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[rivers]

* Update: After contact with the developer, I found my case may be different with the Halfbot's one. The developer told me that he had contacted us before he start make the iOS version, but didn't get our reply. And now he is willing to share the profit with us. I think this may not be a bad idea.
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* Update: The developer of iOS version contacted me, now we're talking about the copyright issues. I'll keep update this thread.
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We're developing the iOS version of our flash game - Rotate & Roll. However, recently we found that an app with the same name, same concept, same music and very similar levels appeared in the App Store and even got featured. The developer of this app never contacted us to ask us for the rights to develop and publish this game. The game is a complete rip off of our game in almost every way.

We tried to contact the developer (it’s hard to find out how to contact him), but he didn’t reply to us. Now we’re contacting Apple, we hope they will help us solve this problem. Right now we are waiting for their reply. Thanks for any suggestions or ideas on what else we can do.

This is an image that shows the similarity of the 2 games:


Our game: http://bloblob.com/rotate-and-roll/
Their game: http://itunes.apple.com/app/id421499302

[Drum]

They will make millions, like those guys who ripped off Crush the Castle.
I expect Apple will do something if your case is clear cut, but if they don't you should probably threaten the devs with legal action unless they pull it from the store.  If they did rip off your game this flagrantly, they probably aren't going to respond to anything short of that.

[phubans]

I hate when shit like this happens... What the fuck is wrong with people?

[Tanner]

Send it to Destructoid.

[Mipe]

I hate when shit like this happens... What the fuck is wrong with people?

They want to make money. Like all those Black Hat SEO guys, they just want the money and don't care if you don't like spam or having your articles duplicated.

[Eibx]

The same thing happened to Wolfire, with their Lugaru.
But that guy clearly broke their Open-Source license. The game got removed, but Wolfire still doesn't know if the person removed it himself, or Apple did.
Apple didn't reply to their messages.

It's seriously a disgrace.

[moi]

When you make a flash game you should include some hidden code that can prove that the game is yours, because it's difficult to prove that it's a code theft (illegal) rather than a game clone (not illegal)
And yeah apple sucks balls but they don't care.

[Tanner]

this is pretty much word-for-word what happened with the blocks cometh. stir up a shitstorm.

[Aquin]

I'm starting to think TIGS could run a weekly feature.  We could call it "Apple Scammers".

[mcc]

The same thing happened to Wolfire, with their Lugaru.
But that guy clearly broke their Open-Source license. The game got removed, but Wolfire still doesn't know if the person removed it himself, or Apple did.
Apple didn't reply to their messages.

It's seriously a disgrace.

If they're actually using their level files, then that's a clear reuse of copyrighted content... even if they just cloned the levels that may be close enough to trip copyright law...

I think if you report the app/contact Apple the chances are good they'll kill it. Apple needs a clearer process for this though.

[mcc]

I'm starting to think TIGS could run a weekly feature.  We could call it "Apple Scammers".

Actually, I think making a blog of some kind for "what's getting ripped off on the app store this week" would be a seriously good idea, it would help call attention to the problem and put pressure on Apple to take action. Also if there were some kind of blog community up on this then people finding their games were stolen might not have such a "well what do I do now" feeling.

[Aquin]

Yeah, my major concern (which I brought up last time this all happened) is that I don't know who would run such a blog.  I mean, I'm pretty terrible at drawing a crowd.  It's a waste of time to start up a blogspot column with 1 reader (ie. the author.)

It'd be nice if an existing hotspot, like tim's blog or this place, could start drawing more front-page attention to this kind of crummy behaviour.  As long as few people (us) know about the problem, Apple really isn't going to get any pressure to change.

As for the OP, don't expect a response from Apple.  I haven't seen any aggrieved developers ever get one and I'm not sure if Apple is just mostly ignoring it or what's going on.  Even when an app is taken down for this offense, Apple still doesn't contact anyone to set things straight.

It's pretty weird.

[rivers]

Hey everybody! Thank you for your attention and suggestions. The developer of iOS version  just contacted me, now we're talking about the copyright issues. I'll keep update this thread.

[X3N]

Saw this as #2, damn.
Reported this to Apple with a link to the blobob site.

[Desert Dog]

*bookmarks* look forward to seeing how this turns out.

A gameplay clone is one thing.. the graphics are exceedingly similar, and the level design from those screenshots at least look virtually identical. And the name? That's going waay too far.

The game seems to be doing really well on iTunes. Publish it yourself, once you've kicked these guys out. Could have a happy ending.

[rivers]

After contact with the developer, I found my case may be different with the Halfbot's one. The developer told me that he had contacted us before he start make the iOS version, but didn't get our reply. And now he is willing to share the profit with us. I think this may not be a bad idea.

Thanks everybody, your posts really helped us. I hope we can get a satisfying result.

[Desert Dog]

Make sure you get a dang good cut, not just dregs. You created this game, not him, he merely 'ported' it.

[phubans]

I just figured game developers would have some kind of code of honor and wouldn't stoop this low... It's pathetic.

[hyperduck]

After contact with the developer, I found my case may be different with the Halfbot's one. The developer told me that he had contacted us before he start make the iOS version, but didn't get our reply. And now he is willing to share the profit with us. I think this may not be a bad idea.

Thanks everybody, your posts really helped us. I hope we can get a satisfying result.

It is your idea, graphics, game. You never consented to it in the first place so he shouldn't have went ahead without your permission. You should be entitled to all of it if not all of his cut anyway for doing it without permission.

[Alistair Aitcheson]

The developer told me that he had contacted us before he start make the iOS version, but didn't get our reply. And now he is willing to share the profit with us. I think this may not be a bad idea.

Bullshit. So what if they contacted you before they made the game? You didn't give them permission, and that makes it exactly the same as Halfbot's issue. It's like if someone punched you in the face and asked if you wanted to be punched beforehand.

Don't accept to share the profits. They've already stolen your game design, name and assets, do you really think they'll actually cough up any money? I wouldn't trust them for a second, and neither should you. Get them taken down.