A few questions

[paranoid marvin]

Probably this is for Darran,or perhaps anyone involved in computer mags

I was just curious to know

Do you have to pay people for interviews featuring in the mag,or do they do it for free?

Do you have to pay anyone for reprinting old adverts?

Did you have to get permission or pay Sega for featuring a picture of their mascot on the front cover?

[Shaun.Bebbington]

You don't tend to pay people for interviews as it usually works out as advertorial for the interviewee; I can't think of an example where they are being paid. Although, sometimes there are perks. For instance, meeting someone to interview them on expenses Not sure how much this happens with Retro Gamer though.

Regards,

Shaun.

[Devin]

Do you have to pay people for interviews featuring in the mag,or do they do it for free?

For free, although i've only contributed one article to RetroGamer magazine in my previous experience (mostly web based) most people involved in the video game industry are simply enthused that your interested. This is especially the case with RetroGames and offers a real nostalgia trip for them!

Do you have to pay anyone for reprinting old adverts?

I really doubt that! Although boxart comes under the same copyright it goes as free game along with adverts simply because it promotes a video game/franchise that might still be on going. For the most part companies don't seem interested in any legal pursuit although Nintendo did contest use of their video game characters on fan sites believe it or not a few years back!

Did you have to get permission or pay Sega for featuring a picture of their mascot on the front cover?

I'd imagine same as the above, it's simply good exposure for the franchise.

[CraigGrannell]

Do you have to pay people for interviews featuring in the mag,or do they do it for free?

As confirmed by others, I can't imagine Retro Gamer paying anyone for an interview. In fact, for all of the magazines I've done interviews for, the most the interviewee has ever gotten is a free copy of the magazine (and that includes the likes of Stephen Fry and Kyle Cooper).

Do you have to pay anyone for reprinting old adverts?

That's kind of an interesting one, and I'm still kind of surprised to see gamesâ„¢ doing full-page reprints. Smaller ones clearly come under "fair use", but the full-page ones, I'm not so sure. Then again, I'm sure imagine has a pack of lawyers to check such things.

Did you have to get permission or pay Sega for featuring a picture of their mascot on the front cover?

Using current IP is very different from older stuff. I suspect that Sega's approval would have been required, to confirm that the image was suitable for the "product" (i.e. Sonic). You couldn't, for example, get away with creating an illustration of Sonic that was considered derogatory to the brand and then whack that on the front cover.

[paranoid marvin]

Thanks for the replies

I can understand that companies would be more than happy to see their IPs used to advertise a new game they had released,bust wasn't so sure about using it to sell someone else's product (in this case a magazine)

I assumed that some kind of permission would be required to put such an
iconic figure on the front cover (ootherwise it could end up on a mag which didn't please Sega)

[paranoid marvin]

Also I'm glad to hear that our heroes of yesteryear (in some cases still going!) are providing their opinions of the industry for the pleasure of it

[Mayhem]

Everyone I've every spoken to has done it for free. As said, for the most part, it provides us with something to read and them with some promotional inches.

[Devin]

Some promotional inches.

I'm not sure I even want to ask what sort of Interview style you use!

[Mayhem]

The word "column" went AWOL in that post

[seanmcmanus]

>Do you have to pay people for interviews featuring in the mag,or do they do it for free?

People usually speak to magazine journalists for free, although Brian Eno negotiated a deal with Wired where he would be paid the same as the writer was. He argued that he was giving up his time and wasn't likely to see any incremental income as a result of it, his name was helping to sell the magazine, and everyone else was being paid, so why not? That's pretty rare though.

>Do you have to pay anyone for reprinting old adverts?

They're still covered by copyright, and reproducing something in its entirety is unlikely to qualify under fair use provisions, even if it is 20 years later. I think they're probably used on the basis that nobody really cares much, and most of the copyright holders see no value in protecting this IP.

>Did you have to get permission or pay Sega for featuring a picture of their mascot on the front cover?

I was working at another magazine that had to get permission from Lego to put Lego men on the cover. If Retro Gamer didn't get permission, it might have exposed itself to copyright infringement claims from Sega as well as claims of 'passing off' (ie, using Sega's name to sell unofficial product that looks like official product).

[Darran@Retro Gamer]

We actually asked Sega to re-do the original artwork, so we had full permission to use it. I wasn't keen on using any of the new CG art that's available, as that's not how many of us would have remembered him.

[SirClive]

Damn fine decision Mr Jones.

[Elgin_McQueen]

Dunno if they were just kidding but didn't RF have to redo their cover cause of Sega? Or did I just read that incorrectly?

[Darran@Retro Gamer]

Dunno if they were just kidding but didn't RF have to redo their cover cause of Sega? Or did I just read that incorrectly?

It's not for me to say, you'll have to ask Chris about that.

[Elgin_McQueen]

Yup, found a post referencing it here. http://www.retrofusion.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=151


Not sure if I should be linking to another mags site so if this is removed i'll understand why.