Nobody can stop you from stealing The Great Gatsby
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- Опубликовано: 29 мар 2023
- In January of 2021, F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel The Great Gatsby left copyright. In response, two developers organized a game jam on itch.io to celebrate their new ability to "steal" The Great Gatsby. But how does copyright - and also patents - affect video games, and who do copyright laws protect? Simone de Rochefort looks at the games produced by Gatsby Jam and what the creators of the game jam have to say about copyright and the proliferation of ideas.
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#thegreatgatsby #videogames 
Игры
Play Rhythm Action Gatsby: robgamesthingy.itch.io/rhythm-action-gatsby
There is nothing I respect more than Simone's single-minded determination to get Jazz Age literature onto RUclips.
Polygon: But Simone, we are a videogame channel.
Simone: That won't stop me!
I just watch Polygon because they will introduce me to stuff I'd otherwise never check out and they are really passionate about it. There's nothing better than passionate people.
Positive passionate people are amazing! I encourage them to share what they’re passionate about. Please encourage these people in healthy ways!! If you see it taking a negative/bad turn that harms themselves or others, please have them seek help.
i think dogs should sneeze in more interviews actually
I agree
Everyone's okay with dogs sneezing in interviews, but they're less okay with dogs sneezing INTO interviews.
I THINK DOGS SHOULD BE ABLE TO VOTE
If you get the reference....... I love you.
WWII soldiers reading The Great Gatsby and dreaming about going back home millionaires is the proof that you can take whatever lesson from any book you read.
"If this WW1 vet can do it then I can too" was a common mentality during WW2. Both sides wheeled out WW1 vets and talked about how successful their lives were after fighting to encourage recruitment
@@BadgerOfTheSea it took me way longer than I'm really willing to admit for me too realize you're talking about veterans and not veterinarians.
Can’t wait for the new series: Clayton explains classic novels he’s never read
+
The best part is I read it back in HS and I'm not sure if he's wrong.
Here's an idea:
An open world crime game set in the Jazz Age.
The Great GTAsby.
oMDSfG:DLFh
Mafia 2?
Mafia 2
Simone: First, a quick refresher on "The Great Gatsby!"
Me, a guy who has definitely read it: Oh thank god.
Also, I know this is not the point of the video, but Simone's hair looks amazing
Let's be real: this is just so Simone can demand a game jam for The Sun Also Rises
you KNOW i looked for one
I am being bombarded with high school English class from 25 years ago right now and I am not comfortable! (do Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea pls)
hilariously, I've never read Gatsby, but I did have to read Sun Also Rises for a class and I HATED it. I made my whole final paper about how I hated it, in 2 hours while on nyquil because I was going to go to japan in the morning and needed to fall asleep the moment I turned it in, but I still got an A so there's that!
"The Freight Gatsby" => Ticket to Ride but you're trying to get home to win back your old (already married) flame.
The Gatsby game I would make would be a ball bouncing game where you control Gatsbys floating corpse in the pool as you try to bounce beach balls from one side of the screen to the other
I almost choked on a bite of apple when I read this and eas seconds away from doing a self Heimlich maneuver against a chair. Which would be a tragedy because it means I could have died before seeing if this ever came to fruition. You are visionary.
2:06 I find this really interesting! Even when I was reading Gatsby in high school, I felt like a lot of people's criticism of the book came from people disliking things that (to me) were meant to be disliked (which is why I loved the book). To me, I felt like Fitzgerald knows that Nick is not a reliable narrator or moral authority *at all*. When introducing himself, Nick legit just says that his family were able to get really wealthy because his great uncle was able to pay someone to go serve in the Civil war in his place and started a business that his family still runs.
I definitely felt the same way! The way he describes himself comes off as more than a little unaware at how naive and slightly pompous he sounds, and I always felt like that was intentional. -Simone
@@polygon Yes!
"My dad told me never to judge people because, after all, I had things pretty good growing up"
*judges everyone anyway for the entire novel*
i think this is the problem with required reading as it mostly is. I personally hate unsympathetic narrators. I don't wanna hear about what people I don't care for are getting up to. If you forced me to sit through that, I might hate 'it' aswell.
And it's likely Zelda wrote it, not F. Scott.
@@jonahfalcon1970before or after the events of BOTW?
Thank you for this video! As a lawyer, I have so many ethical issues with IP law, and I think we all should be more critical for how we organize it.
glad theres some Lawyers out there with some actual morals.
The only reason there is any defense of copyright and intellectual property is because the society we live in refuses to provide for everyone's needs, so everyone has to have an angle to generate value to society to be able to survive. If we didn't have that, there would be no need for these concepts.
It's also important to remember that the people who had the first or most profitable angles are the ones who twist and manipulate these (and other) concepts to always benefit them and never benefit anyone trying to establish themselves today. Copyright is not your friend, unless you're rich. To bring in a totally unrelated issue, this is the core thing people arguing against "AI" art forget.
@@dominateeye are you trying to imply that AI art is going to bring on a techno utopia based on equality? I ask because the rest of your comment seems to be written by someone who understands how society works, and isn’t naive enough to think that AI art is going be anything other than a tool for those who have all the power to flatten art into content and reduce artists to low-skill, prompt entry drones.
@@dominateeye The only defense of currency or wages or the concept of "ownership" is because the society we live in refuses to provide for everyone's needs, so everyone has to have an angle to generate value to society to be able to survive. Why stop at criticizing copyright?
I love the idea of taking the Ash Heap, a setting most of the characters in Gatsby just for drive past and ignore, and making a story about the people who are stuck in it.
That comment just made me want a Wide Sargasso Sea game
To be fair that was my idea too, only as a hyperrealistic UE5 game with nanite ashheaps and volumetric smoke and particles everywhere. Which would probably take too long to implement, but whatever. Anyhow, the story of the Valley of Ashes, including what became of it, is every bit as fascinating as the Great Gatsby itself. (Robert Moses turned it into a park by way of two worlds fairs, which in turn inspired Walt Disney to create Epcot-the wonderful world of the future was literally built atop Fitzgerald’s hell!)
@@jasonlescalleet5611 how grimly fascinating!
@@ramshacklealex7772 Only if there's an option where you kill Rochester and prevent the events of Jane Eyre.
I will personally never forgive the patenting of the Nemesis system. Such a cool and unique new mechanic that really make Shadow of Mordor a game worth playing (because you could just imagine how future games might use this) and then... nothing.
It makes no sense that game mechanics can be patented if they can't be copyrighted, and I consider it a flagrant misuse of our patent/copyright system.
I think one could make a very solid argument that the system is designed to be misused.
The vast majority of things which can be patented can't be copyrighted - they're completely seperate systems. (Not saying the Nemesis system patent was right - there are a lot of dodgy software patents.)
It's exactly how the copyright system was meant to be used. We need an american pirate party
As a creator/artist, the copyright/trademark system is a frenemy. Sure your stuff can be protected, but it also keeps stuff out of the publics hands for nigh 100 years
@@kaspianepps7946 Nothing that can be patented can be copyrighted. It's actually a mutually exclusive requirement. You cannot get double protection on something by arguing it is both a functional invention and an artistic expression. The one exception can be Design patents, but when most people talk about patents (like the Nemesis patent) they are referring to Utility patents.
There's actually a few itch jams about public domain work that happen every year! Excited to see you covering this!!
There is even a annual "Public Domain Jam" I believe.
@Wannabe Games theres that one, there's also "Gaming like its 19XX" which is more physical game focused. There's so many! Jams rule!
I only had to see the title to know that Simone made this one 😂
you SEE I finally didn't put the host's face in the thumb, but this one had to be super easy mode for guessing haha
oh hey, I did one of those! I designed The Great Gatsby: The Tabletop Roleplaying Game. the gameplay in my game is specifically about the public domain and has the players selecting public domain characters to play (and includes a table that lets you know that, starting next year, you're allowed to play the game as Walt Disney's mouse OC) and is about the tension between nostalgia for the past and the desire to create new things and how that relates to both the novel (and Gatsby's whole deal with Daisy) and to our collective relationship with copyrighted material.
if you bought the Indie Bundle for Abortion Funds on itch last July, you own this one, btw!!
also here's a fun note: the game includes an overview of the plot of the novel as a tool for the GM in case they can't recall exactly what it's about, and my first draft of just the first chapter's summary was 3000 words long. my editor was very upset at me.
Listen, you gotta keep your editors on their toes. (That project sounds so cool!!)
The "ashen land" was the passage that really stuck in my brain when I originally read the book--whenever I happened across some blasted industrial wasteland I remembered it. Only later realized that I'd been to the actual place--the area is what later became Flushing Meadows/Corona Park, the site of the 1964 World's Fair.
Something about the Jazz Age just screams “point and click adventure” game
now here's the content I come to polygon for: Simone encouraging crimes
Leave it to Simone to make a video about a game about a book 😂 keep it up!!
this reminds me when i was 8 and filmed my interpretation of romeo and juliet with a barbie doll as juliet, my fave cat plushie as romeo, and my big tiger plushie as The Evil Emperor who was the main villian. there were fairies involved.
Ahh so you just combined 3 Shakespeare plays into 1, with an evil tiger to make it cooler of course.
I have always wanted the Chao garden to come back. I have not bought a 3D Sonic game in a long long time (since Unleased), but if there was a Chao garden I 100% would. If someone were to make a Chao Garden simulator, and just reskin it so it was different I would definitely buy it.
Love the discussion about copyright, it's a shame that copyright keeps getting extended ad infinatum.
I love getting to see people talking about the things they love, and how that leads to not only me becoming interested in those things (thanks Simone) but also to exploring relevent issues like copyright! This video was awesome, 10/10!
My only letdown is that it is not, in fact, legal to steal physical copies of the Great Gatsby from stores
At 1:06, I rather feel like it can't be a coincidence that the sin is cropped to read "you are now entering ew york city"
ewwww
I'd love to see more coverage of these kind of topics! More information about itch games and jams beyond the scope of videogames! More TTRPGs! This is really cool
I'm actually sitting in a classroom full of The Great Gatsby copies at the time of getting this video notification.
When I first got really into Gatsby, I played a Great Gatsby hidden object game that I remember being pretty good!
OOOOH fun!
I spy with T. J. Eckleburg’s massive billboarded eye
6:24 YES!!! i wondered if this had something to do with it. love the stealing concept so much
This literally released while I was sitting in english class discussing this book is Simone stalking me?
NICE
Update: Showed it to my english teacher, she said to send her the game jam and one day we'd play it in class
I read this in high school and literally named my car "old sport" but I doubt I can recall the actual plot better than Clayton 😂
Oh somebody please make a game based on the chao garden!!! haha
everyone is saying this
I've been wanting one since I was 12!
Well, 'The Legend of Zelda' already stole F. Scott's wife's name...
I have a game I play with Polygon videos without people in the thumbnail where I guess who made the video, but this one was a little too easy…
Love the the variety, creativity and depths of this channel and its art!! Thank you for everything you put into polygon - its a constant delight! 😊
I feel like your impression of the Great Gatsby is a great litmus test for how much reading comprehension you learned in high school. Nick and everybody in the book is supposed to suck and you’re supposed to dislike them, because as Nick himself says: they’re careless people who smash up people and things and then escape the consequences.
But also, commit crimes. Write gay fanfiction. Read the whole thing for free on ao3!! SPIT UPON COPYRIGHT AND PATENTS
Hate how expensive legal services are. Court cases can bankrupt a smaller company, even if they end up winning, and bigger companies know that they can afford to eat the costs, but they also know that lots of small companies just won't call their bluff, because they can't afford to. It gives big companies much more power than is actually based on the law in their corner.
So glad this conversation went into issues with copyright law. I wish more people realized how these laws uphold corporate greed and choke creativity.
Corporate greed that this very company takes advantage of
All talk about dog sneezes and WOTC aside, this was a really excellent video. Great work!
simone should do more videos about stealing, how to steal, and steal accessories
This was SO GOOD! I love finding out about new GameJams (and also dunking on copyright law) Great Job!
I remember that around 2010 or so, there was a free flash game online that was a 2d nes style platformer based on The Great Gatsby. Wonder if it's still out there somewhere.
Simone, if you are reading this, your hair looks great.
yo thank you
These devs are all cowards or someone would have done "Daisy's Fun Drive!" the endless racing game where you have to hit as many Myrtles as possible (they're turtles because it rhymes)
Never read The Great Gatsby and while I had picked up bits and pieces, this is the first time the plot was explained to me. Nice to know I wasn't wrong about the car accident bit. (Also Simone your hair looks so nice!)
Loved everything about this video. Thank you Simone!
haven't clicked on a polygon video in a while but this one caught my eye, watching it made me remember how much I really love polygon's videos :) why did I ever leave!!! I have returned home
Amazing video!!! I want to see the wild stuff that will come out now with Sherlock being out of copyright
Please let Wannabe Games have access to the Nemesis system for a Super Hero RPG. It would be so rad.
Also thanks Simone!
Got to be real, this was a really well written video! At first I clicked because I was intrigued by the title and loved the book. This video discusses a lot of great points and further discusses other issues while using Gatsby as a baseline to look at other more important topics and to get us thinking. So I say thank you.
The moment you said "Gatsby Jam" I was totally enthralled by the idea and immediately googled it
saw the thumbnail and instantly said "simone..." to myself before even seeing who was hosting this one
7:30 suddenly Gillian Anderson's Margaret Thatcher comes out of nowhere for 3 seconds
I didn't realize Winona Ryder got 30 years younger and went into game journalism!
Great video by the way! :D
cant wait for Jrpg style "grapes of wrath" games
it's great that Simone could blame - I mean - give credit to the writers for their jokes :3c
I had that book as required reading in my English as third language class in Switzerland. It was a pretty interesting read, but sometimes the vocabulary was a bit too advanced for my then B2 (5.5 IELTS) proficiency level. Watching the movie helped me a lot to better understand what was happening, because it some passages were still a bit fuzzy in my head
I feel like this video would benefit from a discussion, or at least mention of Fair Use doctrine. The closing argument of the video is that copyright should not stifle literary criticism, commentary, and parody. That's expressly what Fair Use is. The Copyright Office says "Transformative uses are those that add something new, with a further purpose or different character, and do not substitute for the original use of the work." All of these games seem to provide either parody, criticism, or commentary without substituting for the original use of the work.
Loved the insight in this video! I especially appreciated the input from Dyrus and Jess!
BY THE TITLE ALONE... IS IT SAYING WHAT I THINK ITS SAYING???
IVE BEEN WAITING FOR FOUR YEARS FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF SOMEONE DESECRATING HIS NOVEL INTO A FULL LENGTH 1920S FLUFF PIECE ABOUT DAISY AND JORDAN🎉
that most replayed bump lmao
This is the most Simone video imaginable.
another one of my fav simone vids ❤
Clayton knows precisely as much about The Great Gatsby as I do
Shout out to RUclips for thinking this is a BioShock play through video
4:07 This is a man that knows how to Gatsby.
I LOVE the public domain jams, so glad polygon is shining a light on them!
big fan of the whole aesthetic of this video
Simone Videos are always so good
as a former participant and organizer in many an itchio game jam, it's always wonderful to see the games and game jams on there getting some love from a RUclips channel/website/blog with a following like Polygon's.
Honestly there's something very weird about how the discourse on copyright by people who say they hate it is the thing that actually oppresses creative freedom the most because they give this dire, end is nigh discourse about how it means they can't do... things they can actually do.
You can, actually riff on and build on other people's ideas - you just can't just use their work as your own. Just as you feature footage of a game in your video talking about it but you can't just copy-paste it and say "I made this."
One of the most telling elements as to how misguided this conversations was, aside from the weird pivot into OGL like that was relevant, was that one of the games blatantly says "I didn't read the book". So copyright had exactly nothing to do with that game being made.
watching this video made me realize that the sun also rises is already in public domain and there's no "i picked a fight with a bull and died horribly" game where jake picks a fight with a bull and dies horribly. whats even the point
The day Simone doesn't look at least a little bit disheveled is the day I stop watching Polygon
Thanks Tara for the good joke
This is the most Simone thing to ever Simone.
after all this time, we've finally got the green light
insanely good title. i clicked. and i watched the whole video
such a cool topic hell yeah, I remember there being a big fuss about the copyright about Sherlock Holmes respecting women being something from later books and so still under copyright? Which if that was true is such bull
this is the simone-est simone video i could have imagined (compliment)
I have never read a Hemmingway book or The Great Gatsby, but I’ll still watch videos about them if it’s Simone talking (also I do think I’ll read The Sun Also Rises this year)
I hope clayton covers the version of gatsby where he has scoliosis
nothing makes me more angry than copyright and patent laws. which is why i share an online ttrpg collection worth thousands of dollars with as many strangers as i can
Love this! This was great
I predict this video will be about Simone and her banger fashion sense. That's what The Great Gatsby was about..right? Fashion?
Thank you Tara, for your banger one-liner!
Every day I wake up and Seethe, struggling even, to breathe under the tyranny of the Nemesis System Patent.
hell yeah a Simone vid!!! as both a copyright hater and someone who loves sheer pettiness as the drive for (communally shared !) creation, i can't wait to check out the stuff from this game jam and also from this team specifically, who were delightful !!!! (very big agree someone should make a game from the chao garden, incredible CTA thank u !!!!!!)
also, LOVE to see a Simone vid ( and a VERY Simone vid, at that!) after what feels like quite a whiiiiiiiile. in terms of the all important (to ME) metric of : Well-Executed-Clown-Adjacent-Subtle-Bits/Informative-and-Fun-Spotlights-On-a-Niche-Subject-or-Creator(s) Ratio, Simone continues to do it better than any other dang video creator on al gore's internet,,, and for that I am always (salute emoji) (bow down emoji) (clown honk emoji) (yellow heart emoji)
ps tara is so right for that "more like copy /wrong/!" joke :)))))) thank you tara for allowing such good polygon video content to be made :--))))))
pps nearly snorted my tea at Clayton "he discovers that gatsby is actually....~~ sad~ :(" "and also there's a lady...?" one trillion percent embodying perfectly the vibe i always had as a perpetually sleepy/just flat-out Truant student getting thru required reading curricula. but hey, that's jazz!
Simone is one of my all time favorite humans. ❤❤
Chadtronic is actually making a game based on the chao garden!
"Fscott Fitzgerald" 😂
I love adaptations, Painting Werther is a new one pretty interesting
I would LOVE a stand-alone game with the mechanics and gameplay loop of the Chao Garden in Sonic Adventure 2.
Yes! Down with intellectual property laws!
Ironic how that one dude seems to be completely oblivious to the fact that TGG is literally a critique of the upper class, and the romance is really just the plot. The themes are all Rich Bad
I JUST wrote a paper for college about copyright bullshit messing up games
Hey, can you make a video that covers The Great Gatsby, Copyright Law, Game Jams, DnD, videogame patents and the flaws within that system, including how huge corporations abuse the courts? - Hold my appletini!
10:10 omg is that why splatoon 1 had one?
My 3rd favorite story book of all time
I think this video was made for me??! Anyways another banger
1:02 Insert Law & Order sound FX here ⚖
I feel the same way about Cyrano de Bergerac 🥰 (there have been a few games as well)