Video games risk lawsuits by using the ‘Red Cross’ sign for health packs

Jan17

by Sindy Cator on January 17, 2017 at 2:16 pm

Working on their incarceration simulator Prison Architect, co-creators Mark Morris and Chris Delay ran into an unexpected legal trouble when the British Red Cross organisation emailed them with the perplexing notice that their game had breached the laws of the Geneva Conventions Act from 1957. As bizarre as it might sound, the two developers had apparently used an internationally protected sign without realizing it’s not free to use. The symbol in question? A five-pixel wide red cross displayed on ambulances inside the game. While this might seem like a silly violation, PC Gamer explains the iconic symbol doesn’t belong to the public…