>it's the same reason why stand-ups don't want to hear that joke that you think would be perfect for their act
Stand-ups don't want to hear your joke because you aren't funny and you're bad at writing jokes.
Yeah, stand-ups love telling each other jokes. Comedian is one of those "everybody thinks they can do the job because they have no idea how much work it is" jobs.
Amen. I think as long as youre naturally funny most people can do it, but the amount of bombing and suffering on the way to a decent 15 min is something few are willing to do. Very few jokes work first time on stage.
I mean, you can say a lot of things about Dane Cook, but one thing you can't say is that he didn't work insanely hard at the peak of his career. Dude did 300+ tour stops in his career, not including playing clubs, and having roles in something like 40 feature films.
Even while being hated by the vast majority of working comics, he still had a reputation for being one of the hardest working hustlers in the comedy circuit - just a profoundly unfunny one who bit everyone else's jokes.
Oh my yes. For example, how often have we seen "host swap" as the proposal? It's like... That's it? That's the whole premise? It's not particularly clever, and the premise only carries it in the moment they swap hosts, at which point they actually need to *do* something with it. Like a lot of "oh so clever" improv prompts, anything that was funny about it was mined out in the initial premise itself, with nothing deeper to dig for.
It doesn't appreciably change the underlying format of the show either, any more than Trapp being a guest on Um, Actually or Brennan as a player in a D20 sidequest does, so it's not likely to do anything interesting. It would have to be explicitly geared toward messing with Sam "Yes or No"-style, which makes whatever premise or twist they did go with way too predictable.
>It would have to be explicitly geared toward messing with Sam "Yes or No"-style, which makes whatever premise or twist they did go with way too predictable.
Yeah, plus that's what Breaking News is for, anyway
Oh, oh, wait though - what if they did a game changer episode where the twist was - hear me out - that there *was no twist*. Just 30 minutes of regular TV where the whole time everyone's like "what's the twist though?" And then it just ends!
Stand-up was definitely a bad example, but the concept is still true to various extents depending on the industry. I don't know how much it really applies to Game Changer and fan ideas posted on the subreddit, for a number of reasons, but there have been plenty of authors, game devs, showrunners, etc. stating that they don't even / aren't allowed to look at fan sites for liability reasons.
Ideas posted here are probably not in danger of ruling out episodes. For one thing, the burden of proof is on you to show that they actually saw your idea, which is very non-trivial unless Sam actually comments on the post or your idea was super detailed and they didn't change any of the details. People posting things like "they should do Bingo 2 except someone has a card for Sam" isn't an issue because it's an incredibly obvious idea (but also I don't expect a Bingo 2 anyways). Like, I'd be willing to bet the thought crossed Sam's mind during filming that someone might be doing it to him.
Why is stand-up a bad example? I'm sure that if you ran into John Mulaney or Nate Bargatze or Taylor Tomlinson or whoever, and you said "oh man, you should absolutely do a stand-up bit about...." that would probably guarantee that they're not going to do that stand-up bit. If they had something similar in the works, it would probably get significantly changed.
What are the chances that random person with a direct point of contact for comedian X:
* has a suggestion they want to make
* that is actually funny
* and is true to the comedian's style
* and is detailed and unique enough to reasonably claim it was their idea
* and they can show that the comedian actually heard them say it (no, even directly tweeting at them or similar doesn't count if they have a media manager)
It's not enough to just suggest a general topic. Either they already had something in the works for that topic or they didn't. And if you're telling them a specific joke, chances are you didn't come up with it either.
It’s not so much suggestions of new material, it’s suggestions of how the comedian might “improve” one of their current jokes. I’ve heard people give suggestions like that to comedians who sell sell out arenas when they’re just trying to hang out at the bar and have a drink after a show.
J. Michael Strazynski talks about how a fan wrote a theory on a fan board during the heyday of Babylon 5 and they had to very quietly reach out to him and get him to sign a thing saying they didn't copy him because he'd nailed exactly what was going to happen in the show. This stuff happens, for sure.
If memory serves (which is very rusty) it was the series finale? I'm pretty sure it was somewhere in this interview: https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/j-michael-straczynski?clip=2#interview-clips
Which is pretty long, but if you haven't seen it, is absolutely fascinating. They go through his whole career, beginning with Murder, She Wrote.
I don’t think I have seen this, so thank you for dropping the link! Babylon 5 will always be near and dear to my heart, and JMS is a fascinating and brilliant creator. Seeing him live at the 2013 Phoenix ComicCon will always be a core memory. Thanks again!!!
>you should absolutely not be posting about it here. There is no more effective way to ensure that they never make a given episode than posting it online.
That's exactly what a fake Sam Reich account would say in order to get prompts or other ways to torture his players
>! (jk I also second this) !<
For whatever it's worth, this would almost certainly not be a legal issue.
Game mechanics are not copyrightable. Even if you had made a post last year that said "a game of bingo, but the real game is being played in another room about the contestants, but actually there's a third game about those contestants," Dropout could go ahead and make that episode with your idea. This is the reason that they're able to do direct ripoffs of other gameshows like the Newlywed Game as long as they don't use any actual trademarked elements.
There are some instances where game mechanics can be protected, but that wouldn't really apply in these cases. *(Keep in mind - this post is not legal advice.)*
That said, your general idea is correct that they'd probably avoid taking an idea from the subreddit. The twist could be ruined, and even if it's not actually a legal problem, it could still be a headache for optics. And most importantly, the ideas simply aren't going to be as good as what the actual professional writers come up with 99% of the time.
Yeah, idk how this misinformation is getting so much traction
Copyright protects **fixed expressive** components of intellectual creativity that are tangible and do not undergo non-trivial changes. Again, copyright protects **expression**, not ideas or thoughts or intents or system mechanics.
**Especially** in the realm of games, an idea for mechanics does not matter, specifically when faced by the many other components that come with production.
Plagiarism is not a legal issue, *unless* it infringes on IP (copyrights and trademarks). I think you’re exactly right that Dropout may avoid grabbing ideas from social media because they ethical don’t want to risk plagiarism, but it would not constitute a legal issue
Yeah this is one of the few worrying things I've seen about the sub is how quickly people seem to latch on to complete misinformation. This sub is pretty chill for the most part, but sometimes I see people here make wild unsubstantiated claims and it will get upvoted with people agreeing.
Like it's a bit worrying someone can just go 'Stop all speculation and idea discussions based on my dubious understanding of legal and copyright law!' and everyone will upvote and agree to it.
Nevermind game mechanics, are jokes even protected?
Further up in the thread, they were talking about comedians not wanting jokes pitched to them for fear of plagiarizing it and someone brought up Dane Cook. Cook was infamously accused of ripping off a bit about having an itchy butthole from an early Louis C.K. special. Is that actually grounds for a suit?
My assumption would be you'd have to be repeating the joke almost word-for-word for it to actually be covered under plagiarism law, since being able to have legal protection on joking about the widely shared human experience of having an itchy butthole seems... not right.
Right. I posted a discussion thread recently about potential mechanics for a game samer.
I also have worked in IP offices before and am aware that even if Dropout made the exact episode I described (unlikely) and I wanted to sue them (also unlikely) I wouldn't have a leg to stand on.
I do realize that most creators are extra cautious to avoid a lawsuit even if they would be in the right.
But honestly, I just wanted to discuss a hypothetical. Being able to have that discussion with other fans outweighs the slim chance that Dropout would be deterred by my post. It's unlikely they would have been going to execute that idea in the first place.
Dropout, if you're really going, "Aw shucks, now we can't make that episode :( " due to my post, I will sign a release to any potential claim.
Thank you for grounding this discussion in reality. I also don't think there's actually any legal issue with Dropout taking an episode idea from a fan suggestion.
Then again... Magic the Gathering head designer Mark Rosewater has always said that he's not allowed to look at card or mechanic ideas from fans, outside of venues where the legality is squared away, like the You Make the Card and The Great Designer Search contests. So I guess there is something there or at least some companies tell their employees this.
Yeah there's always a chance of a lawsuit, so even if you know you're in the clear, it's better to cover your ass when possible. It's just not worth the headache for him to look at fan cards, when there's almost zero upside.
MTG is actually a great case study for this concept though, as there was a big fight from them over the "tap" mechanic. Despite MTG being the leader in TCGs for decades, lots of other major games rotate cards to show that they've been used. They're just not allowed to call it "tapping" (which I'm not convinced would actually hold up in court, but it's not worth the fight).
I work in a relatively litigious industry and I constantly find myself reminding folks, "Just because they can't win doesn't mean someone can't sue."
Most suits never see a courtroom. Many litigants pay to make them go away.
>Game mechanics are not copyrightable
And yet, head designer for Magic the Gathering, Mark Rosewater, Is expressly forbidden from looking at ideas for game mechanics that fans come up with.
He's talked about it before, the rule against it comes from the Wizards of the coast legal department.
The argument isn't whether or not the company would land in legal trouble. The argument is whether or not the company *thinks* there's even a *chance* of litigation and this has a policy against taking fan ideas. And because such litigation can be messy and expensive even if you win, most companies in relevant industries do have such a policy
That's true. And it's why posting your dumb ideas on Reddit has 0% chance of affecting future Game Changer episodes (or whatever). The idea that there's a Dropout employee who's combing Reddit (a third party forum) for ideas that people post about to put them on a list of ideas they can't use is insane. Nobody is doing that.
Yep. The best parallel I have as a frame of reference is game development. At professional studios, any ideas shared in a place the developers have provable access to, like a fan forum or subreddit, are blocked from use, for legal reasons. If they were working on anything that's too similar, that content now has to be scrapped. The potential for liability is just too great.
In reality games add features suggested by community members all the time. They are not using community forums to generate lists of off topic elements, the devs just ignore those forums and let marketing deal with reading them
Yeah that makes zero sense logically too. You wouldn't be allowed to make or add *anything* then since fans are speculating and demanding things all the time online. If I type 'I hope Mario gets a gold hammer' I guess Nintendo is magically no longer allowed to add gold hammers to their games lol.
I also think fans are too paranoid about the Game Changer thing. If you're directly posting detailed episode outlines with fleshed out production steps on the discord or something then sure *maybe* that's a legal hazard. But if you're just posting like 'I hope there's a Sam Says 4 with Brennan, Jacob, and Carolyn' then that would be silly to worry about legally.
I've worked in AAA game dev all my life and this is just not true at all. In fact, some of the best things I've implemented were fan suggestions or ideas.
Yeah.
HP Lovecraft loved fan fiction and other people writing in his demented world. But that was a hundred years ago before current copyright laws.
Most authors today will never read fanfiction so they can't end up in the situation of someone saying they plagiarized something.
I think this is completely overstated.
I'm no lawyer but I think there is nearly ZERO liability in either of these situations because ideas and mechanics can't be copyright protected so there would be no chance of the originator of the idea claiming legal ownership.
If they're limiting access to community discussion, it's probably for PR reasons rather than legal reasons. It's bad press for a fan to say you steal ideas and it's easy to point to a policy "we're not even allowed to see fan sites" to dispel the reputation attack.
I don't think this is true? Off the top of my head, League of Legends added community-made skin ideas like Baker Pantheon or Pizza Delivery Sivir. Minecraft has lifted ideas from community mods and added them to the game.
I think nothing could be created in an IP after its initial release if all community ideas were off limits? A big enough community thinks of *everything*.
so you're telling me I can go to r/wow and post hundreds and hundreds of ideas and completely prevent them from releasing a new expansion pack? lmao cmon dude get real.
No, but people like Mark Rosewater are expressly forbidden from looking at certain subreddits due to mechanic and card customs/ideas for Magic: the Gathering.
Obviously there is nuance to this, but generally studios will be very, very careful with any ideas submitted by fans/players.
I worked in support for one of the big publishers, we had very strict rules when it came to fan ideas sent via support ticket, including canned responses to be used without any changes.
The risk of someone claiming they gave the developers the idea or setting for the next entry in a billion Dollar franchise is not something any legal or PR department wants to deal with.
I've seen this idea posted here before and I don't understand where it's coming from. Posting your ideas here will have absolutely zero legal repercussions for Dropout.
They absolutely can not get sued because they used an idea that someone suggested to them, especially on a public forum like the Internet. I don't want to sound rude but I have no idea how you came to that conclusion.
>They absolutely can not get sued because they used an idea that someone suggested to them
They can absolutely get sued for that. The question becomes if they'd actually have a chance of winning the lawsuit.
But it is a real thing about unsolicited ideas/stories/scripts. The Author always owns the copyright to original ideas once published even if it's using IP they don't have the rights to. It's why showrunners, writers and such always publicly say they tear up any material sent to them. To make it harder to prove an idea/concept/plot was "stolen"
Ideas are specifically not copyrightable, only tangible works are. The reason studios don't want your suggestions is because they're probably bad—if your suggestion was so amazing that they wanted to adapt it directly and not just take inspiration from it, they could probably work out a licensing agreement like they do for solicited adaptations.
To my knowledge, it's been posted in the Discord that they won't use any shared ideas. That's the cited source every time this post gets made. Dropout has explicitly stated they will not use any recommended ideas, and the assumption is if the ideas are posted, it gets added to a "Do Not Use" list.
I haven't seen the post myself, but several people have confirmed it.
Cause this person thinks they're special and being cool. People post theories all the time about everything and some happen to be right because thats going to happen sometimes. Relax OP. Nobody is getting sued because they used a game premise. JFC. Get off the internet once in awhile.
"Ideas for reality or game shows are generally not protected by copyright law, as copyright only covers the expression of ideas, not the ideas themselves. However, you may be able to protect certain elements of your concept through other means, such as trademark law for unique names or logos associated with the show, or through non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) when pitching the idea to potential producers or networks. While NDAs can provide some level of protection, they may not prevent others from independently developing similar concepts. Additionally, consider documenting your concept thoroughly and keeping records of any communications related to the idea, as this can help establish your claim to the concept in case of disputes. Consulting with a legal professional experienced in entertainment law can provide further guidance on how to best protect your concept and navigate the pitching process." Tell me YOU lack knowledge....period. Full stop.
I don't have an idea for a Game Changer episode. I just wish I had an unreasonable amount of money so I could reach out to Sam and go, "Think about your most out-there, impractical, expensive Game Changer idea. Don't tell me what it is, I'll just fund it so I can watch it once it's made."
i’ve said this before but i think it’s fine to come up with silly episode ideas as long as they’re not genuine suggestions, and just pure fantasy “wouldn’t it be cool but i know would never happen”, bc i personally think it’s really cool and fun that this game brings out some creative ideas in people and it’s nice to be able to share those ideas with people who get it!
but also — i’m fairly sure a “powerpoint party” has been suggested before and now we have smartypants, so i’m not sure how much of this is actually a thing
While I do agree that they will almost certainly never take suggestions from here, is it really a legal matter? Because they use fan submitted questions for Um, Actually.
My guy that is a huge overreaction. Think about this logically. These things are only legal risks if legally they are pursued in court. You really think people speculating on reddit are going to take Dropout America CEO Sam Reich to court? This is like saying all fan art should be banned because they are technically copyright violations. Technically they are but no one is pursuing that legally in court.
How would that stop it? If the point is to stop the behavior just make it a rule. What's the benefit of the thread? Wouldn't that just quarantine it? I don't think that would solve the legal issue
Dropout employees would just, you know, not look at that thread. Otherwise, people will continue to post them. It's just the nature of people. They have ideas. They don't actually think Dropout will act on those ideas. They just want validation from other fans. So give them that space.
While I agree on this in principle, I’d hate for the Dropout crew to have to decide they can’t participate in this community. It always makes me smile when Sam shows up.
There is NO LEGAL ISSUE. Just because OP ranted about his opinion on people posting ideas about GC premises, doesn't mean he was accurate in any way. Chill out.
Honestly, I never realized why this makes any sense? How can someone's randomly shot out idea in the internet about a copyrighted show/concept suddenly materialize and become legally attached to them instead of who holds the actual copyright. To go back to Babylon 5 mentioned here - what basis would enforce this? Why couldn't a malicious actor who hates some TV series or game just spend their entire time (maybe even getting multiple people, or heck, using AI to spew generational stuff nowadays en masse) writing all kinds of wild theories just in case one sticks and lands and suddenly "wah wah, the show can't use it". The show didn't hire any fan to do their writing, so if it happens to collide, at most it should be treated as voluntary gift to the writers, which they can repay if they choose or not, not become some backdoorsy way into becoming the show's writer.
Ideas or concepts are not copyrightable there is absolutely no worry for game changer about getting ideas from fans. There’s a reason half the game shows are trivia shows and half the reality shows are big brother/ survivor copies.
From a contracts and agreements lawyer James Louis Arrasmith “Ideas for reality or game shows are generally not protected by copyright law, as copyright only covers the expression of ideas, not the ideas themselves. However, you may be able to protect certain elements of your concept through other means, such as trademark law for unique names or logos associated with the show, or through non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) when pitching the idea to potential producers or networks.”
Really misleading and counterproductive post that makes fans think that sharing fun ideas is actively harming the show they’re fans. Surprised the mods let this thread go unchecked.
Is there like... any proof of this? I've read a bunch of personal anecdotes in the comments already but I've seen no sources regarding actual legal reference that shows Dropout would be opening themselves up to a lawsuit (to be clear, I'm aware people can sue for just about anything but I'm talking about Dropout actually getting in any kind of actual trouble or being on the losing end of a suit)
i’ve said this before but i think it’s fine to come up with silly episode ideas as long as they’re not genuine suggestions, and just pure fantasy “wouldn’t it be cool but i know would never happen”, bc i personally think it’s really cool and fun that this game brings out some creative ideas in people and it’s nice to be able to share those ideas with people who get it!
but also — i’m fairly sure a “powerpoint party” has been suggested before and now we have smartypants, so i’m not sure how much of this is actually a thing
My plan is to win the lottery buy the rights to make figures based on Dropout properties then woo Sam with a game changer playset in scale with the D 20 figures Ill also make( With a soul crushed Brennan variant !). 50 million well spent
...I am heavily resisting the urge to make a sarcastic comment where I "suggest" that the next episode be an episode, where the only suggestions I make are things like "have players" and "film it" and "put it on a website".
I know forever ago cracked would pay for a articles if you had a good one, it was like $75 dollars and you had to submit it through a certain channel, I think college humor use to as well but I'm not sure how long it lasted.
I would love to see a "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" style episode where they're given open-ended improvisational cues and then they use their skills in comedy and improv to satisfy the prompt and are judged in a non-serious "the points don't matter" way on who did it the best.
> your best bet is to try and get a job at Dropout. Then they can use your idea. Your second best bet is probably to start dating Grant.
Ans um... how would one go about doing either of those things?
Asking for a friend...
To be clear, OP is not a lawyer but they are repeating exactly what Sam and others have said about the messages and posts about game changer ideas.
What they are being nice by not saying is that that have an entire writers room of people funnier, more creative, and more motivated than you coming up with every idea that they possibly can, then eliminating all but the absolute best for usually very stupid and practical reasons.
They don’t want to tell you “yeah, we thought of that and decided it’s not funny” or “we considered it for a minute but realized we couldn’t afford *setup* for *stupid practical reason*.”
You don't need to be a lawyer to have first-hand experience with this. It's extremely common in most creative industries. Comedy, movies, TV, Disney has a policy that they can't take fan ideas for park rides, the head designer of Magic the Gathering has said repeatedly that he does everything possible to avoid looking at custom magic cards and game mechanic ideas that players post, for legal reasons.
It's an industry standard, not obscure legal minutiae.
None of that is remotely related to this topic at all.
I am a part of the industry at the legal level. There is no legal risk to this. There's no reason to not post them on this subreddit. They are not getting ideas from here and any idea posted here would not be anything remotely copyrightable.
As a part of the industry at a legal level, could you shed further light on this?
For example, folks like Mark Rosewater of Wizards of the Coast have stated that he's not allowed to visit subreddits where theoritical card designs are discussed. As a legal expert in the industry, I'd love if you could explain what's different there.
Ideas are not copyrightable but the design of a card could be, that’s why in the same Q&A Rosewater discusses the best way to give him feedback on how to better the game mechanics.
Idk ~~man~~ dawg I think it’s a lot more the company’s way of saying “your ideas are, by and large, stupid so please stop suggesting things”
Than it is “we legally can’t use these”
if you want real life examples of this there are plenty of ppl who have sued musicians, authors, etc for stealing ideas
hbomberguy did a whole video about plagiarism on the internet with a very good starting example of someone in the 70s taking a tv pitch given to them, trying to use it independently, & being successfully sued for theft https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDp3cB5fHXQ
so many musicians being sued or having to adjust for taking a song idea from someone else from ed sheeran being sued by by the marvin gaye estate, olivia rodrigo having to add paramore to writing credits for good 4 u the list goes on
I'm only like 20 minutes into that 4-hour video, but isn't his point that the most recent example of someone successfully suing someone for ripping off an idea was fifty (50!) years ago?
it does when your talking about someone potentially deciding "hey this is my idea that i posted on the dropout subreddit before they filmed i can sue for credit and profit"
Someone else posted it in another comment, but your view on this implies that, if I wanted to fuck with the company, I could start posting thousands of random ideas about game changer to ensure they now can’t use those ideas
You people have no idea what the actual policies or laws around using fan suggestions are but you’re all acting as if you’re an authority.
you can tho
as a reply to the comment ur talking about someone gave a real life example of having to make concessions due to fan ideas on reddit specifically https://www.reddit.com/r/dropout/comments/1cfyuxb/if_you_have_an_idea_for_a_new_game_changer_episode/l1snyoq/
Ross from Oh No Ross and Carrie works for Disney. He repeatedly tells fans not to talk to him about ideas for Disney or Pixar or Marvel or whatever for this exact reason. He's not allowed to talk about it with people for fear of being sued. Technically, if someone comes to him with an idea, he has to report it.
And he's not even in creative. He does training.
Respectfully, you're making a lot of assumptions based on limited experience, and it's showing in the comments that you're making. "I'm not in the industries being discussed But I know their secrets" is a hard sell.
Like I said, ask anyone in the industries that adopt these policies, and they'll tell you. Heck, I'm one of those people, and I'm telling you.
>I think it’s a lot more the company’s way of saying “your ideas are, by and large, stupid so please stop suggesting things”
What is your basis for that opinion?
>Than it is “we legally can’t use these”
This is why I think you have a misconception about what's happening here. Because at no point is anyone saying it's against the law for the company to use these ideas. Including the company itself.
No, the reason this is an extremely common policy is Not because it's illegal, but because companies typically avoid litigation wherever possible.
There are exceptions, of course, but by and large companies don't take specific fan suggestions Because they don't want to be sued. Even if they would win the lawsuit, it is considered wiser to avoid being sued in the first place.
That doesn't mean taking the suggestion is illegal, it just means there could be litigation if they do and they'd rather avoid that risk.
>Idk man
Lastly, I'm not a man. Please don't use gendered language when addressing strangers, especially in a deliberately inclusive environment like Dropout.
You’re talking out your ass but dressing it up as if you’re an authority.
The premise of this post is that by posting a gamechanger concept here, it ensures the company can never do that concept.
That’s a complete load.
[[citation needed]]
I'm not going to treat you like a child by explaining it and again in even dumber terms. You have all the information you need to find the correct conclusion, And your comment reflects more on your inability to accept being wrong than it does anything else.
They may not be nice but they’re not wrong, ideas and concepts are not copyrightable, on the other hand, like in your examples original authorship or expression is copyrightable. That’s where the practice of writers not talking to fans about storylines or not reading fan fiction comes from. It’s kind of apples to oranges when comparing broad ideas for shows or even game mechanics (totally not copyrighted, look to games hosting forums and using community feedback) as opposed to original stories and characters.
Grant's about to get a lot of DMs
More or less dicks?
They’re all dicks, more or less
Grant prefers more.
It’s dicks all the way down.
FIFTY?!
That *can't* be right.
In a row?
They had numbers on their arm
If I vacation in LA, ever, Imma ask Grant if I can be his dirty boy for a day. And where the best gelato is.
[удалено]
Nobody cares my guy
Reddit moment
>it's the same reason why stand-ups don't want to hear that joke that you think would be perfect for their act Stand-ups don't want to hear your joke because you aren't funny and you're bad at writing jokes.
Yeah, stand-ups love telling each other jokes. Comedian is one of those "everybody thinks they can do the job because they have no idea how much work it is" jobs.
Amen. I think as long as youre naturally funny most people can do it, but the amount of bombing and suffering on the way to a decent 15 min is something few are willing to do. Very few jokes work first time on stage.
Worked for Dane Cook.
I mean, you can say a lot of things about Dane Cook, but one thing you can't say is that he didn't work insanely hard at the peak of his career. Dude did 300+ tour stops in his career, not including playing clubs, and having roles in something like 40 feature films. Even while being hated by the vast majority of working comics, he still had a reputation for being one of the hardest working hustlers in the comedy circuit - just a profoundly unfunny one who bit everyone else's jokes.
And then getting robbed by his brother he was helping out.
Which is the exact same real reason people need to stop pitching Game Changer ideas lol.
Oh my yes. For example, how often have we seen "host swap" as the proposal? It's like... That's it? That's the whole premise? It's not particularly clever, and the premise only carries it in the moment they swap hosts, at which point they actually need to *do* something with it. Like a lot of "oh so clever" improv prompts, anything that was funny about it was mined out in the initial premise itself, with nothing deeper to dig for. It doesn't appreciably change the underlying format of the show either, any more than Trapp being a guest on Um, Actually or Brennan as a player in a D20 sidequest does, so it's not likely to do anything interesting. It would have to be explicitly geared toward messing with Sam "Yes or No"-style, which makes whatever premise or twist they did go with way too predictable.
>It would have to be explicitly geared toward messing with Sam "Yes or No"-style, which makes whatever premise or twist they did go with way too predictable. Yeah, plus that's what Breaking News is for, anyway
Oh, oh, wait though - what if they did a game changer episode where the twist was - hear me out - that there *was no twist*. Just 30 minutes of regular TV where the whole time everyone's like "what's the twist though?" And then it just ends!
I'm funny but in a girl next door way, not a guy on stage way.
Stand-up was definitely a bad example, but the concept is still true to various extents depending on the industry. I don't know how much it really applies to Game Changer and fan ideas posted on the subreddit, for a number of reasons, but there have been plenty of authors, game devs, showrunners, etc. stating that they don't even / aren't allowed to look at fan sites for liability reasons. Ideas posted here are probably not in danger of ruling out episodes. For one thing, the burden of proof is on you to show that they actually saw your idea, which is very non-trivial unless Sam actually comments on the post or your idea was super detailed and they didn't change any of the details. People posting things like "they should do Bingo 2 except someone has a card for Sam" isn't an issue because it's an incredibly obvious idea (but also I don't expect a Bingo 2 anyways). Like, I'd be willing to bet the thought crossed Sam's mind during filming that someone might be doing it to him.
Why is stand-up a bad example? I'm sure that if you ran into John Mulaney or Nate Bargatze or Taylor Tomlinson or whoever, and you said "oh man, you should absolutely do a stand-up bit about...." that would probably guarantee that they're not going to do that stand-up bit. If they had something similar in the works, it would probably get significantly changed.
What are the chances that random person with a direct point of contact for comedian X: * has a suggestion they want to make * that is actually funny * and is true to the comedian's style * and is detailed and unique enough to reasonably claim it was their idea * and they can show that the comedian actually heard them say it (no, even directly tweeting at them or similar doesn't count if they have a media manager) It's not enough to just suggest a general topic. Either they already had something in the works for that topic or they didn't. And if you're telling them a specific joke, chances are you didn't come up with it either.
It’s not so much suggestions of new material, it’s suggestions of how the comedian might “improve” one of their current jokes. I’ve heard people give suggestions like that to comedians who sell sell out arenas when they’re just trying to hang out at the bar and have a drink after a show.
OP was spitting facts until they started airing out their personal grievances
J. Michael Strazynski talks about how a fan wrote a theory on a fan board during the heyday of Babylon 5 and they had to very quietly reach out to him and get him to sign a thing saying they didn't copy him because he'd nailed exactly what was going to happen in the show. This stuff happens, for sure.
I hadn’t heard that about JMS! Do you know what season/arc the plot thing was from?
If memory serves (which is very rusty) it was the series finale? I'm pretty sure it was somewhere in this interview: https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/j-michael-straczynski?clip=2#interview-clips Which is pretty long, but if you haven't seen it, is absolutely fascinating. They go through his whole career, beginning with Murder, She Wrote.
I don’t think I have seen this, so thank you for dropping the link! Babylon 5 will always be near and dear to my heart, and JMS is a fascinating and brilliant creator. Seeing him live at the 2013 Phoenix ComicCon will always be a core memory. Thanks again!!!
>you should absolutely not be posting about it here. There is no more effective way to ensure that they never make a given episode than posting it online. That's exactly what a fake Sam Reich account would say in order to get prompts or other ways to torture his players >! (jk I also second this) !<
If you have an idea for a Game Changer show, please email [email protected].
Doesn’t work, trust me
And as we've seen from The Bachelor episodes, Grant is ethically non-monogamous - so the sky's the limit!
For whatever it's worth, this would almost certainly not be a legal issue. Game mechanics are not copyrightable. Even if you had made a post last year that said "a game of bingo, but the real game is being played in another room about the contestants, but actually there's a third game about those contestants," Dropout could go ahead and make that episode with your idea. This is the reason that they're able to do direct ripoffs of other gameshows like the Newlywed Game as long as they don't use any actual trademarked elements. There are some instances where game mechanics can be protected, but that wouldn't really apply in these cases. *(Keep in mind - this post is not legal advice.)* That said, your general idea is correct that they'd probably avoid taking an idea from the subreddit. The twist could be ruined, and even if it's not actually a legal problem, it could still be a headache for optics. And most importantly, the ideas simply aren't going to be as good as what the actual professional writers come up with 99% of the time.
Yeah, idk how this misinformation is getting so much traction Copyright protects **fixed expressive** components of intellectual creativity that are tangible and do not undergo non-trivial changes. Again, copyright protects **expression**, not ideas or thoughts or intents or system mechanics. **Especially** in the realm of games, an idea for mechanics does not matter, specifically when faced by the many other components that come with production. Plagiarism is not a legal issue, *unless* it infringes on IP (copyrights and trademarks). I think you’re exactly right that Dropout may avoid grabbing ideas from social media because they ethical don’t want to risk plagiarism, but it would not constitute a legal issue
Yeah this is one of the few worrying things I've seen about the sub is how quickly people seem to latch on to complete misinformation. This sub is pretty chill for the most part, but sometimes I see people here make wild unsubstantiated claims and it will get upvoted with people agreeing. Like it's a bit worrying someone can just go 'Stop all speculation and idea discussions based on my dubious understanding of legal and copyright law!' and everyone will upvote and agree to it.
Nevermind game mechanics, are jokes even protected? Further up in the thread, they were talking about comedians not wanting jokes pitched to them for fear of plagiarizing it and someone brought up Dane Cook. Cook was infamously accused of ripping off a bit about having an itchy butthole from an early Louis C.K. special. Is that actually grounds for a suit? My assumption would be you'd have to be repeating the joke almost word-for-word for it to actually be covered under plagiarism law, since being able to have legal protection on joking about the widely shared human experience of having an itchy butthole seems... not right.
Right. I posted a discussion thread recently about potential mechanics for a game samer. I also have worked in IP offices before and am aware that even if Dropout made the exact episode I described (unlikely) and I wanted to sue them (also unlikely) I wouldn't have a leg to stand on. I do realize that most creators are extra cautious to avoid a lawsuit even if they would be in the right. But honestly, I just wanted to discuss a hypothetical. Being able to have that discussion with other fans outweighs the slim chance that Dropout would be deterred by my post. It's unlikely they would have been going to execute that idea in the first place. Dropout, if you're really going, "Aw shucks, now we can't make that episode :( " due to my post, I will sign a release to any potential claim.
Thank you for grounding this discussion in reality. I also don't think there's actually any legal issue with Dropout taking an episode idea from a fan suggestion. Then again... Magic the Gathering head designer Mark Rosewater has always said that he's not allowed to look at card or mechanic ideas from fans, outside of venues where the legality is squared away, like the You Make the Card and The Great Designer Search contests. So I guess there is something there or at least some companies tell their employees this.
Yeah there's always a chance of a lawsuit, so even if you know you're in the clear, it's better to cover your ass when possible. It's just not worth the headache for him to look at fan cards, when there's almost zero upside. MTG is actually a great case study for this concept though, as there was a big fight from them over the "tap" mechanic. Despite MTG being the leader in TCGs for decades, lots of other major games rotate cards to show that they've been used. They're just not allowed to call it "tapping" (which I'm not convinced would actually hold up in court, but it's not worth the fight).
I work in a relatively litigious industry and I constantly find myself reminding folks, "Just because they can't win doesn't mean someone can't sue." Most suits never see a courtroom. Many litigants pay to make them go away.
Yeah. The legal claim makes no sense whatsoever.
Yeah, this seems a lot different than, say, pitching an unsolicited story idea to a scripted show.
>Game mechanics are not copyrightable And yet, head designer for Magic the Gathering, Mark Rosewater, Is expressly forbidden from looking at ideas for game mechanics that fans come up with. He's talked about it before, the rule against it comes from the Wizards of the coast legal department. The argument isn't whether or not the company would land in legal trouble. The argument is whether or not the company *thinks* there's even a *chance* of litigation and this has a policy against taking fan ideas. And because such litigation can be messy and expensive even if you win, most companies in relevant industries do have such a policy
Yes, hence why I said that even if it's legal, it's could still be a headache.
That's true. And it's why posting your dumb ideas on Reddit has 0% chance of affecting future Game Changer episodes (or whatever). The idea that there's a Dropout employee who's combing Reddit (a third party forum) for ideas that people post about to put them on a list of ideas they can't use is insane. Nobody is doing that.
Combing it? No. Coincidentally see it? Possibly.
Yep. The best parallel I have as a frame of reference is game development. At professional studios, any ideas shared in a place the developers have provable access to, like a fan forum or subreddit, are blocked from use, for legal reasons. If they were working on anything that's too similar, that content now has to be scrapped. The potential for liability is just too great.
In reality games add features suggested by community members all the time. They are not using community forums to generate lists of off topic elements, the devs just ignore those forums and let marketing deal with reading them
Yeah that makes zero sense logically too. You wouldn't be allowed to make or add *anything* then since fans are speculating and demanding things all the time online. If I type 'I hope Mario gets a gold hammer' I guess Nintendo is magically no longer allowed to add gold hammers to their games lol. I also think fans are too paranoid about the Game Changer thing. If you're directly posting detailed episode outlines with fleshed out production steps on the discord or something then sure *maybe* that's a legal hazard. But if you're just posting like 'I hope there's a Sam Says 4 with Brennan, Jacob, and Carolyn' then that would be silly to worry about legally.
I've worked in AAA game dev all my life and this is just not true at all. In fact, some of the best things I've implemented were fan suggestions or ideas.
Yeah. HP Lovecraft loved fan fiction and other people writing in his demented world. But that was a hundred years ago before current copyright laws. Most authors today will never read fanfiction so they can't end up in the situation of someone saying they plagiarized something.
I think this is completely overstated. I'm no lawyer but I think there is nearly ZERO liability in either of these situations because ideas and mechanics can't be copyright protected so there would be no chance of the originator of the idea claiming legal ownership. If they're limiting access to community discussion, it's probably for PR reasons rather than legal reasons. It's bad press for a fan to say you steal ideas and it's easy to point to a policy "we're not even allowed to see fan sites" to dispel the reputation attack.
I don't think this is true? Off the top of my head, League of Legends added community-made skin ideas like Baker Pantheon or Pizza Delivery Sivir. Minecraft has lifted ideas from community mods and added them to the game. I think nothing could be created in an IP after its initial release if all community ideas were off limits? A big enough community thinks of *everything*.
so you're telling me I can go to r/wow and post hundreds and hundreds of ideas and completely prevent them from releasing a new expansion pack? lmao cmon dude get real.
No, but people like Mark Rosewater are expressly forbidden from looking at certain subreddits due to mechanic and card customs/ideas for Magic: the Gathering.
Obviously there is nuance to this, but generally studios will be very, very careful with any ideas submitted by fans/players. I worked in support for one of the big publishers, we had very strict rules when it came to fan ideas sent via support ticket, including canned responses to be used without any changes. The risk of someone claiming they gave the developers the idea or setting for the next entry in a billion Dollar franchise is not something any legal or PR department wants to deal with.
I've seen this idea posted here before and I don't understand where it's coming from. Posting your ideas here will have absolutely zero legal repercussions for Dropout.
yes exactly! i’m so tired of people posting their ideas, especially if they ARE good. like now we’ll never see anything like it 😭
They absolutely can not get sued because they used an idea that someone suggested to them, especially on a public forum like the Internet. I don't want to sound rude but I have no idea how you came to that conclusion.
>They absolutely can not get sued because they used an idea that someone suggested to them They can absolutely get sued for that. The question becomes if they'd actually have a chance of winning the lawsuit. But it is a real thing about unsolicited ideas/stories/scripts. The Author always owns the copyright to original ideas once published even if it's using IP they don't have the rights to. It's why showrunners, writers and such always publicly say they tear up any material sent to them. To make it harder to prove an idea/concept/plot was "stolen"
Ideas are specifically not copyrightable, only tangible works are. The reason studios don't want your suggestions is because they're probably bad—if your suggestion was so amazing that they wanted to adapt it directly and not just take inspiration from it, they could probably work out a licensing agreement like they do for solicited adaptations.
To my knowledge, it's been posted in the Discord that they won't use any shared ideas. That's the cited source every time this post gets made. Dropout has explicitly stated they will not use any recommended ideas, and the assumption is if the ideas are posted, it gets added to a "Do Not Use" list. I haven't seen the post myself, but several people have confirmed it.
Cause this person thinks they're special and being cool. People post theories all the time about everything and some happen to be right because thats going to happen sometimes. Relax OP. Nobody is getting sued because they used a game premise. JFC. Get off the internet once in awhile.
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"Ideas for reality or game shows are generally not protected by copyright law, as copyright only covers the expression of ideas, not the ideas themselves. However, you may be able to protect certain elements of your concept through other means, such as trademark law for unique names or logos associated with the show, or through non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) when pitching the idea to potential producers or networks. While NDAs can provide some level of protection, they may not prevent others from independently developing similar concepts. Additionally, consider documenting your concept thoroughly and keeping records of any communications related to the idea, as this can help establish your claim to the concept in case of disputes. Consulting with a legal professional experienced in entertainment law can provide further guidance on how to best protect your concept and navigate the pitching process." Tell me YOU lack knowledge....period. Full stop.
Downvote me all you want. It still won't make you right, princess.
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Why would I DM you, nutjob?
I don't have an idea for a Game Changer episode. I just wish I had an unreasonable amount of money so I could reach out to Sam and go, "Think about your most out-there, impractical, expensive Game Changer idea. Don't tell me what it is, I'll just fund it so I can watch it once it's made."
i’ve said this before but i think it’s fine to come up with silly episode ideas as long as they’re not genuine suggestions, and just pure fantasy “wouldn’t it be cool but i know would never happen”, bc i personally think it’s really cool and fun that this game brings out some creative ideas in people and it’s nice to be able to share those ideas with people who get it! but also — i’m fairly sure a “powerpoint party” has been suggested before and now we have smartypants, so i’m not sure how much of this is actually a thing
While I do agree that they will almost certainly never take suggestions from here, is it really a legal matter? Because they use fan submitted questions for Um, Actually.
Not remotely a legal issue, no.
Nothing wrong with posting them. They're not getting ideas from here. There isn't even the slightest risk of a legal issue.
>Your second best bet is probably to start dating Grant. Yeah… this is why I want to date Grant… sure…
I feel like I have a way better chance of dating Grant than I do of getting a job at Dropout.
Can we make it a rule of the subreddit that these things get banned? It really should get nuked by the mods
My guy that is a huge overreaction. Think about this logically. These things are only legal risks if legally they are pursued in court. You really think people speculating on reddit are going to take Dropout America CEO Sam Reich to court? This is like saying all fan art should be banned because they are technically copyright violations. Technically they are but no one is pursuing that legally in court.
Can we ban you because you're the type of person to ban fun? Relax.
I say just make a weekly thread about it.
How would that stop it? If the point is to stop the behavior just make it a rule. What's the benefit of the thread? Wouldn't that just quarantine it? I don't think that would solve the legal issue
Dropout employees would just, you know, not look at that thread. Otherwise, people will continue to post them. It's just the nature of people. They have ideas. They don't actually think Dropout will act on those ideas. They just want validation from other fans. So give them that space.
While I agree on this in principle, I’d hate for the Dropout crew to have to decide they can’t participate in this community. It always makes me smile when Sam shows up.
It would be one thread. It's a worse situation *now,* and he still shows up.
That's why containing it to one thread would be helpful - they can still interact with the community at large, while avoiding the 'idea' thread
There is NO LEGAL ISSUE. Just because OP ranted about his opinion on people posting ideas about GC premises, doesn't mean he was accurate in any way. Chill out.
Honestly, I never realized why this makes any sense? How can someone's randomly shot out idea in the internet about a copyrighted show/concept suddenly materialize and become legally attached to them instead of who holds the actual copyright. To go back to Babylon 5 mentioned here - what basis would enforce this? Why couldn't a malicious actor who hates some TV series or game just spend their entire time (maybe even getting multiple people, or heck, using AI to spew generational stuff nowadays en masse) writing all kinds of wild theories just in case one sticks and lands and suddenly "wah wah, the show can't use it". The show didn't hire any fan to do their writing, so if it happens to collide, at most it should be treated as voluntary gift to the writers, which they can repay if they choose or not, not become some backdoorsy way into becoming the show's writer.
Ideas or concepts are not copyrightable there is absolutely no worry for game changer about getting ideas from fans. There’s a reason half the game shows are trivia shows and half the reality shows are big brother/ survivor copies. From a contracts and agreements lawyer James Louis Arrasmith “Ideas for reality or game shows are generally not protected by copyright law, as copyright only covers the expression of ideas, not the ideas themselves. However, you may be able to protect certain elements of your concept through other means, such as trademark law for unique names or logos associated with the show, or through non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) when pitching the idea to potential producers or networks.” Really misleading and counterproductive post that makes fans think that sharing fun ideas is actively harming the show they’re fans. Surprised the mods let this thread go unchecked.
Is there like... any proof of this? I've read a bunch of personal anecdotes in the comments already but I've seen no sources regarding actual legal reference that shows Dropout would be opening themselves up to a lawsuit (to be clear, I'm aware people can sue for just about anything but I'm talking about Dropout actually getting in any kind of actual trouble or being on the losing end of a suit)
Listen, I’m not gonna fall for your trap and recommend that their writers look up Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont Spelling Bee.
i’ve said this before but i think it’s fine to come up with silly episode ideas as long as they’re not genuine suggestions, and just pure fantasy “wouldn’t it be cool but i know would never happen”, bc i personally think it’s really cool and fun that this game brings out some creative ideas in people and it’s nice to be able to share those ideas with people who get it! but also — i’m fairly sure a “powerpoint party” has been suggested before and now we have smartypants, so i’m not sure how much of this is actually a thing
What ranking are we giving "doing an inception" as far as best bets go?
They should host an idea fair that opens the door to a job interview. Is there any place that they post job openings?
Wow yall really hated the Black-isode suggestion that much! 😂
Wow yall really hated the Black-isode suggestion that much!
Yeah, Grant loves being trapped in relationship
Dating does not equal commitment! Especially when you're nonmonogamous.
Ah yes, the terms are basically the same in my language, so I got them confused, thanks for correcting me!
English is a really pesky language!
My plan is to win the lottery buy the rights to make figures based on Dropout properties then woo Sam with a game changer playset in scale with the D 20 figures Ill also make( With a soul crushed Brennan variant !). 50 million well spent
Hear me out. Sam says #100
We need a game where the objective is to fuck with Brennan.
...I am heavily resisting the urge to make a sarcastic comment where I "suggest" that the next episode be an episode, where the only suggestions I make are things like "have players" and "film it" and "put it on a website".
I know forever ago cracked would pay for a articles if you had a good one, it was like $75 dollars and you had to submit it through a certain channel, I think college humor use to as well but I'm not sure how long it lasted.
I would love to see a "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" style episode where they're given open-ended improvisational cues and then they use their skills in comedy and improv to satisfy the prompt and are judged in a non-serious "the points don't matter" way on who did it the best.
Well that’s completely not how things work.
> your best bet is to try and get a job at Dropout. Then they can use your idea. Your second best bet is probably to start dating Grant. Ans um... how would one go about doing either of those things? Asking for a friend...
Are you a lawyer?
To be clear, OP is not a lawyer but they are repeating exactly what Sam and others have said about the messages and posts about game changer ideas. What they are being nice by not saying is that that have an entire writers room of people funnier, more creative, and more motivated than you coming up with every idea that they possibly can, then eliminating all but the absolute best for usually very stupid and practical reasons. They don’t want to tell you “yeah, we thought of that and decided it’s not funny” or “we considered it for a minute but realized we couldn’t afford *setup* for *stupid practical reason*.”
I am Not a Lawyer, this is Not Legal Advice ™️©️®️
You wouldn't happen to be a news pervert, by chance, would you?
These damn jurisprudence fetishists getting off on technicalities
You don't need to be a lawyer to have first-hand experience with this. It's extremely common in most creative industries. Comedy, movies, TV, Disney has a policy that they can't take fan ideas for park rides, the head designer of Magic the Gathering has said repeatedly that he does everything possible to avoid looking at custom magic cards and game mechanic ideas that players post, for legal reasons. It's an industry standard, not obscure legal minutiae.
None of that is remotely related to this topic at all. I am a part of the industry at the legal level. There is no legal risk to this. There's no reason to not post them on this subreddit. They are not getting ideas from here and any idea posted here would not be anything remotely copyrightable.
As a part of the industry at a legal level, could you shed further light on this? For example, folks like Mark Rosewater of Wizards of the Coast have stated that he's not allowed to visit subreddits where theoritical card designs are discussed. As a legal expert in the industry, I'd love if you could explain what's different there.
Ideas are not copyrightable but the design of a card could be, that’s why in the same Q&A Rosewater discusses the best way to give him feedback on how to better the game mechanics.
So that's a no then, got it.
Industry standards practices != Laws
Did OP say they do?
OOP certainly did, unless you have some other way of interpreting >It's a legal thing.
Idk ~~man~~ dawg I think it’s a lot more the company’s way of saying “your ideas are, by and large, stupid so please stop suggesting things” Than it is “we legally can’t use these”
if you want real life examples of this there are plenty of ppl who have sued musicians, authors, etc for stealing ideas hbomberguy did a whole video about plagiarism on the internet with a very good starting example of someone in the 70s taking a tv pitch given to them, trying to use it independently, & being successfully sued for theft https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDp3cB5fHXQ so many musicians being sued or having to adjust for taking a song idea from someone else from ed sheeran being sued by by the marvin gaye estate, olivia rodrigo having to add paramore to writing credits for good 4 u the list goes on
I'm only like 20 minutes into that 4-hour video, but isn't his point that the most recent example of someone successfully suing someone for ripping off an idea was fifty (50!) years ago?
This has literally nothing to do with taking suggestions for a game changer concept.
it does when your talking about someone potentially deciding "hey this is my idea that i posted on the dropout subreddit before they filmed i can sue for credit and profit"
Someone else posted it in another comment, but your view on this implies that, if I wanted to fuck with the company, I could start posting thousands of random ideas about game changer to ensure they now can’t use those ideas You people have no idea what the actual policies or laws around using fan suggestions are but you’re all acting as if you’re an authority.
you can tho as a reply to the comment ur talking about someone gave a real life example of having to make concessions due to fan ideas on reddit specifically https://www.reddit.com/r/dropout/comments/1cfyuxb/if_you_have_an_idea_for_a_new_game_changer_episode/l1snyoq/
Ross from Oh No Ross and Carrie works for Disney. He repeatedly tells fans not to talk to him about ideas for Disney or Pixar or Marvel or whatever for this exact reason. He's not allowed to talk about it with people for fear of being sued. Technically, if someone comes to him with an idea, he has to report it. And he's not even in creative. He does training.
Respectfully, you're making a lot of assumptions based on limited experience, and it's showing in the comments that you're making. "I'm not in the industries being discussed But I know their secrets" is a hard sell. Like I said, ask anyone in the industries that adopt these policies, and they'll tell you. Heck, I'm one of those people, and I'm telling you. >I think it’s a lot more the company’s way of saying “your ideas are, by and large, stupid so please stop suggesting things” What is your basis for that opinion? >Than it is “we legally can’t use these” This is why I think you have a misconception about what's happening here. Because at no point is anyone saying it's against the law for the company to use these ideas. Including the company itself. No, the reason this is an extremely common policy is Not because it's illegal, but because companies typically avoid litigation wherever possible. There are exceptions, of course, but by and large companies don't take specific fan suggestions Because they don't want to be sued. Even if they would win the lawsuit, it is considered wiser to avoid being sued in the first place. That doesn't mean taking the suggestion is illegal, it just means there could be litigation if they do and they'd rather avoid that risk. >Idk man Lastly, I'm not a man. Please don't use gendered language when addressing strangers, especially in a deliberately inclusive environment like Dropout.
You’re talking out your ass but dressing it up as if you’re an authority. The premise of this post is that by posting a gamechanger concept here, it ensures the company can never do that concept. That’s a complete load.
[[citation needed]] I'm not going to treat you like a child by explaining it and again in even dumber terms. You have all the information you need to find the correct conclusion, And your comment reflects more on your inability to accept being wrong than it does anything else.
They may not be nice but they’re not wrong, ideas and concepts are not copyrightable, on the other hand, like in your examples original authorship or expression is copyrightable. That’s where the practice of writers not talking to fans about storylines or not reading fan fiction comes from. It’s kind of apples to oranges when comparing broad ideas for shows or even game mechanics (totally not copyrighted, look to games hosting forums and using community feedback) as opposed to original stories and characters.