Confidentiality and Nondisclosure Agreements

Once the developer has a corporate form, and has acquired ownership rights to the content that is going into the game, it becomes appropriate and necessary to communicate with others regarding the game. But, such communications will necessitate revealing confidential information regarding the game. While the content of your game is protected by copyright, the ideas and other aspects of your project and company are not. As we will see later in the section of the kit regarding copyrights, it is only the expression of an idea that is protected by copyright, not the idea itself. So, how do you talk about the ideas behind your game without putting your entire project in jeopardy?

Confidentiality is the key to keeping your ideas and other confidential materials safe. This section deals with issues raised by the necessity of having to communicate with various other companies and individuals concerning your project. So, included in this section, will be two basic types of nondisclosure agreements [NDA].

NDAs are the primary protection used to protect your ideas when communicating with third parties about your game. This section will help you understand the process and provide you with the basic tools you need - a Unilateral Confidentiality and Nondisclosure Agree,mment and a Mutual COnfidentiality and Nondisclosure Agreement. You will also get an idea of why and when to use each of these specialized contracts.