The creators of Prison Architect, Introversion Software’s Mark Morris and Chris Delay ran into some unforeseen legal trouble. The British Red Cross organization sent the developers a letter indicating that the studio was breaching laws of the Geneva Conventions Act from 1957. Why you ask? Simply for using the Red Cross symbol…which apparently isn’t free to use as it is internationally protected.
Here’s an excerpt of the letter received by Morris and Delay:
If the red cross emblem or similar signs are used for other purposes, no matter how beneficial or inconsequential they may seem, the special significance of the emblem will be diminished.
The red cross emblem or similar designs are not general signs of ambulances, health care, first aid, the nursing or medical profession, or similar matters. Moreover, they are not signs to be used for commercial purposes, such as for advertising campaigns or on products.
Furthermore, PC Gamer recently clarified that the Red Cross symbol actually belongs to the International Committee of the Red Cross who is responsible to protect the logo from misuse.
Meaning that both developers had to quickly readjust and correct every instance of the Red Cross logo from the Prison Architect game to avoid costly legal squabble.
You can hear the game’s co-creators’ story in the video on the left.
Thanks to The Next Web.
