>but how is using StarCraft and its assets in your random AI game okay?
How is it not ok? What is the issue exactly? From what I can tell it's totally free, and has an indication it is a fan game on the bottom of the screen.
Trademark violation. Trademarks protect consumers, not producers. Surely you can't be advocating for relaxing consumer protections?
Usage of the trademark is a claim to official content. That's kinda the point of a trademark. The Starcraft font and logo as presented on the screen is a claim to be official content. That the fine-print clarifies "well, not really" doesn't make the claim go away.
If you were allowed to use a trademark "Coke" and tack on "well, not really" in the fine-print, it's still infringement.
It's to protect the consumer who doesn't read the fine-print.
We don't want a situation where where have cans of "Coke" at the supermarket with a 2mm-high "not really" printed on the back of the can.
I think maybe this would have a lot more weight if he were selling this as a product, but he isn't
>It's to protect the consumer who doesn't read the fine-print.
I'm going to ask, protecting the consumer from what in this case?
Just because you give your crap away for free does not mean that you can fool the consumer into thinking it is someone else's crap.
The protection of branding is to protect the consumer against being deceived. The item being free or not is irrelevant.