Copyright Takedowns

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File: 1441095288270.jpg (30.98 KB, 672x372, 56:31, dmcacover[1].jpg)

here's a subject that I'll bet many people here hate talking about

while the nature of what I have brewing isn't going to be discussed, I will say that there will be copyright for the game itself, music, and animations (as well as bonus features)

now, this will largely be a labor of love (none of the crowdfunding or pre-order bullshit that a lot of mainstream & indie games pull) & I'll do this completely off my own dime (& even sell the game relatively cheap), but what I don't want is others profiting off of my work (at least, without express permission first). to clarify, I'm not pulling a stunt like phil fish where it's just about gameplay, or any shit involving taking down criticism I don't like. Hell, if it's just the gameplay alone, or if it's a non-monetized video, I probably won't do shit. It's more the music and animations that I have a problem with

so, what I'd like to know (and considering that this is a board for game devs, I'm assuming that you'll have enough knowledge about this) is common practices for this kind of stuff. I already know that reviews are a large grey-area for this kind of shit (let's plays being even worse) & that there are several douchebags abusing the copyright system on places like youtube, but what are the standards of this kind of thing?

Let's assume that I not only made 100% of the content myself, but I also filed separate copyrights on each of them, then I find out that a reviewer put up gameplay (which I would let slide on it's own, monetized or not), samples of the music, and my animations.

the first step I would take is to download the video (just in case I need it for later as evidence of the copyright violation). am I legally obligated to give warning about a DMCA? How much warning, if needed?

advice given would definitely be appreciated greatly

and lastly, I know this would be better for one of the law-boards, but none of them seem active as this one. if you've read this far, thank you for your time and patience

Nodev 09/01/15 (Tue) 08:16:25 8eadaf No.21483

>>21482

TL;DR

if someone uses shit I made & copyrighted for a vidya in ways I don't want, what's the process for a DMCA?

Nodev 09/01/15 (Tue) 11:51:33 b97b2d No.21486

>>21482

>am I legally obligated to give warning about a DMCA? How much warning, if needed?

Not sure if you really have to, but standard procedure involves a warning letter to give the person a chance to take down the content.

Not only it's better for your wallet, since hiring a lawyer to work for the case is going to be expensive and 95% of the time it can be quickly solved with a mail, but also because directly pulling someone to court for something as silly as a DMCA without giving them time to redeem themselves is a really fucking shitty thing to do. It's probably not even going to work in your favour, as the judge will just call it a day when he does what you should have done before wasting their precious time with something that could have been solved with a small letter.

Anyway, it's easier to file DMCA takedowns against the site the videos are hosted in, since they don't even check if the DMCA is valid and just take down the videos whenever they are requested to do so.

Try >>>/biz/, too.

Also, why the fuck are you so worried about someone "stealing" your precious game? It's not finished and even if you ever manage to finish it, it will probably be not good enough to become a success. Worrying so much about what will happen after JLMG is the first symptom of being an >>>/ideaguy/

Nodev 09/01/15 (Tue) 13:34:38 6b9aee No.21489

>>21483

Learn what fair use is. If you're worried about reviewers shitting on your game then make a good game instead.

Nodev 09/01/15 (Tue) 14:11:33 f703ad No.21490

>>21482

>am I legally obligated to give warning about a DMCA?

If you let people use your stuff for long enough, your case may be invalid.

So for example you can't let people do it for years and then some day decide that you want to profit from it and begin suing people.

I'd like to know why you have a problem with someone showing animations or music that are in your game though. Making it harder to do gameplay videos will hurt you more than video makers.