Definitive List of Taboo Words

[ashantewarrier]

What a mess!

Hopefully soon, we can get some clarity from the devs on what is allowed and what is not.

Right now, we're just shooting in the dark.

[BaseballGOAT]

Originally Posted by ashantewarrier

What a mess!

Hopefully soon, we can get some clarity from the devs on what is allowed and what is not.

Right now, we're just shooting in the dark.

+1 it's done and over now, just wanna know what we can do legally in the game now and not get it nuked

[BIG17EASY]

Originally Posted by BaseballGOAT

In the end, this is aboit trademarks, you can't trade mark individual names. You can't trademark a country. So if I create a fictional league called Japan Championship baseball, and my star player is Hidecki Nomo. I've broken no trademark law. So the other side of this legal situation can't say anything even tho there may be triggers in those words that cause my game to be scrubbed. So as paying customers, we should have some right to know what will cause our hard work making leagues like that to be for naught

This isn't exactly correct. Even if you name things differently, if it resembles an entity or an individual, it can still be prohibited. The best example is the Ed O'Bannon case against EA Sports and the NCAA about 20 years ago that ultimately led to the Name, Image, Likeness legislation that now allows college athletes to get paid for endorsements and services. The old college hoops game from EA Sports didn't include real player names, but the players resembled the real life athletes in both looks and details (position, height, etc.). O'Bannon sued on behalf of college athletes, making the claim that EA Sports was making money off the players with no compensation to the players. I don't remember if it was settled out of court or a decision was rendered in court, but the outcome favored O'Bannon and college athletes.

I am not a lawyer or educated in any way against these things, but my gut tells me that if you change the name of your league and the player names, but all other biographical data and historical stats match their real life counterparts, that would be protected either by the rights Konami owns and/or the rights the league itself and its players association own.

[OutS|der]

Hopefully by the time 24 is announced they will be able to release a statement with more details on what is and isn’t allowed.
I’m assuming the lack of details means they are still sorting it all out. I have faith Markus will update us when he can

[billyray1984]

Originally Posted by BIG17EASY

This isn't exactly correct. Even if you name things differently, if it resembles an entity or an individual, it can still be prohibited. The best example is the Ed O'Bannon case against EA Sports and the NCAA about 20 years ago that ultimately led to the Name, Image, Likeness legislation that now allows college athletes to get paid for endorsements and services. The old college hoops game from EA Sports didn't include real player names, but the players resembled the real life athletes in both looks and details (position, height, etc.). O'Bannon sued on behalf of college athletes, making the claim that EA Sports was making money off the players with no compensation to the players. I don't remember if it was settled out of court or a decision was rendered in court, but the outcome favored O'Bannon and college athletes.

I am not a lawyer or educated in any way against these things, but my gut tells me that if you change the name of your league and the player names, but all other biographical data and historical stats match their real life counterparts, that would be protected either by the rights Konami owns and/or the rights the league itself and its players association own.

It is also important to mention that the threat of litigation is very often enough. Not all legal battles are worth fighting over, even with the law on your side, which is something we don't know since we are in the dark on the specifics and none of us are experts on Japanese IP law.

[Pelican]

Yeah, agree with the last several posts. As a lawyer (thought not a patent/trademark guy), I can sympathize that - with litigation threatened - Markus and others at OOTP have been admonished by their legal team to say nothing, yet. As a trial lawyer, I have seen mediations and negotiations break down over leaks of information to the public or the media.

Of course this totally sucks. We the consumers of the product can’t get an explanation, or help, or some idea WTF is going on. I have never dealt with the affected leagues or players; but I have put many painstaking hours into sims, and can appreciate the anger and frustration of losing all of that.

The good news, if any, is that these things tend to reach an end, through resolution or trial, one way or the other. The bad news is that it can take years. I am confident that OOTP will issue a statement, and ideally be able to respond to questions, at some point in the future. I’m sure they feel the pressure to respond, and to tell their side. But they don’t want to prejudice their position in negotiations, until things are resolved. It’s just impossible to determine when that might be.

As a litigator, I would also note that the harm done to OOTP players as a result of this could potentially by cited in support of a damage claim by OOTP, for the impact on its product and its customers, from overreach by the other side. The frustration in thee posts could be the basis for a counterclaim against the entity responsible for it.

[BaseballGOAT]

Originally Posted by Pelican

Yeah, agree with the last several posts. As a lawyer (thought not a patent/trademark guy), I can sympathize that - with litigation threatened - Markus and others at OOTP have been admonished by their legal team to say nothing, yet. As a trial lawyer, I have seen mediations and negotiations break down over leaks of information to the public or the media.

Of course this totally sucks. We the consumers of the product can’t get an explanation, or help, or some idea WTF is going on. I have never dealt with the affected leagues or players; but I have put many painstaking hours into sims, and can appreciate the anger and frustration of losing all of that.

The good news, if any, is that these things tend to reach an end, through resolution or trial, one way or the other. The bad news is that it can take years. I am confident that OOTP will issue a statement, and ideally be able to respond to questions, at some point in the future. I’m sure they feel the pressure to respond, and to tell their side. But they don’t want to prejudice their position in negotiations, until things are resolved. It’s just impossible to determine when that might be.

As a litigator, I would also note that the harm done to OOTP players as a result of this could potentially by cited in support of a damage claim by OOTP, for the impact on its product and its customers, from overreach by the other side. The frustration in thee posts could be the basis for a counterclaim against the entity responsible for it.

.so you're a lawyer and don't see any issues with what Ootp has done? How did you pass the bar?

[RaUni]

Originally Posted by Pelican

Yeah, agree with the last several posts. As a lawyer (thought not a patent/trademark guy), I can sympathize that - with litigation threatened - Markus and others at OOTP have been admonished by their legal team to say nothing, yet. As a trial lawyer, I have seen mediations and negotiations break down over leaks of information to the public or the media.

Of course this totally sucks. We the consumers of the product can’t get an explanation, or help, or some idea WTF is going on. I have never dealt with the affected leagues or players; but I have put many painstaking hours into sims, and can appreciate the anger and frustration of losing all of that.

The good news, if any, is that these things tend to reach an end, through resolution or trial, one way or the other. The bad news is that it can take years. I am confident that OOTP will issue a statement, and ideally be able to respond to questions, at some point in the future. I’m sure they feel the pressure to respond, and to tell their side. But they don’t want to prejudice their position in negotiations, until things are resolved. It’s just impossible to determine when that might be.

As a litigator, I would also note that the harm done to OOTP players as a result of this could potentially by cited in support of a damage claim by OOTP, for the impact on its product and its customers, from overreach by the other side. The frustration in thee posts could be the basis for a counterclaim against the entity responsible for it.

As a person who has watched lawyer stuff on TV and who's girlfriend is really hot but she goes to another school, you always shut up and get silent/destroy evidence so anything cant be used against you when you've done something wrong.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

[Pelican]

Originally Posted by BaseballGOAT

.so you're a lawyer and don't see any issues with what Ootp has done? How did you pass the bar?

My point is, with the news blackout, we don’t - any of us - know exactly what is going on. I am strictly basing my comments on what I know from business lawyers who deal with bare knuckles licensing negotiations every day. Apparently the competition is fierce. Big bucks. In that environment, and without more information, it strikes me as simplistic to create good guys and bad guys. I have said in other posts that I totally sympathize with those who used this league and these players and suddenly lost many hours of work (and play). I would not be so quick to assume that OOTP is at fault for this. I honestly don’t know.

As for passing the Bar, I am still asking myself, some 43 years later, how that happened. The overall pass rate was only 52%. There were not any intellectual property questions!

[RaUni]

Originally Posted by Pelican

My point is, with the news blackout, we don’t - any of us - know exactly what is going on. I am strictly basing my comments on what I know from business lawyers who deal with bare knuckles licensing negotiations every day. Apparently the competition is fierce. Big bucks. In that environment, and without more information, it strikes me as simplistic to create good guys and bad guys. I have said in other posts that I totally sympathize with those who used this league and these players and suddenly lost many hours of work (and play). I would not be so quick to assume that OOTP is at fault for this. I honestly don’t know.



As for passing the Bar, I am still asking myself, some 43 years later, how that happened. The overall pass rate was only 52%. There were not any intellectual property questions!

I get that but also you keep making statements along the lines as you can't see them as the bad guys ... So you're definitely pushing these simplistic things one direction at times. Wanna be neutral, be neutral.

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[OutS|der]

Originally Posted by RaUni

I get that but also you keep making statements along the lines as you can't see them as the bad guys ... So you're definitely pushing these simplistic things one direction at times. Wanna be neutral, be neutral.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

The only "bad" was the scrambling of players since as it appears it's only league name and team names that seem to be at issue. That part seems to be an overreaction on their part which caused my overaction. I've come to my senses now and it's not as dooms day as it first appeared.

[Jordan]

Yeah I think it only fair for people who want to actively support by not doing anything conceivable damaging to know what is allowed vs whats not as far as the taboo words.

Suppose this is reason #4,891,636 why people dont like lawyers

[RaUni]

Originally Posted by OutS|der

The only "bad" was the scrambling of players since as it appears it's only league name and team names that seem to be at issue. That part seems to be an overreaction on their part which caused my overaction. I've come to my senses now and it's not as dooms day as it first appeared.

Everything in my league was scrambled. Including MLB and KBO and a custom creations

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[Bobfather]

Originally Posted by FleetWalker

Users deserve a definitive list of forbidden league and team names so that custom league makers do not inadvertently trip the fail safes.

The consequences of having hundreds of hours of work randomly scrambled are obvious. It is completely unfair and disrespectful to implement such a draconian policy and then leave users to fumble in the dark over what may or may not be used in the game. This is entirely consistent with the purpose of this whole mess; those of us who are trying to avoid causing issues, need to know what is allowed. You can't forbid the use of certain words, not say what those words are, and the say gotcha and wreck the game when they are used. That is wh
It is not true that "we know" what is allowed.

For instance, I have heard (and do not want to find out the hard way) that any use of the formal name of Japan in a league name will cause the game to scramble the league. There is absolutely no reason to expect that behaviour if the word is not being used as part of the actual trademarked league name. Law school was a few years ago now, but I'm pretty sure no one can trademark the name of a country. I have multiple leagues that are named Baseball CountyName with both Baseball and the country's name written as it's citizen write those words for local flavor. Am I allowed to do this or not?

What about the Taiyo Whales? That name is no longer used, but the mark may be owned by the team they later merged into; and so it may or may not be part of the license that caused this issue. Can we use that name? What about Taiyo Kujira—that's never been a team name in English, but Kujira is the Japanese word for Whale and probably is/was trademarked in Japan. Can use that team name. We need guidance!

We also need guarantees that the program itself has been fixed so that it will never generate any fictional names that will trip the fail safes. It's easy to imagine the name generator stumbling on a forbidden name and wrecking a whole league. This is particularly true for player names, but I have no idea how far ranging the restrictions are because we have been given no guidance.

I am angry and upset, but I am also trying to create leagues that are consistent with the policies implemented by OOTP AND still have baseball being played worldwide. That is not an unreasonable ask. As of right now I can't even be a good partner for OOTP, because I do not know what I am allowed to do.

Here is the list of words from my sources;
The A word
The B word
The C word
The D word
The E word
The F word
The G word
The H word
The I word
The J word
The K word
The L word
The M word
The N word
The O word
The P word
The Q Word
The R word
The S word
The T word
The U word
The V word
The w word
The Y word
The Z word

That is the complete list of banned words

[Pelican]

Originally Posted by RaUni

I get that but also you keep making statements along the lines as you can't see them as the bad guys ... So you're definitely pushing these simplistic things one direction at times. Wanna be neutral, be neutral.

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What part of “I honestly don’t know” is not clear to you?

Neutral to me is not jumping to conclusions until the facts are available.

The jury is still out, as we say.

[pauwoo]

Originally Posted by BaseballGOAT

How did you pass the bar?

Originally Posted by Pelican

The overall pass rate was only 52%

How did he pass the bar... let's see... by working hard, studying his tail off, by stepping up to the plate and taking a big swing and getting enough of the ball to get on base, by being better than some, harder than most... it takes real gall & severly misplaced confidence for a non-lawyer to call that into question.

I'm not convinced that the lot of you could pass a real estate exam much less the bar.

Also, @Pelican, I have a legal question about these kids that keep walking across my lawn...

[OutS|der]

Originally Posted by RaUni

Everything in my league was scrambled. Including MLB and KBO and a custom creations

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I've loaded multiple leagues and never had that happen. I know exactly what will and what won't set off the scrambler and not a single time was any other league touched. I've tested it every which way you can.

So not sure what happened with your league.

[RaUni]

Originally Posted by OutS|der

I've loaded multiple leagues and never had that happen. I know exactly what will and what won't set off the scrambler and not a single time was any other league touched. I've tested it every which way you can.



So not sure what happened with your league.

My league teams were all in a custom world league. I assume they look if any team in that league matches a name they scramble it all. Not spending any time to test that out because it shouldn't be a thing anyways.

You can try if ya want. Other than that the *** league was loaded upon league creation but was deleted day 1 after customized league was created. So *** was not a league at the time. All MLB, KBO and customized teams (a bit over 200) scrambled. There were about 20 Japanese teams with 6-10ish being named after some of the *** teams the rest custom. All scrambled.

So it was an all or nothing scenario I guess? Couldn't be hassled to take their time to randomize just the stuff at hand.

I'd honestly just post the file to let people see how it goes but GM name would dox me, so not worth it.

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[RaUni]

Quick test putting a team name that scrambles in a MLB league and see what that does. Not a separate league.

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[oldfatbaldguy]

Originally Posted by koohead

I would imagine this falls under the "ways to work around the patch" topic so probably not going to get much direction on what to avoid.

It doesn't, really. At least not entirely. If you're inventing fictional teams, you might stumble across something copyrighted and not know it. I once managed a fictional OOTP club called the Memphis Hound Dogs. That was generated by the league creation wizard, or whatever OOTP calls that function. Cute Elvis homage, right? But it's not original. There was a group in the 1990s that tried to get an NFL expansion team with that name, and Elvis Presley Enterprises was one of their backers. So maybe nobody owns that copyright anymore, and maybe somebody does.