Question about TPA licensing in public places

[wizard33]

First, I searched the forum and found no threads about it; if there's one just lock this one.

So here is my question:
imagine you build a pinball cabinet around TPA, let's say using a cheap PC and the steam version of TPA.

1) Can I put this in a public place such as a bar/restaurant and let people play it ?

2) if yes, is it possible to have a coin-operated system or do I have to make it "free play" ?

 

[dave950lam]

As far as I can see this:

If you have TPA installed (not a pirated/stolen game)

If the owner of said establishment gives permission (if you're the owner then skip this step)

And you'd probably have to make it free-play. I think you may have snags if you charge. Though, you did buy a legitimate copy of the game. That is a toughie to legally decipher.

 

[Sun Vulcan]

1. LIMITED USE LICENSE.

FarSight Studios grants you the non-exclusive, non-transferable, limited right and license to install and use one copy of this Application solely and exclusively for your personal use.

3. YOU AGREE THAT YOU WILL NOT DO ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:

exploit this Application or any of its parts commercially;

http://pinballarcade.com/EULA/

 

[shutyertrap]

Yep, you absolutely cannot charge for people to play it. FarSight themselves investigated the coin-op option and realized they didn't have the license to do it.

 

[Trackball]

Yep, you absolutely cannot charge for people to play it. FarSight themselves investigated the coin-op option and realized they didn't have the license to do it.

Well, that begs the question: What if it's an arcade that charges up-front for admission, but all the machines are set to free-play?

That's how Richie Knucklez' arcade is set up, as well as The Game Preserve in Spring, Texas--the latter is 15 bucks to get in, but no coins or dollars are put into machines by players.

 

[Worf]

That's still commercial utilization and is disallowed by the license, because the FarSight licenses themselves prohibit it. (FarSight licenses the pinball tables from the manufacturers who tell FarSight that commercial use is prohibited, so it's not just that FarSight wants to limit what you do, it's that their use of the tables is limited by their licensing agreements as well).

In fact, that's why the "cabinet mode" is actually under very restricted distribution - FarSight will allow it only for personal, non-commercial use and have you sign a legal agreement to that.

Having it on free-play standing in a commercial public venue is already a grey area even if patrons don't have to pay to play it (either by entrance fee or otherwise - anyone can come in off the street and play for hours for free) - it can be considered "commercial use" even if it makes no money as it was put there to encourage people to come in as a way to solicit business.

If you want to put up a virtual pinball machine in a business, there are commercially available options that have no such commercial use restrictions.

 

[vikingerik]

Whatever license exists between Farsight and the pinball manufacturers doesn't matter to an end-user. I never signed or bought anything from Williams. Williams can't tell me how to use Farsight's software.

Farsight's own EULA does apply though, at least to the extent that any software EULA actually holds up legally, being largely untested in court.

 

[invitro]

Farsight's own EULA does apply though, at least to the extent that any software EULA actually holds up legally, being largely untested in court.

For the latter reason, I think it's silly to worry about adhering to an EULA, beyond losing access to its game. There's certainly no ethical obligation to honor an EULA.

 

[Worf]

Farsight's license, while not directly applying to the end user, still applies as Farsight would be obligated to enforce those terms. They've been pretty loose so far, but if they're forced to lock down TPA because of abuse or complaints from the licensors, we all lose. It may range from simple lockdown, license revocation (imagine trying to play a table and discovering that it's no longer playable because the licensor not only revoked the license, but forced its removal on all customers.)

It's also why the games only work in free play mode, and even though Pro mode lets you change it, there's no practical way to "insert coins". In other words, doing so breaks TPA.

And it's why cabinet mode is not coming to the public version of TPA. You can get it, but you'll have to sign legal agreements to get it (which include non-commercial, private use and enjoyment).

 

[wizard33]

I have a very accurate idea of what I want to build, so buying a pre-built virtual pinball machine is not my goal.

I guess when it's built I'll keep it at home. And that's all. No problems