Copyright In Screenshots

I’m not yet a TSW player (still waiting to be able to buy a PS5 to play it on), but I have a question in advance.

I presume I will be able to take screenshots and/or capture short videos of gameplay.

In that case, though, who owns the copyright of the image or video? It seems less clear-cut than when taking a photo in the real world.

I ask because I’d like to be able to use screenshots and/or short videos from TSW 2 to illustrate blog posts and/or videos about railway signalling systems.

 

I think I’ve found the general answer to this question, which is, as I suspected, that the copyright is held by Dovetail.

So, I suppose I want to address the question to Dovetail directly: how amenable are they to having screenshots of TSW2 used for illustrative purposes not having anything with the simulator per se?

 

I guess it depends if you are earning money out of it or something similar like that

 

My intention at first wouldn’t be to earn money, but that could change (and it obviously doesn’t make any difference legally). So it would be good to hear from someone at Dovetail.

 

I think it's better to hunt for CC pictures of real railway signals than bother with screenshots. It would also look a bit better.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Railway_signals_by_country

Alternatively, if you can't find everything you need, you could have a few pictures of real signals and then make some 2d cards to show specific aspects and stuff.

 

I had thought of this, and various other options. It’s not really possible to get actual driver’s eye photos of lineside signals though, as that would involve the driver taking the photo (or at least having a camera in their eyeline, blocking their view of signals!). This seemed to me to be a potential advantage of using a simulator.

 

So you basically need that perspective from a few meters above ground? Otherwise there are pictures taken from the ground that are aligned with the track so the perspective difference is pretty marginal (drivers are looking from a distance as well).

Here's a pic taken from a cab:


And here's a pretty close trackside view:

 

Thanks. Yes, these aren’t bad. I still think, for what I’m planning, I’ll mock things up using a 3D model (either virtually or old-school).

 

There are loads of youtube videos using TSW2 content that is monetized, and I would imagine the bigger concern would be of copyright material in the game where the IP holder is NOT DTG and where you may be using that IP incorrectly, such as deliberately crashing an ICE3 or similar, or some of the logoed assets

 

Contact DTG directly and ask for permission.

Email: enquiries@dovetailgames.com

 

Yeah, that will fix everything.

As for the videos, it's pretty obvious if the content is related to TSW but you don't really see games being used to explain real world stuff, which is what the OP is asking about.

 

It shouldn't be an issue if you credit them/show the copyright on the photo