Legal question concerning Construct software

Hey, everyone. Sorry my introductory post is going to be all technical and confusing, but it's important. I just recently discovered Construct, since I was looking for an alternative to Game Maker, which I had been using since high school (and that's been a good 8-9 years.)

The reason I've forsaken GM is because of its EULA the past few years, ever since being bought by Yoyo Games, that states any IP created within becomes their property. Now, I'm not looking to sell the games that come out of GM or Construct, however what I am doing is prototyping game IPs that I do plan to sell the rights to in the future. The last thing I need is some small web developer saying they own my characters and story after I've already signed them over to a mainstream developer, you know?

Sadly, I'm no expert in legal jargon, so while GM spelled it out quite clearly that they claim to own everyting on their program, I was confused by the wording in Construct's EULA:

4. COPYRIGHT

All title, including but not limited to copyrights, in and to the SOFTWARE PRODUCT and any copies thereof are owned by Scirra Ltd or its suppliers. All title and intellectual property rights in and to the content which may be accessed through use of the SOFTWARE PRODUCT is the property of the respective content owner and may be protected by applicable copyright or other intellectual property laws and treaties. This EULA grants you no rights to use such content. All rights not expressly granted are reserved by Scirra Ltd.

Can someone within the company clarify that for me please, so I know what I'm dealing with?

Are you sure game maker's EULA says that?! o_O

While I'm not a Scirra employee, it says Construct 2 is owned via copyright and stuff by Scirra, and all content accessed with C2 or created with C2 is owned by the respective owners of that content as determined by copyright laws.

Basically, Scirra owns C2, you own the stuff you make, and if you open someone else's stuff, it's still owned by them.

Welcome to the forums, and enjoy C2!

Regarding YoYoGames and GM, they mean the "GM software" itself not what you create and publish trough GM.

wiki.yoyogames.com/index.php/Game_Maker_EULA

I had a discussion some time ago with some fellow GM users, and that's how we all interpreted Yoyo's new EULA. Here, take a look:

2. Software Intellectual Property Rights

2.1. You agree and acknowledge that all right, title, interest and ownership rights in any and all copyright, design right, database right, patents and any rights to inventions, know-how, trade and business names, trade secrets and trade marks (whether registered or unregistered) and any applications therefor and other intellectual property rights (?Intellectual Property Rights?), in or connected with the Software and any and all copies thereof (including in particular but not limited to any data, database, designs, titles, computer code, themes, objects, characters, character names, stories, dialogues, catch phrases, places, concepts, artwork, animation, sounds, music, audio-visual effects, text, methods of operation, moral rights and any related documentation) are owned by YoYo Games. All such rights of YoYo Games are hereby asserted and reserved.

That says nothing about any rights being reserved to any copyright holders. It's pretty firmly asserting that "any rights to inventions... designs, titles... characters, character names, stories... moral rights and any documentations are owned by YoYo Games."

It even says they own all "trade marks (whether registered or unregistered)." Is that even legal?

So, unless someone with a law degree can tell me that's misleading, they shamelessly lay claim to your hard work.

Either way, I'm glad Construct isn't like that. I'm also coming to like being able to get right into making a platformer without having to define all the platform behaviors ahead of time. Thanks for the info.

I can confirm that anything you make in Construct 2 you own the total rights to (as long as you are not infringing anyone else's rights for example by using their copyrightable work like pictures/sounds etc).

We want people to use Construct 2 exactly how they want and we don't make any claim or stake in any work you export in Construct 2.

Thank you for putting in the final word on that, Tom. I know that YoYo's insane EULA is really an exception to the rule, but it's good to make sure that my work is safe with you guys.