What are the rules for un-owned material?

The law

I am not qualified to give legal advice, so the following is my current vague understanding of what is permitted by international trademark and copyright law (which will apply in most countries). Others should feel welcome to edit in corrections/references as necessary.

This answer gives no opinion on whether there should be any community restriction on what can be done where there is no legal obstacle. That can be covered by other answers.

Trademarks

A trademarked name cannot be used to describe a different product of the same type, but can be used to describe a completely different type of product. A challenge is not a board game, for example, so using the name might be legal. However, there are exceptions and variations in different jurisdictions, so since Codidact is intended to be available worldwide it seems safest to avoid the use of trademarks in challenges.

Copyright

There are exceptions to copyright in most jurisdictions, for various usages, but since these are not universal and may have subtle variations it seems safest to avoid the use of copyright material in challenges, even where an exception appears to apply.

Examples

Conveniently, the examples in the question cover 3 distinct cases, which make a good basis for separate sections of an answer.

Mickey Mouse - a grey area

The original version of Mickey Mouse was protected by copyright that expired in 2024, but the specific characteristics of later versions are protected by later copyright that has not yet expired. This means that whether a challenge infringes copyright will depend on which Mickey Mouse you choose to use for it. It may be safer to choose something for which the copyright has fully expired.

Catan - protected name and art only

The board game Catan (formerly "Settlers of Catan") is protected in 2 ways:

• The name is a registered trademark.
• The creative aspects are protected by copyright. This includes the artwork and wordings.

Game mechanics are not protected by copyright, so you could probably legally make a king of the hill contest for a Catan-like game that uses none of the artwork and avoids use of the name.

Note that for this board game specifically, there is guidance on dealing with its intellectual property, which may make decisions simpler than for other board games.

My personal approach

Personally, I would prefer to design a new game with a different name and different rules, even if the mechanics are similar. This will allow answers and comments to discuss the contest without awkwardly avoiding mentioning the name (which might be fine or might not, but I'd rather avoid the distraction of people wondering what is permitted). I don't intend this answer to form community policy - I'd rather the legal and community rules be kept in separate answers. This is just what I would find easier for my own contests.

Moby Dick - public domain

Moby Dick was published in 1851, and its copyright has expired so there is no limit on how much of it you could include in a challenge.

posted about 1 year ago

CC BY-SA 4.0

1y ago

trichoplax‭

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