Game Porting to other platform

Step one in all problem solving exercises (legal or otherwise) is to define the problem. And that very often requires the problem solver to first translate industry-specific babble into words with plain and simple meanings. As memorialized by wits throughout our past, the virtues of simplicity are legion.

So ... when posing a problem to be solved doesn't it make a lot of sense to define it w/o using industry-specific babble? Granted, many, many people rely on babble as an ego-supporting, or ego-enhancing, crutch when dealing w/others but aren't the most compelling people in our world the ones who clarify complicated matters in simple and concise language? Visit http://www.ted.com/index.php for videos of wise people who that every day.

All of which is to say that if a problem is couched in babble then the problem solver must first be a good and thorough translator before he or she can think through how to crack the problem's substantive nut . Take your question for example: "I would like to port a traditional LCD handheld game into a video game. Will there be any IP infringement?" Babble.

I translate your question to mean that you want to copy some or all of a computer program used to play a game on one device and then, perhaps by some sort of code re-write or physical modification of the devices, or a combination of the two, make the program work on a different device. Or maybe not copy the program at all and just physically manhandle it over to the other device. Or something else. Or maybe even you don't know for sure. As you can see, I have no answer for you and don't even want to try to define your problem.

Here's some copyright law for you though: it's unlawful to copy computer programs w/o a license from the copyright owner and unlawful to bypass the digital safeguards used to prevent such copying. It is also unlawful to distribute devices designed to bypass digital safeguards and, unless a device has substantial non-infringing uses, unlawful to distribute devices that contribute to copyright infringement.

Good luck. If you're only asking because you want to do whatever it is that you want to do only in your own home -- and not for business purposes -- then adapting, re-writing, modifying, etc. etc. etc. may or may not be lawful but, at the end of the day, no one will know, care, or likely take any action against you. That's not a legal green light to do whatever it is that you want to do, only a generalized truth.

Yes -- I agree with Mr. Ballard -- it's very probably copyright infringement to port someone else's video game.

But before you give the project up, you might want to try negotiating permission from the original publisher. Sometimes that's hard to do, or even impossible. But not always. Good luck!

I do have to give you the usual disclaimers: you shouldn't construe this answer as legal advice, and you shouldn't rely on it, and it doesn't create an attorney client relationship. Legal advice needs a lawyer in your state, and depends on often-intricate details of the facts and circumstances.

I join my colleagues in not knowing exactly what you're asking because of your phrasing of the question. If you're trying to use someone's copyrighted video game by making a new "derivative" work out of it, only the copyright rightsholder can do that or grant rights to a licensee to do that.

Disclaimer: Please note that this answer does not constitute legal advice, and should not be relied on, since each state has different laws, each situation is fact specific, and it is impossible to evaluate a legal problem without a comprehensive consultation and review of all the facts and documents at issue. This answer does not create an attorney-client relationship.