Some legal questions

mariomario · Basic Member Joined: 04 Nov 2003

I would like to know if stepmania is illegal. It seems like it should be because of the graphics and sounds used in the themes. Also, is it legal to use official songs if the stepfile and mp3 are packaged together and I don't use the mp3 for anything but playing the song in stepmania?

spoonsman · Trick Member Joined: 01 Dec 2002

I believe it would technically be illegal if you use any of the Konami theme ripoffs (as in any skin that depicts an official mix). It is also only legal to use official songs only if you own a legitimate mix of DDR that contains that song.

mariomario · Basic Member Joined: 04 Nov 2003

If I got the soundtrack to a DDR game, would that make the songs from that mix legal to play in Stepmania? Are original remixes of official songs alright? Is it the official mp3s, stepfiles, or both that are illegal?

spoonsman · Trick Member Joined: 01 Dec 2002

I'm no authority on this, but I believe the step charts are also the intellectual property of Konami. If you want it to be completely legal you must have a game with the song and stepfile on it.

I believe that original remixes of official songs also aren't exempt because they draw so heavily (in style, notes, etc.) from the originals. I'd say it would depend on how "remixed" the song actually was.