to 70 years beyond the author's death.

Thanks for taking the time to give me this info...

 

[MissFortune]

Lewdgamer (now defunct, apparently) wrote an article referencing the president of FAKKU (if I recall) talking about how it's outright not allowed and anyone doing it should be reported to them.

Whether that was ever enforced, and how strongly at that, is something we won't really now. It doesn't look like it from the outside, but it came right from his mouth. Just something to think about.

 

[AnotherCrystal]

Lewdgamer (now defunct, apparently) wrote an article referencing the president of FAKKU (if I recall) talking about how it's outright not allowed and anyone doing it should be reported to them.

Whether that was ever enforced, and how strongly at that, is something we won't really now. It doesn't look like it from the outside, but it came right from his mouth. Just something to think about.

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Holy pepperoni. Thanks for this piece of information... Hope the guy who is making Futa fantasy doesn't get caught, I want to lose my girls lol

 

[SPkiller31]

Lewdgamer (now defunct, apparently) wrote an article referencing the president of FAKKU (if I recall) talking about how it's outright not allowed and anyone doing it should be reported to them.

I may be wrong but I think this was discussed somewhere around 2019 and people digged to the information that Fakku holds rights ONLY to the one version of Honey Select (Unlimited I think?) that's not even on Steam.

Rest is fully owned by Illusion and it's up to them to go after random, small creators outside of Japan.
That's besides the fact that people also make mad cash from arts, character cards, etc done as commissions on Pixiv and other art-related sites (Some creators are native Japanese so in theory they should get instantly nuked by Illusion but it never happened).

Regardless of whether or not Illusion minds or doesn't mind people doing that and giving them free ads, they also stated in some ancient FAQ that it's acceptable as long as copyright notice is present (Don't quote me on that, I know it more as a word of mouth)

 

[MissFortune]

I may be wrong but I think this was discussed somewhere around 2019 and people digged to the information that Fakku holds rights ONLY to the one version of Honey Select (Unlimited I think?) that's not even on Steam.

I'm not even going to pretend to be knowledgeable enough to claim otherwise. But the way he writes seems to imply that he's speaking for all Illusion projects as their American distributor/publisher/etc. Not that it was ever really enforced in the first place.

 

[Insomnimaniac Games]

I'm not even going to pretend to be knowledgeable enough to claim otherwise. But the way he writes seems to imply that he's speaking for all Illusion projects as their American distributor/publisher/etc. Not that it was ever really enforced in the first place.

The only Fakku publishing info I can find is for Honey Select Unlimited, but nothing for HS2. The info I'm finding for Koikatsu party and sunshine is Illusion self-publishing and not even using Fakku as a distributor.

Spoiler: Comments from Fakku

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Doesn't mean that they didn't represent Illusion outside of Japan, but the fact that they never enforced anything, and that Fakku is notoriously shitty about this kind of thing (despite their origins as a piracy site) has to mean something.

 

[SPkiller31]

Doesn't mean that they didn't represent Illusion outside of Japan, but the fact that they never enforced anything, and that Fakku is notoriously shitty about this kind of thing (despite their origins as a piracy site) has to mean something.

Their origin story is always the funniest thing to me. That's some Hektor Barbossa type of shit.