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My 2.5 year old laptop can write Space Invaders in JavaScript now (GLM-4.5 Air)

(simonwillison.net)
577 points simonw | 1 comments | 29 Jul 25 13:45 UTC | HN request time: 0.202s | source
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bradly ◴[29 Jul 25 14:09 UTC] No.44723592[source]▶
I appreciate you sharing both the chat log and the full source code. I would be interested to see a followup post on how adding moderately-sized features like High Score go.

Also, IANAL but Space Invaders is owned IP. I have no idea the legality of a blog post describing steps to create and releasing an existing game, but I've seen headlines on HN of engs in trouble for things I would not expect to be problematic. Maybe Space Invaders is in q-tip/band-aid territory at this point?, but if this was Zelda instead of Space Invaders, I could see things being more dicey.

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sowbug ◴[29 Jul 25 15:22 UTC] No.44724526[source]▶
It doesn't infringe any kind of intellectual property.

This isn't copyright infringement; it isn't based on the original assembly code or artwork. A game concept can't be copyrighted. Even if one of SI's game mechanics were patented, it would have long expired. Trade secret doesn't apply in this situation.

That leaves trademark. No reasonable person would be confused whether Simon is trying to pass this creation off as a genuine Space Invaders product.

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1. 9rx ◴[29 Jul 25 17:43 UTC] No.44726251[source]▶
> No reasonable person would be confused whether Simon is trying to pass this creation off as a genuine Space Invaders product.

There may be no reasonable confusion, but trademark holders also have to protect against dilution of their brand, if they want to retain their trademark. With use like this, people might come to think of Space Invaders as a generic term for all games of this type, not the brand of a specific game.

(there is a strong case to be made that they already do, granted)