Blogspot.com DCMA Notice

[mtgrares]

I just posted this about my blog.

Code: Select all

I just received a e-mail notification from Google, the owner's of blogspot.com, that one of my posts contained an illegal link. The link was obviously to MTG Forge. I presume that this blog won't be shut down but who really knows.

I'll just post updates on Mediafire.com for awhile. This isn't a great way of doing things because MTG Forge will probably be removed from mediafire.com also.

So maybe my blog will "lay low" for awhile until the heat is off by posting new version to mediafire.com (or somewhere else). I removed the links to the Google Project so the SVN wouldn't be taken down. I would love to somehow offer an olive branch of peace to Wizards of the Coast but it seems that I would have to have a ton of money in order to take them to court and force them to see it my way.

[DennisBergkamp]

Gulp

[Rob Cashwalker]

Did they reference the specific link as being the one for MTGForge? Or are you assuming that's what they're talking about?

It's high-time we rename the project, and CardForge doesn't count.

[DennisBergkamp]

Would it matter much though?
As long as we have their cards/rules/art (although downloaded separately) in our game, we're still using their IP and they would still have a case against us.

[Huggybaby]

MediaFire is safe so far. If you don't like that, you could make a torrent magnet link, in which case there would be no tracker involved, and no site in particular hosting any files whatsoever. The files are small enough that we could all seed full time.

[frwololo]

Would it matter much though?
As long as we have their cards/rules/art (although downloaded separately) in our game, we're still using their IP and they would still have a case against us.

There's a huge difference between offering the art in the package and offering a system that allows to download it, as the responsibility shifts to the user.(downloading the art of the cards through an automated system is against the T&C of the gatherer website, but it's the responsibility of the user who does it, not the responsibility of the tool, as long as it's clear that the tool is not explicitly using this as a "selling point". In other words, if forge allows you to easily change the server you download the pictures from, it cannot be accused of hammering the servers of gatherer. It's the same for P2P tools. If the p2p tools is advertised as "allowing to download illegal stuff", then they can be involved in terms of responsibility. But if a p2p tool is initially made to do legal stuff, but some people use it for piracy, then the creator of tool is not responsible)

Cards and Rules of MTG are protected by a patent valid only in the USA, in any other country you're pretty much allowed to create a game with the same rules as long as you don't use copyrighted content (art/mana icons/ tap symbols/some names such as "Zendikar").

They also have a design patent on the look and feel of the cards. Basically even if you don't include the "official" art, WotC have protections on the look and feel of their card, and pretty much anything that is generated through MSE cannot be legally distributed. However you have to know that design patents are very restrictive, and changing the look and feel of the cards slightly will make it void. For example moving the P/T to the left of the card, or the top, or stuff like that, renders their patent useless.

I'm talking only from a copyright/patent point of view. By creating a game that reproduces all rules of MTG, you run the risk of being sued for counterfeit, but I believe it is much more difficult for them to go through this and there is no history of wizard doing any kind of legal threat based on "creating a card game that looks an awful lot like theirs"

You can't protect the rules of a game through a patent outside of the USA, as it is considered as an "algorithm", or an "idea", which cannot be patented (except in the US). The rules of a game are still protected by "author's right" in Europe, but WotC's lawyers don't want to go to court, they just want to issue DMCA notices, which they can only do if you break their patents or copyrights.

An other thing, when I got my C&D from WotC, it was obvious that they hadn't run the game even once... never forget that they play a poker game with you. It's cheaper for them to shut you down with a DCMA notice rather than actually making a case against you. I'm not saying you should fight back (you would lose simply because they have more money - yay american justice!), but they might also have sent this DMCA notice while being wrong about it. For example they had youtube delete one of my videos which didn't contain any copyrighted content, just because it contained the word "Wagic" in it, and they didn't bother sorting between the videos that infringed their copyright and those that didn't.

Note how unfair it is: anyone can post videos of MWS with real art, but we get shut down. The reason is because EVERYONE is posting videos of MWS, so they don't have the time/money to close all these videos.

PS: forge, I posted an article on my blog about the notice, I hope it make people think/talk about it:
http://wololo.net/wagic/2009/11/21/wiza ... ans-again/

[DennisBergkamp]

Wow, you obviously know more about this than I do
Still makes me wonder though what exactly the infringing link was, since rares didn't really change anything recently (the MTGForge download link has been on there for ages).

[frwololo]

Yep, Forge hasn't been very clear about what exactly the infringing content was.
Forge, I said it already, but you often posted links to ebooks, or card pictures, and stuff like that... couldn't it be the infringing content?

If it's really the game, since the archive contains lots of stuff, isn't there a way for you to precisely know what is infringing ?

[Rob Cashwalker]

The other point is that it's a BLOG... Blogspot is Google-based, therefore US-based. If the blog was hosted privately, or on a foreign server, then there's more protection of free-speech to blog about whatever it is one wants to blog about.

I don't get blogging... it was hard enough to stay interested in facebook.

I also don't like adjectives being turned into verbs... google and friend come to mind.

Oh, crap, this is starting to sound a lot like a blog....

[zerker2000]

I also don't like adjectives being turned into verbs... google and friend come to mind.

Adjectives? For me it would be nouns, with photoshop being the most annoying one.

[mtgrares]

Did they reference the specific link as being the one for MTGForge? Or are you assuming that's what they're talking about?

It's high-time we rename the project, and CardForge doesn't count.

They seemed to just reference the one link that explained "What is MTG Forge?" I wasn't sure was this the start of something big but I guess not. I added a link that says "Message to Wizards" which calls for peace and just having a regular chat on the phone. The link is here.

I've removed the "MTG" from "MTG Forge" from the links on my blog and my posts. Using "mtg" seems to attract Wizard's lawyers in the first place. I'm not sure what to call the project, just "Forge"? Feel free to post any suggestions.

[mtgrares]

Would it matter much though?
As long as we have their cards/rules/art (although downloaded separately) in our game, we're still using their IP and they would still have a case against us.

Yeah but lawyers don't seem to be able to use zip files. (really)

I've search lexis-nexus a (pay) legal website that lists all court cases and Wizards (or hasbro) has never sued someone for making a computer program, only people who illegally counterfeit cards.

[mtgrares]

Truthfully Forge or my blog could be shutdown at any moment since it is a little illegal at best. The only thing we can really do is to have a private Google project that no one knows about, so you guys can continue to use the SVN source code control.

Even if Forge is really NOT illegal, Wizards can still spit out DCMA notices like watermelon seeds. (Yes I've play Super Mario World 2: Yoshi Island recently which has watermelon seeds, ha.)

[mtgrares]

This is the message I received. I should have posted this earlier. I tried searching http://www.chillingeffects.org but I could never find the claim.


From:support@blogger.com
To: mtgrares yahoo
Cc:blogger-dmca-notification@google.com

Blogger has been notified, according to the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), that certain content in your blog is alleged to infringe upon the copyrights of others. As a result, we have reset the post(s) to "draft" status. (If we did not do so, we would be subject to a claim of copyright infringement, regardless of its merits. The URL(s) of the allegedly infringing post(s) may be found at the end of this message.) This means your post - and any images, links or other content - is not gone. You may edit the post to remove the offending content and republish, at which point the post in question will be visible to your readers again.

A bit of background: the DMCA is a United States copyright law that provides guidelines for online service provider liability in case of copyright infringement. If you believe you have the rights to post the content at issue here, you can file a counter-claim. For more information on our DMCA policy, including how to file a counter-claim, please see http://www.google.com/dmca.html.

The notice that we received, with any personally identifying information removed, will be posted online by a service called Chilling Effects at http://www.chillingeffects.org. We do this in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). You can search for the DMCA notice associated with the removal of your content by going to the Chilling Effects search page at http://www.chillingeffects.org/search.cgi, and entering in the URL of the blog post that was removed. If it is brought to our attention that you have republished the post without removing the content/link in question, then we will delete your post and count it as a violation on your account. Repeated violations to our Terms of Service may result in further remedial action taken against your Blogger account including deleting your blog and/or terminating your account. If you have legal questions about this notification, you should retain your own legal counsel.

Sincerely,

The Blogger Team

Affected URLs:

http://mtgrares.blogspot.com/2009/06/wh ... forge.html

[mtgrares]

I probably need to move by blog to outside of the USA because DCMA notices can get very annoying. Does anyone know of a good site?