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if i were to make a game with c++ or vc++, would i be able to sell it? is there anything else i need to do other than make it? i was gonna say on my site to send this amount of money to this address or use paypal. would this be legal? i know i need the vc++ 6 pro edition. but besides that, is there anything else i need to do?

Yes...you need to go to make your own copyright.

And that's it( I think )!

does that cost anything?

i forgot to ask: how do i make a copyright. also, what exactly is a copyright. i dont get it.

From the moment you create a work, you have copy rights. That is, the full rights over its reproduction and distribution. However, you must register your copyright with the government in order to protect your work and rights from plagiarists (People who would use your work and claim it as their own).

If you are a U.S. citizen, look here for more information http://www.loc.gov/copyright/

I think he's US, right?

Then copyrights cost alot ( I don't know...probly $300? ), check that web site that person above gave you...

the cost listed on the website is $30 per application, not $300 -- what it sounds like the website says is that your work is protected by copyright the moment you create it (as I said in the other thread), but it needs to be registered with the copyright office in order for you to bring an infringement suit to court.

Joel wrote: the cost listed on the website is $30 per application, not $300 -- what it sounds like the website says is that your work is protected by copyright the moment you create it (as I said in the other thread), but it needs to be registered with the copyright office in order for you to bring an infringement suit to court.

It isn't strictly necessary for bringing a suit to trial, actually, but if you register your claim, the courts are more likely to hear your claim, and it will be much easier to defend your copy rights. The registration established your copyright formally, showing that you had asserted your claim a priori; without it, it is much harder to prove where the material originated and when.

I could have copyrighted FritzOS for only $30.

Oh...that's ok i'ts GNU, that way I can use the GNU compilers

the license on the compilers doesn't limit the licnese on your own software. they're unrelated.

Any games you make will probably NEVER get sold. Everything has to be original to sell a game. And it probably will not be professional quality, since i can see you don't even know C++, And you don't even know what Visual C++ is!

I don't meen to be rude, but i am telling you the truth ;D

ok, berserk, your starting to piss me off. im not talking about right now making a professional game. im talking about later on. im going to learn the language as soon as i get that book! plus who cares about if it sells much. im not expecting to be a multi-millionaire from selling my games. ::)

Ok people...

Lets just quit being angery and etc...

Just post, ask questions...

Berserk...he knows that stuff...no offence but, talk kindly .

This is a programming board, not a argument board.

Berserk, he doesn't even have a book yet! You had books!

Also, a game doesn't have to be revolutionary, complex, or even particularly deep to succeed. In fact, the simpler the game is, the better, when you are a small developer. See Tetris, www.popcap.com, Commander Keen, etc.

These are not particularly advanced games. They just used one good idea and made a *reasonably* good model of that idea. These simple games will be around much longer than the next incarnation of some 3D shooting fiasco.

BTW: It is also possible to mail yourself a cd-rom image of your work in an envelope with the stamp over the seal, thus providing your work with a valid time/date stamp from the post office, but this will NOT be sufficient a priori to sue for damages. The most you could accomplish from this would be a cease-and-desist order.

Also, in the case of serial work and compilations, if you are able to convince the copyright issuers that your work is necessarily part of a package (as in an album, a magazine volume, etc.) you can have all of the series copyrighted with only one payment. Perhaps, if you are going to copyright a bunch of small games, it would be wise to first release them as Joey's Value Pack o' Whole Crapload o' Games or something.

ok thanks andrew. and yah berserk, calm down, im new to c++ and am just asking questions. you dont have to put me down and say there not going to be professional quality and they wont go anywhere.

i probably wont package the game or anything. just jam it on a floppy, shove it in and envelope, slap on a stamp, and slam it into the mailbox. ;D