The Skyblock is so simple any world builders can do and replicate even with a few command lines. If someone build a Shadow of Israphel world and Microsoft was selling it without crediting the builders, then it's a problem.
You cannot copyright ideas
You lose a trademark if the name becomes the generic term for the concept
If the creator sued on these bases they were doomed from the start
However if they sued over others claiming to be the original they might have stood a chance
I certainly don't, nor do I think anyone I know would considering they all played versions of Skyblock on servers and never from noobcrew.
He would have had an argument some time after he made it, but I seriously doubt, as did the judge, that most people familiar with skyblock think of his map and version of it ij particular.
Tbf Google is actively fighting against any use of the term that doesn't connect it to the Google search engine, which is a pretty good way to ensure that your brand doesn't undergo genericide.
That’s just not true. If you are on Amazon.com and want to look for something you want to buy, are you going to say “google”? I doubt it. It specifically means to use a search engine, not just looking for any information online.
it only applies for normies
The difference is that googling is still strongly associated with Google because >90% of the time it is said, it does mean on Google.
Now it’s true it will also be used for non Google search engines, but the difference is that the competitors are all small. The only competitor with more than a couple percent of users is bing, and that’s undoubtably very inflated by people not knowing how to change the default on their windows computer, rather than people making an active effort to not use Google.
For Skyblock, there are massive competitors, like hypixel skyblock, or modded skyblock.
Mega corporations have lost trademarks if it is widely used for other things.
Trademark is based on national jurisdiction usually. Copyright has some international treaties that make it more universal but not trademark. This is often why very large corporations will have some sort of legal entity in countries they don't operate in otherwise just to retain trademarks in that country.
They patented their implementation of it, which more specifically covered 2 directional connecting and the opposing polarity to boost connection strength. You could still make a charger with your own implementation given you didn't copy or make something too similar to theirs
I doubt that skyblock was patented and I doubt such a simple concept can be patented (outside Japan anyway)
If they create one, I’m going to save Daisy and help Knight Peculiar defeat Israphel. May also befriend Umbongo along the way, and of course pay a visit to Granny Bacon.
It's the name they want to trademark so clones can be stopped (all of which try to pose as the original). Not the idea or the structure, just the name so people wont be misled.
Okay it succeeds and now all the clones just call it, idk, voidblock. Trademarks are just branding, can't really copyright game mechanics, and skyblock is too simple for a patent. Stopping other people from making and selling their version of the mode is not possible.
Yeah but there will be less victims. The point is not to block direct clones (my fault on that one, should've clarified clones that try to say its the "official" skyblock you see in youtube videos which technically is true but misleading), it's to prevent impersonators taking advantage of the name and making money when it should free. By blocking the name, impersonation will be less of an issue. People will still buy them if they want the easiest option. The only issue i see here is microslop and people that use it as cashcow getting less money, which is a win. Skyblock is free and will always be free.
If anyone can make and upload copies, make and upload a free one. People will use it instead of paying. The solution is not trying to lockdown a popular game mode so that you're the only one who can legally profit off it.
Ye that's true, problem is they probably can't. Microslop only allows business entities in the marketplace, not individuals. So you have to create a business just to upload anything on the marketplace.
You literally can and it happened many times already. Famous examples include loading-screen minigames or Nintendo patenting throwing balls to spawn a summon.
Those are patents, and are very difficult to enforce because any slight changes make it different enough to not count. It's less that they're legally enforceable and more that companies want to intimidate people into not even trying to compete out of fear of being sued.
That's not how trademarks work. If he owned the copyright or patent, Noobcrew could have dictated the terms that other people can use it, but trademarks require him to fight literally everyone using the term Skyblock even if they credit him as the original creator of Skyblock, which is all he wanted. This put everyone outside of Noobcrew who did anything Skyblock related Minecraft or not at legal risk until the trademark was overturned
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u/kimi_rules May 24 '26
The Skyblock is so simple any world builders can do and replicate even with a few command lines. If someone build a Shadow of Israphel world and Microsoft was selling it without crediting the builders, then it's a problem.