Palworld and the Potential Copyright Conundrum

In the vast and dynamic world of video games, where pixels and code weave intricate narratives, a curious phenomenon has emerged. Palworld, a survival game developed by Pocketpair, has taken the gaming world by storm. With eight million copies sold in a mere six days, it is widely considered a runaway success. The game features cute-looking creatures known as “Pals” that are used for various purposes such as farming, combat, or trading, along with survival game elements. However, beneath the success and allure of the game lies a possible legal controversy as fans have noted how the “Pals” closely resemble creatures from the well-known Pokémon franchise. Just as one can engage in combat, trading, and catching Pokémon with adorable creatures, you can do all of those things with “Pals” as stated above. Further, Palworld adds an additional dark twist by having players use these adorable and cutesy creatures to capture humans and sell their “valuable parts” on an in-game black market. This dark aspect of the game alarmed loyal Pokémon fans who feel it could impact their beloved videogame. Many have taken to notable gaming platforms and social media to state that the “Pals” were essentially “Pokémon with guns” and the game involved a “Pokémon black market.” However, while the undeniably adorable yet edgy “Pals” may evoke memories or thoughts of the Pokémon franchise, does this mean that they are “copycats” that involve questions of copyright infringement?

In the United States, copyright protection applies to original works of creative expression and are designed to shield them from unauthorized reproduction. Creative expression does not include ideas but, as the name suggests, applies only to the expression of those ideas. So, while you cannot stop someone from making a game about catching and battling monsters, copying specific character designs or story elements is where the line blurs. For example, Palworld has a character called Lamball and Pokémon has a character known as Wooloo with both being a cute anime variation of sheep. Both characters being sheep-like creatures in and of itself is not a concern. The biggest concern is how characters closely resemble each other in appearance. And there are a few others pictured here that show how the “Pals” closely resemble Pokémon.

What could seem like clear-cut copyright infringement to fans of the Pokémon franchise, may be harder to establish. With many gaming sources and fans of Palworld saying that it is a “parody” and should be considered “fair use” of Pokémon’s copyrights, Poketpair CEO Takuro Mizube has made it clear that Palworld is “distinct in its own right” and not explicitly labeled a “parody of Pokémon.” The “fair use” doctrine allows nonowners to use a copyrighted work without the owner’s permission if the use is for criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research. Included under criticism and comment is parodical usage.   Although the CEO admits that there may be some “art style inspiration” from Pokémon, he maintains that there are enough differences that make it more aligned with the “Ark: Survival Evolved” game by Studio Wildcard than anything the Pokémon franchise has created. Does “art style inspiration” warrant infringement though? The answer, which was originally answered in the 1994 videogame case of Street Fighter II v. Fighter’s History, is that there is no such thing as copyright ownership over “art style” as that would monopolize creative expression. In Street Fighter II, the court found no copyright infringement even though there was evidence indicating that character and special move design documents explicitly referenced materials from Capcom’s game by Data East. Given this precedence, that does not seem to have changed in the last 30 years, it is possible that Palworld could avoid liability. However, considering that Pokémon and Nintendo are known for being litigious, it was no surprise that The Pokémon Company issued a statement saying: “We intend to investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to Pokémon.” This statement may ring true as some overzealous fans of Palworld have circumvented the game and added modifications to the game that include actual Pokémon characters.

It is worth noting that there were rumors that Poketpair used generative artificial intelligence (AI) in creating the “inspired Pokémon art style” with its characters and other aspects of the game. However, Poketpair has denied those rumors and stated once again that their game and its characters are distinguishable and unique from Pokémon. It will be interesting to see how this situation turns out and given that I have been a fan of the Pokémon franchise for over 25 years and I am enjoying the competition that Palword brings, I will certainly stay tuned for how copyright law will come into play.

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