A FRIENDLY REMINDER ABOUT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

dgackey

Folks,

Just a friendly reminder for those of you who develop templates or other assets for sale on the Marketplace:

Building nearly-identical versions of an existing game in GameSalad WILL get your content flagged for a DMCA takedown and we WILL be forced to remove it.

While we love the ingenuity and speed with which our community develops templates that offer popular game mechanics, we also take intellectual property very seriously -- please consider the phrase "inspired by" and take that to heart when you're building templates or creating other game content and put your own spin on the original rather than seeking to duplicate it as closely as possible.

Remember, the GS Terms of Service require ALL user submissions to have rights and permissions for the content you submit, and repeated violations of this may result in account termination.

Thank you!

Dan

Lovejoy

About time... Now maybe just skim through the marketplace and clean it up a bit. ( I'm saying it the nicest way possible )

dgackey

@raycur09‌ to a large degree this is going to be addressed with the new marketplace rollout, because the administration tools for the current MP are... how do I say this? "challenging" at present.

dgackey

Suffice it to say, we are going to be enforcing much tougher standards on submissions in the new marketplace.

Lovejoy

@dgackey said:
raycur09‌ to a large degree this is going to be addressed with the new marketplace rollout, because the administration tools for the current MP are... how do I say this? "challenging" at present.

Got it thanks, saves me from driving down to the GoDaddy headquarters (1hour away) and handing out a DMCA complaints personally regarding certain questionable items. registars don't really like those and I'm sure you guys don't either.

Just doing my part to keep Gamesalad clean and ongoing while protecting developers like myself.

EDIT

Again thank you for making this post.

Socks

@dgackey said:
Suffice it to say, we are going to be enforcing much tougher standards on submissions in the new marketplace.

Excellent stuff.

PhilipCC

@dgackey‌ Coincidental that you post this today. After almost 3 years as a GS member only yesterday did I take the time to thoroughly check out what was in the Marketplace. I was a little shocked that the originality of some of the content was questionable. However, I was delighted by some of the great content members had created.

I was overwhelmed by the amount of content... I just kept scrolling and scrolling for over an hour and I still don't know how much more there was to see. Will the new Marketplace have a better Search capability?

Braydon_SFX

@PhilipCC said:
Will the new Marketplace have a better Search capability?

I think they have already confirmed this. Itll be so nice.

The_Gamesalad_Guru

Dare to be original!

WebWarrior

@PhilipCC said:
Will the new Marketplace have a better Search capability?

I hope so, but it's hard to say without knowing any specific complaints about the current search. "Better" is a very difficult metric to use.

gingagaming

@WebWarrior said:
I hope so, but it's hard to say without knowing any specific complaints about the current search. "Better" is a very difficult metric to use.

I have to disagree here Warrior.

How can you complain "specifically" about something that doest exist! There is no search option in the market place in Safari. Only categories.

pHghost

@gingagaming said:
I have to disagree here Warrior.

Though at the same time, intrinsically you have to agree with him as well, since if there is no search right now, "better" is a very difficult metric to use indeed.

I think what he might mean is that it might be worth specifying what you consider to be good search, so that they can implement the functions people will find useful.

jamie_c

@gingagaming, there is a search box at the top of the marketplace page.

gingagaming

@jamie_c said:
gingagaming, there is a search box at the top of the marketplace page.

Not for Safari there isnt! and given that most GS users are Mac and Safari is the default browser seems daft to me. (ill be honest Jamie, I never knew there was a search on Google Chome until you made me look!)

tenrdrmer

Nice to see there will be some restraints placed on cloner templates.

colander

@gingagaming said:
Not for Safari there isnt! and given that most GS users are Mac and Safari is the default browser seems daft to me. (ill be honest Jamie, I never knew there was a search on Google Chome until you made me look!)

Yeah it is daft there is a waring telling the user they can't buy using Safari but no mention of not being able to search. I didn't know this for a long time either and when I found out and tried Chrome the search facility was useless anyway.

Socks

...

jamie_c

@gingagaming‌, weird! I get this message in safari...

We are sorry, Safari is not supported by our payment provider.
Please use another browser (Firefox or Chrome) to complete your transaction.

And no search box indeed...

Socks

@jamie_c said:
gingagaming‌, weird! I get this message in safari...

We are sorry, Safari is not supported by our payment provider.
Please use another browser (Firefox or Chrome) to complete your transaction.

And no search box indeed...

The warning message was placed over the search box, not a great place to put it.

colander

@Socks said:
The warning message was placed over the search box, not a great place to put it.

Oh man! that's hilarious.

PhilipCC

@colander said:
Oh man! that's hilarious.

Haha, ha... your not kidding. For years I only ever used FireFox until I started using GameSalad and had problems using Application Loader. Someone in this forum kindly suggested using Safari, so I did, and the problems ceased. So I've been using Safari since. What's even funnier is that every time I went to the Marketplace, which is always when I click on the GS Creator main window background by accident, I was told the purchase system didn't support my browser, so I never went there and explored it!

@Braydon_SFX‌ You'll like this part: In comparison I know the GS Helper site inside out and I buy from there, and some of the other guys sites. So, because of this snafu on GameSalad's part, with the warning box covering the Search Box, they have missed out on almost 3 years of extra revenue from me.

Marchief

I always found it a little odd that was no search in Safari and it isn't supported by the payment provider considering most customers will be Mac users, hope you have a new payment provider for the new marketplace.

ookami007

Keep in mind, an idea cannot be copyrighted. Only the expression of an idea. And software patents are rare and under increased scrutiny after SCOTUS Alice v. CLS.

Creating a game that works exactly like an existing game IS NOT a copyright violation and any attempt to use a DMCA notice to take it down is an abuse of a DMCA since the submitter does NOT have the copyright of the newly created game - see DMCA 512(f) clause.

Things that CAN be copyrighted are NAMES, exact LEVELS, graphics and music and f/x - as well as the unique composition of those that makes the game.

Just a template does not and CANNOT violate copyright since again, an IDEA cannot be copyrighted - plenty of case law to back this up.

Reverse engineering is a perfectly and longstanding way of creating new content and items.

But... don't use the original name, that's copyright and OBVIOUSLY, do not use any copyrighted artwork or music or sound f/x. But the structure, the play, etc. are NOT copyrightable.

And when in doubt - always err on the side of caution. While you might be able to win a copyright lawsuit, you can bankrupt yourself doing it.

WebWarrior

@gingagaming said:
How can you complain "specifically" about something that doest exist! There is no search option in the market place in Safari. Only categories.

Woah! I had no idea search was disabled for Safari users. That is lame indeed! Let me check with the team and see if we can fix that sometime before the new Marketplace launches.

This is what I mean by being specific! When you say "make search better", it could mean anything from spending months tweaking the algorithms, or just fixing a bug in a certain browser.

Lovejoy

@ookami007 said:
Keep in mind, an idea cannot be copyrighted. Only the expression of an idea. And software patents are rare and under increased scrutiny after SCOTUS Alice v. CLS.

Creating a game that works exactly like an existing game IS NOT a copyright violation and any attempt to use a DMCA notice to take it down is an abuse of a DMCA since the submitter does NOT have the copyright of the newly created game - see DMCA 512(f) clause.

Things that CAN be copyrighted are NAMES, exact LEVELS, graphics and music and f/x - as well as the unique composition of those that makes the game.

Just a template does not and CANNOT violate copyright since again, an IDEA cannot be copyrighted - plenty of case law to back this up.

Reverse engineering is a perfectly and longstanding way of creating new content and items.

But... don't use the original name, that's copyright and OBVIOUSLY, do not use any copyrighted artwork or music or sound f/x. But the structure, the play, etc. are NOT copyrightable.

And when in doubt - always err on the side of caution. While you might be able to win a copyright lawsuit, you can bankrupt yourself doing it.

Im sure the GS team knows this. But clearly people have been uploading copyrighted material to the marketplace, all you have to do is have one look at it. Simply changing the color of the art doesn't not make it yours.

Having filed plenty of DMCA complaints myself ( have received a plenty myself back in my internet marketing days) I can tell you that registrars are legally required to respond, catalog and give you notice of the complaint. Get enough DMCA complaint and you can guarantee your website will be shut down.

It almost seems like your on the template makers side which most have copyrighted material in one template or the other.

I am not saying what you wrote is wrong, cause its not.

Maybe ill just get a few popular template sites shut down to prove my point.

ookami007

@raycur09 said:
Maybe ill just get a few popular template sites shut down to prove my point.

As I mentioned, graphics in a game ARE copyrighted and as you point out, just changing the color doesn't change the original copyright. They are considered AT BEST a derivative work (bad for you!) or at worse, outright infringement. Same with music and sound f/x.

Lovejoy

@ookami007 said:
As I mentioned, graphics in a game ARE copyrighted and as you point out, just changing the color doesn't change the original copyright. They are considered AT BEST a derivative work (bad for you!) or at worse, outright infringement. Same with music and sound f/x.

Im well versed in copyright law and it seems so do you. Im in no way saying you are wrong, I'm just trying to point out that theres questionable assets in the marketplace that can get this site a few slaps in the hand.

PhilipCC

@WebWarrior said:
This is what I mean by being specific! When you say "make search better", it could mean anything from spending months tweaking the algorithms, or just fixing a bug in a certain browser.

I know what you are trying to say, but how could I have been specific if I couldn't even see the Search Box because the Warning Popup hid it? So, the only "search" capability I thought existed, if you could call it that, was the Category List.

Hopscotch

Irrespective of what the law says, it is GS's marketplace, and if they choose to be more strict with regards to "derivative" work, good for them.

dgackey

@ookami007 said:
Keep in mind, an idea cannot be copyrighted. Only the expression of an idea. And software patents are rare and under increased scrutiny after SCOTUS Alice v. CLS.

Creating a game that works exactly like an existing game IS NOT a copyright violation and any attempt to use a DMCA notice to take it down is an abuse of a DMCA since the submitter does NOT have the copyright of the newly created game - see DMCA 512(f) clause.

Things that CAN be copyrighted are NAMES, exact LEVELS, graphics and music and f/x - as well as the unique composition of those that makes the game.

Just a template does not and CANNOT violate copyright since again, an IDEA cannot be copyrighted - plenty of case law to back this up.

Reverse engineering is a perfectly and longstanding way of creating new content and items.

But... don't use the original name, that's copyright and OBVIOUSLY, do not use any copyrighted artwork or music or sound f/x. But the structure, the play, etc. are NOT copyrightable.

And when in doubt - always err on the side of caution. While you might be able to win a copyright lawsuit, you can bankrupt yourself doing it.

@ookami007‌ -- we are not going to distribute legal advice here, but the point I was making is that IF we receive a DMCA takedown request and the complainant shows reasonable evidence that they have a case, we WILL comply with the request to remove the content.

Now, there is definitely a procedure for fighting a DMCA takedown request (section 512), but it puts a lot more of a burden on the person fighting the complaint.

And most importantly to us, it directs the resources of GS towards legal arguments and away from development and running the company.

It's also important to understand that though the DMCA specifically protects against copyright violations, most popular commercial games will also have trademark protection, and claiming that something is an original work has zero bearing on trademark infringement cases.

At the end of the day, we just want you all to be making awesome stuff and we would rather be furthering that cause than dealing with lawyers. And the best way to do that is to make sure you're not trying to "cash in" on someone else's work.

Socks

@dgackey said:
At the end of the day, we just want you all to be making awesome stuff and we would rather be furthering that cause than dealing with lawyers. And the best way to do that is to make sure you're not trying to "cash in" on someone else's work.

Well said !