LISA IP Guidelines

The Gist

Fan works are an important part of the LISA community, and it's important to us that creators can continue making LISA-related work without worry. If you are creating a fan work, please read the following guidelines in their entirety.

There are many types of fan work, but LISA fan games are particularly special. In summary, the stance on fan games is:
Fan games are completely permitted. Yes-- even those that use assets from the official games.

However: fan games cannot be sold or monetized in any way, cannot be claimed as part of the official LISA canon, cannot supersede an official release, and cannot be described as being part of the official LISA franchise. To this effect, you must add a disclaimer (sample at the bottom of the page) to the game itself, and to any website or venue where the game can be downloaded.

There are more details below for things like completely original fan work, fan work that uses official assets, and mods. In general, we encourage and cherish fan work of all types. Please read the guidelines to understand exactly how it all works.

Intro

These guidelines outline rules and restrictions for fan content related to the LISA franchise games (LISA: The First, LISA: The Painful, LISA: The Joyful, and LISA: Definitive Edition). The guidelines will outline what creators, artists, fans, etc. are permitted and not permitted to do, regarding LISA franchise-related fan content.

Disclaimer

These guidelines are not a copyright license and do not grant a copyright license to any LISA franchise-related fan content. Dingaling Productions and Serenity Forge reserve the right to issue a formal takedown request for any content that infringes copyright. This includes fan content and content that uses official LISA: The First, LISA: The Painful, LISA: The Joyful, and LISA: Definitive Edition assets, as well as content that includes any Intellectual Properties (IPs) that belong to Dingaling Productions or Serenity Forge. The IP Guidelines on this page are subject to changes without notice at any time.

Fan Work

"Fan Work" refers to any content that includes LISA IPs and/or references any IPs that belong to Dingaling Productions and Serenity Forge including, but not limited to, LISA: The First, LISA: The Painful, LISA: The Joyful, and LISA: Definitive Edition. “Fan Work” mediums include but are not limited to, 2D and 3D art, music, remixes, animation, writing, videos, websites, apps, and games that include characters, settings, storylines, or other references to or from the LISA franchise. Fan work does not include officially licensed work by contracted artists, designers, and other legally authorized partners of Dingaling Productions and Serenity Forge.

Physical merchandise including fan work (e.g. art prints, keychains, pins, etc.) may be sold in limited production, by independent artists at conventions and other local events. This is not a licensing agreement and physical versions of Fan work sold may not claim to have any ties or affiliations to Dingaling Productions, Serenity Forge, or the LISA IP. Fan work may not be sold online and Dingaling Productions and Serenity Forge reserve the right to take action on the distribution of non-licensed fan work. Artists may not sell edited versions of official assets in any capacity (locally or online).

Fan work may not be used to promote products or services that are not associated with LISA or its IPs. Any business or company interested in producing work including or referring to any LISA IPs should contact Serenity Forge for licensing or permission.

Artists are free to depict the world of LISA and characters, settings, and stories from the LISA IPs in their fan work however they choose. Dingaling Productions and Serenity Forge will not target fan work on the basis of its content. Although, regardless of previous statements by Dingaling Productions or Serenity Forge, “Fan Works” are not considered to be connected to the LISA IP and its stories, and are not representative of the thoughts and feelings of Dingaling Productions and Serenity Forge.

Fan Work Including Official LISA Assets

“Fan work including official LISA assets” are types of “Fan Work” that include, but are not limited to, any art, music, writing, or code that was included in any of the LISA franchise games (LISA: The First, LISA: The Painful, LISA: The Joyful, and LISA: Definitive Edition) or the LISA franchise marketing/promotional materials. Examples of fan work in this category may include, but are not limited to, games, websites, videos, music, and writing. This type of fan work also refers to edited, recreated, or altered versions of any official aforementioned LISA assets.

Any “fan work including official LISA assets”, and assets directly uploaded or hosted from the LISA franchise games, may NOT be sold under any circumstances, online or offline. No profit may be made from these fan works in any way, except for fan work that constitutes as Fair Use under the United States FAIR USE Act of 2007. For example, a gameplay review video, an academic article, or a commentary video typically qualifies as Fair Use. It is the artist's responsibility to understand Fair Use and design qualifying content.

Fan Games

"Fan Games" are types of “Fan Work” in the medium of digital video games. Examples of “Fan Games” includes, but are not limited to, standalone games that use assets from the LISA IPs, standalone games referring to the LISA IPs that contain no official LISA assets, mods of LISA franchise games (LISA: The First, LISA: The Painful, LISA: The Joyful, and LISA: Definitive Edition) that add, replace, and/or modify any code, art, music, writing, or other assets.

All “Fan Games” must be free and cannot be sold. This includes, direct and in-direct purchases, required donations, as a reward to a subscription service (e.g. patreon), or any other transaction where a “Fan Game” is distributed as part of an exchange. “Fan games” may also not include or require any payment or donation link in the game itself, or encourage the player to donate, buy merchandise, or contribute to subscription or other service from within the game. “Fan games” also may not be sold or licensed to any third party companies for any type of compensation. Websites that host “Fan Games” are allowed to include donation links, but donations may not be mandatory to access any part of the game.

Mods (defined as “Fan Games” that add, replace, and/or modify any code, art, music, writing, or other assets in an existing LISA IP game) may not be distributed as a whole, standalone game. Also, any fan game that is designed to replace games in the LISA IP or imply that they should be played before games in the LISA IP are strictly prohibited. Fan games may ONLY be created with the assumption that the player has already completed the original LISA franchise games, and is looking for fan content.

“Fan Games” must clearly state on the distributing website, and upon game launch that it is a “Fan Game” and it is unaffiliated with the official LISA franchise games. The website and game upon launch must also advise that the original game should be completed before playing, providing a link to the Serenity Forge website (serenityforge.com).

Below is a usable example of a disclaimer for your convenience:

This is a LISA fan game that is not affiliated with Dingaling Productions or Serenity Forge. It is designed to be played only after the official game has been completed. You can learn more about official LISA games here: serenityforge.com

Additional information

If you, your business, or company would like to work with on anything LISA IP-related beyond what is listed in the above guidelines please reach out to contact@serenityForge.com.

If you have any questions regarding the guidelines, would like to request a change in the guidelines, or would like to report a mistake on this page, please contact support@serenityforge.com.

Thank you for taking the time to understand the IP Guidelines. Please know, the goal of these guidelines is not to restrict artists but set guidelines to allow you to produce LISA franchise-related content without worry. Over the past years since LISA originally released, we’ve seen a ton of amazing fan content, from art, games, music, writing, etc. and we hope to continue fostering this community and cherishing the content they create.

About Serenity Forge

Based in Boulder, Colorado, video game development and publishing studio Serenity Forge prides themselves on the care and dedication they put into their work, creating meaningful games that challenge the way you think. Firm believers in the artistic, cultural, and educational power of video games, Serenity Forge aims to craft unique interactive experiences to broaden players’ horizons and expand their perspectives. Learn more at http://serenityforge.com/.

About Dingaling Productions

Hailing from Aurora, Colorado, Dingaling Games consistently strives to innovate and enhance the realm of self-expression through game design. They firmly believe in the artistic, cultural, and educational power of video games, valuing their potential to elicit emotional experiences. Dingaling Games takes pride in their exploration of new and subversive ideas, with the ultimate goal of opening people up to novel perspectives, encouraging self-reflection, and fostering internal exploration.