Honestly I could write an entire 15 page essay about it. The fact is the law is not clear so its open to interpretation by blood thirsty lawyers. But I will try and break it down:
Fair Use, the Fair Use Test. Fair use is a principle in Copyright Law that provides us with a limited ability to use copyrighted material without getting permission for limited purposes: personal use, non-profit uses, education, criticism or commentary, news reporting and parody. There are no hard rules to determine if an intended use is a Fair Use, but there are test criteria to help in making the decision: 1. What is the purpose and character of the intended use?
2. What is the nature of the copyrighted work?
3. How much of the work will be used? And how important is that part?
4. How would widespread use of this work impact its market value?
I'm a student learning the many processes behind Game Design. In this case the structure behind developing a MMOFPS. Anything created that is of my own design whether it is art or code will be used in my portfolio. When I complete this project I will freely disclose the details and inner workings of the entire project for everyone to study. It would be of great use to anyone interested in developing their own game framework. It will cover the basics of texture mapping, animation, level design, and even some programming. If the IP holder does not want textures or models used from an existing game then I will remove them and come up with my own designs. Which I am capable of doing.
See projects like OpenMorrowind or even FOnline (fallout2 online) for a similar comparison.
http://www.moddb.com/engines/openmwhttp://www.moddb.com/engines/fonline-engineI'm not using much of the original source material since I plan I'm completely remaking most of the models including the animations. The use of textures from Aliens Online were to illustrate proof of concept. It is strictly non-profit but obviously it costs money to run a professional server. When the time comes I will work out all the details behind that. This project is a continuation of what I originally started while in school.
Educational Multimedia:http://copyright.lib.utexas.edu/ccmcguid.htmlSince I'm only one guy the best I can hope for is somewhat dated but stylish visuals. In no way can I impact official sales of something like AVP3 or the disastrous Colonial Marines, nor is that my goal. The best I can hope for is people will like what I'm doing and support the end goal of rebooting a classic Aliens themed FPS. A former hobbyist turned student cannot be held accountable for IP violations when no such violation exists. Will that stop them from trying? Likely not but we will have to wait and see. I'm no a lawyer but any honest individual can clearly see what I'm doing is no different from many other indie projects except that is has the stigma of being related to "Aliens". This has to change and its up to the people (and fans!) because only they can choose to be that motivation force.