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Laufman
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« on: January 14, 2011, 11:19:24 AM » |
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Definitely a victory for the little guy! It seems the Copycat game was pulled last night after the story broke on reddit. Thank you to everyone that gave there help and advice. We really appreciate the support!
GAME DEVS BEWARE!! Destructoid.com broke the news of our story this morning. http://www.destructoid.com/another-iphone-game-rip-off-the-blocks-cometh-191647.phtml We were currently in the midst of porting one of our flash game titles "The Blocks Cometh" to the iPhone when we noticed that OUR game was already featured in NEW & NOTEWORTHY section of the app store!! How could this be when weren't even finished porting it yet?? Well after closer inspection we realized that we had indeed been ripped off. They not only stole the NAME of our game but ripped the art assets and the concept from us. The only changes made were to the main character which turns out was stolen from another Flash game called "The League of Evil". The original game can be found here on our website. http://www.halfbot.com/?page_id=279 We're just trying to spread the word because this just isn't right and had we not noticed it last night we may never have caught it. This stuff is probably happening to a lot more people then just us, so other devs out there should be aware.
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« Last Edit: January 22, 2011, 07:41:08 AM by Laufman »
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moi
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« Reply #1 on: January 14, 2011, 11:47:33 AM » |
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Yeah this shit happens all the time unfortunately
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subsystems subsystems subsystems
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Hangedman
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« Reply #2 on: January 14, 2011, 11:48:38 AM » |
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Just sling your URL at Apple. There's no gray area here, it's a blatant rip, they'll most likely take it down PDQ.
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Aquin
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« Reply #3 on: January 14, 2011, 11:58:09 AM » |
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Seems like this is happening every week. I can't believe the audacity of trying to rip someone off *over the internet*. What? You think you'll get away with it? Of course, they usually do, since there seems to be no legal recourse. What a fucking shame.  |
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I'd write a devlog about my current game, but I'm too busy making it.
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ink.inc
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« Reply #4 on: January 14, 2011, 12:12:42 PM » |
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This is a fucking shame.
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Nugsy
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« Reply #5 on: January 14, 2011, 12:30:16 PM » |
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Tell Apple? It's such an obvious rip that they'll probably take it down.
If Apple don't respond, surely you can sue these guys on copyright grounds?
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kavs
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« Reply #6 on: January 14, 2011, 12:30:55 PM » |
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Jeeze, that's... wow. I've never seen something so blatant.
Really hope this works out for you guys. I can't believe people can get away with this.
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dongle
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« Reply #7 on: January 14, 2011, 12:46:33 PM » |
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This totally sucks – sorry to hear about it. Plus side is that Apple will probably have your back. They've responded rapidly to IP violations for some really small bands on iTunes.
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Laufman
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« Reply #8 on: January 14, 2011, 01:38:58 PM » |
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Thanks everyone for the kind words! We did contact apple right when we discovered the game late last night and we're hoping to hear from them soon.
The web has been real supportive in getting the word out. This isn't just a crappy situation for us but if anything i want to bring this to the attention of other devs. It's scary to think that someone can just rip you off like that and if you don't see it, who would know?
Worst part for us is the game is doing REALLY well in the app store. Almost top 100 in games. Can we ever get those sales back? Probably not. Legal action won't help us much either because it seems the EdisonGame company is based out of China and no one can find any legit contact info from them. We're hoping apple pulls all their games and bans them from the app store.
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Melly
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« Reply #9 on: January 14, 2011, 01:52:06 PM » |
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Stuff like this needs to start being punished. They're getting ultra cocky because they know indie devs aren't going to spend the money on court expenses to sue them. Even if they're taken down, they still keep the money they earned in the meantime for practically no effort, which for them is a profit.
Perhaps a group of indies can start an organization with the intent of finding and punishing these people? Pool resources to actually fight back and show them they can't get away with this bullshit.
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J-Snake
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« Reply #10 on: January 14, 2011, 02:10:04 PM » |
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Thank you so much for letting us know despite you are in a shitty situation. I feel very sorry for you:( It probably teaches me a lesson. Probably shall bring my game out when it is finished on all platforms? How long was your game out before they copied it?
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moshboy
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« Reply #11 on: January 14, 2011, 02:14:28 PM » |
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This is happening too much and very sad. I have no doubt that there are probably other cases that will go unnoticed, unless the developer of said game happens to look in the app store.
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Aquin
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« Reply #12 on: January 14, 2011, 02:17:58 PM » |
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These guys are pretty good at covering their tracks too. They have several aliases, fraudulent contact information with everyone (including their previous hosts), and their websites have a tendency to vanish.
It seems they go through this cycle every time they rip off another game. I'll let you know if I find any concrete contact information.
EDIT: Geebus, does Apple have ANYONE on staff that checks into this kinda thing? Now the developer is pointing to yzhapp.com (he just changed it again), which has never been purchased according to the who.is query on the name.
Ridiculous. You'd think Apple would insist on relevant contact information AND make formal contact with any seller on the App store. This is just crazy.
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« Last Edit: January 14, 2011, 02:28:10 PM by Aquin »
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I'd write a devlog about my current game, but I'm too busy making it.
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dongle
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« Reply #13 on: January 14, 2011, 02:19:00 PM » |
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Worst part for us is the game is doing REALLY well in the app store. Almost top 100 in games. Can we ever get those sales back? Probably not. Legal action won't help us much either because it seems the EdisonGame company is based out of China and no one can find any legit contact info from them. We're hoping apple pulls all their games and bans them from the app store.
Well, it's sold about 1k-2k copies. Although, uh, I certainly wouldn't mind an extra grand, 2 thousand users out of a potential user pool of millions isn't worth getting indigestion. You're definitely nipping this bud. Good luck on the sleuthing, and on your official port. |
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Conker534
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« Reply #14 on: January 14, 2011, 02:37:49 PM » |
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This makes me want to cry. Really. Why can't people be decent, stealing in general needs to stop. I don't even pirate stuff. I'm sorry about what happened to you. This is horrible.  |
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joshg
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« Reply #15 on: January 14, 2011, 02:44:47 PM » |
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The legal recourse here is to sue them, and by using your game's name and art assets, you can sue them for both copyright and trademark infringement.
If they're playing hard to find, obviously that makes it difficult. But I would really consider talking to a lawyer if I were you, even just to find out what the options are and if it's worth it.
Who knows, maybe Apple would even co-operate if there was an actual lawyer on the phone and route those dollars to you instead of to these jerks.
(I am not a lawyer. Obviously.)
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these are from an actual radio shack in the ghetto
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namre
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« Reply #16 on: January 14, 2011, 02:49:30 PM » |
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Gah. Another one? News of being ripped off are becoming more and more frequent! Perhaps a group of indies can start an organization with the intent of finding and punishing these people? Pool resources to actually fight back and show them they can't get away with this bullshit.
I'm sure that such an organization would really help the indie community. It can help even with the little things like tracking down the culprit or speaking to those parties involved. |
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Melly
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« Reply #17 on: January 14, 2011, 03:34:42 PM » |
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Perhaps we'll call them the Aquin Coalition.
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speeder
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« Reply #18 on: January 14, 2011, 03:36:43 PM » |
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The mobile business is crap like that.
Sansumg cell phones for example are shipped with a game named "rocket boy" (or something like that) that steal the entire game from Miniclip.com and feature music ripped from Sonic (Chemical Plant level, to be exact)
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JoeManaco
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« Reply #19 on: January 14, 2011, 04:13:43 PM » |
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they ripped it 1:1? i can't believe what i'm reading.
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