In Kill the Plumber, you prevent the rescue of a certain princess by killing the mustachioed plumber who would be her savior. It's a script-flipping mobile game that openly and intentionally parodies the NES classic Super Mario Bros., but Apple won't let it into the iOS App Store.
In Apple's eyes, the game constitutes copyright infringement. Kill the Plumber is an original work from Dojo, with art and gameplay that is reminiscent of Super Mario Bros.. Though as one of the game's creators points out in a TouchArcade forum post (via Pocket Gamer), Apple's policy states that submitted apps can't "use protected third-party material such as trademarks, copyrights, patents or violate 3rd party terms of use."
SEE ALSO: Nintendo developers hand sketched Mario's world on graph paper
Kill the Plumber technically complies with at least that section of policy, but Dojo's appeal for an App Store listing was denied. Apple's initial rejection called out the game's visual similarity to Super Mario Bros. It was later made clear during the appeals process that everything would have to change if it's to be reconsidered, "from the appearance to the functionality," the forum post said.
The actual legality here with regards to U.S. copyright laws, and if the game's parody is protected under the murky Fair Use clause, is moot. The App Store is Apple's to manage, so if there's a perceived issue with Kill the Plumber infringing on Nintendo's creative property, that's that.
Dojo, for it's part, plans to move forward with a wider release. Kill the Plumber is already available to play as a free browser game on gaming portals Kongregate and Newgrounds. There's also an Android version coming, presumably identical to what would have been the iOS release, and a "bigger" Steam release happening on July 23.
In Apple's eyes, the game constitutes copyright infringement. Kill the Plumber is an original work from Dojo, with art and gameplay that is reminiscent of Super Mario Bros.. Though as one of the game's creators points out in a TouchArcade forum post (via Pocket Gamer), Apple's policy states that submitted apps can't "use protected third-party material such as trademarks, copyrights, patents or violate 3rd party terms of use."
SEE ALSO: Nintendo developers hand sketched Mario's world on graph paper
Kill the Plumber technically complies with at least that section of policy, but Dojo's appeal for an App Store listing was denied. Apple's initial rejection called out the game's visual similarity to Super Mario Bros. It was later made clear during the appeals process that everything would have to change if it's to be reconsidered, "from the appearance to the functionality," the forum post said.
The actual legality here with regards to U.S. copyright laws, and if the game's parody is protected under the murky Fair Use clause, is moot. The App Store is Apple's to manage, so if there's a perceived issue with Kill the Plumber infringing on Nintendo's creative property, that's that.
Dojo, for it's part, plans to move forward with a wider release. Kill the Plumber is already available to play as a free browser game on gaming portals Kongregate and Newgrounds. There's also an Android version coming, presumably identical to what would have been the iOS release, and a "bigger" Steam release happening on July 23.
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