Comments on: The Worth(lessness) of NDAs http://indie-fund.com/2010/07/the-worthlessness-of-ndas/ Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:49:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Jeffy http://indie-fund.com/2010/07/the-worthlessness-of-ndas/comment-page-1/#comment-221 Jeffy Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:52:00 +0000 http://indie-fund.com/?p=96#comment-221 I agree that NDA's suck, especially for indie games.  Most games, even well-made games end up being commercial failures.  Adding a layer of secrecy doesn't protect the game from being copied, it just prevents the developers themselves from creating as much free buzz about the game as they could.   As an Indie game dev, you have zero dollars going to marketing and zero dollars going to your marketing team (since they don't exist).  An NDA just tries to gaurantee that your own devs don't give you any free marketing.  An NDA might help EA hide it's newest FIFA soccer game innovation from 2k Sports.   But there's no point in secrecy for games that don't even have an established fan base. I agree that NDA’s suck, especially for indie games.  Most games, even well-made games end up being commercial failures.  Adding a layer of secrecy doesn’t protect the game from being copied, it just prevents the developers themselves from creating as much free buzz about the game as they could.   As an Indie game dev, you have zero dollars going to marketing and zero dollars going to your marketing team (since they don’t exist).  An NDA just tries to gaurantee that your own devs don’t give you any free marketing.  An NDA might help EA hide it’s newest FIFA soccer game innovation from 2k Sports.   But there’s no point in secrecy for games that don’t even have an established fan base.

]]> By: Jz http://indie-fund.com/2010/07/the-worthlessness-of-ndas/comment-page-1/#comment-161 Jz Fri, 18 Feb 2011 19:07:58 +0000 http://indie-fund.com/?p=96#comment-161 Yeah, I have to agree with you bateleur. NDA's are a good way of protecting your IP's as well, in the case one of your ideas is new, it's good to have it notated that both parties understanding. I also agree with the ideas represented in the original writeup...but personally if I am handing off my original designs and art, there would have to be an NDA in place :) Yeah, I have to agree with you bateleur. NDA's are a good way of protecting your IP's as well, in the case one of your ideas is new, it's good to have it notated that both parties understanding. I also agree with the ideas represented in the original writeup…but personally if I am handing off my original designs and art, there would have to be an NDA in place :)

]]> By: ndchristie http://indie-fund.com/2010/07/the-worthlessness-of-ndas/comment-page-1/#comment-150 ndchristie Sun, 07 Nov 2010 00:17:18 +0000 http://indie-fund.com/?p=96#comment-150 There are two important reasons for an NDA, clarity and recordskeeping.<br><br>Clarity makes sure that no matter who you're working with, and there's a wide range of professionals and total jokers, they know exactly what is meant to be talked about and more importantly what isn't.<br><br>Recordskeeping means that you don't need lawyers or trials to enforce anything. When you have a paper someone's signed and can point out exactly what went wrong, you can fire them on clear terms. <br>More importantly, if there was a very serious transgression that damaged your group/company, you have the NDA and the material which you use to blacklist that person on all available channels, to ensure that assholes stay out of the industry and that nobody else will have to deal with that kind of behavior. It's not about getting back what you lost, it's about keeping the streets clean for everyone else. There are two important reasons for an NDA, clarity and recordskeeping.

Clarity makes sure that no matter who you're working with, and there's a wide range of professionals and total jokers, they know exactly what is meant to be talked about and more importantly what isn't.

Recordskeeping means that you don't need lawyers or trials to enforce anything. When you have a paper someone's signed and can point out exactly what went wrong, you can fire them on clear terms.
More importantly, if there was a very serious transgression that damaged your group/company, you have the NDA and the material which you use to blacklist that person on all available channels, to ensure that assholes stay out of the industry and that nobody else will have to deal with that kind of behavior. It's not about getting back what you lost, it's about keeping the streets clean for everyone else.

]]> By: Chris Hecker http://indie-fund.com/2010/07/the-worthlessness-of-ndas/comment-page-1/#comment-144 Chris Hecker Thu, 09 Sep 2010 10:09:04 +0000 http://indie-fund.com/?p=96#comment-144 The fourth point about why NDAs are stupid for indies is that you should be trying to do as much grass roots marketing and PR as you possibly can, so if your game is secret by the time you go to Indie Fund, you're already screwing up. _ALL_ of the "AAA Indie" releases in the past few years have had long term grass roots marketing campaigns, sometimes from before the games had names (cf. Battleblock Theater). Plus, if your game is well-knonwn my guess (without knowing for sure) is you'd be more likely to get money from Indie Fund because they can see that you know what you're doing in terms of marketing and PR. The fourth point about why NDAs are stupid for indies is that you should be trying to do as much grass roots marketing and PR as you possibly can, so if your game is secret by the time you go to Indie Fund, you're already screwing up. _ALL_ of the “AAA Indie” releases in the past few years have had long term grass roots marketing campaigns, sometimes from before the games had names (cf. Battleblock Theater). Plus, if your game is well-knonwn my guess (without knowing for sure) is you'd be more likely to get money from Indie Fund because they can see that you know what you're doing in terms of marketing and PR.

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