Regarding the anime game shutdowns in Off Topic

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ID:111338
 
Mar 29 2011, 7:53 pm (Edited by moderator on Mar 30 2011, 2:06 am)
Well funimation got a stick up their ass and sent a legal notice so Tom is taking down anything related to funimation? One word.

DAAYYUUMM.

I never though a community like BYOND would even be picked up on an actual companies radar. Much less even concern them enough to take legal action. Now a question I have; Will all fan games/anime games be hidden or just funimation-related ones?

I ask this because if all will be hidden I can go ahead and make PSl a single player game because I'm not going to bother working an alternate route to spread server links. Luckily PSl is already primarily single-player so far so it wouldn't be a difficult swap but regardless. If all fan games/anime games are hidden, than I think BYOND will be a WAY different site..

Care to clear anything up, Tom?

Later,
-Kumorii

EDIT[11:56pm; March 29, 2011]:
Thanks to Quaddw, here is the email notification:


Greetings,

Funimation Entertainment, holder of intellectual property used in your game(s), has issued BYOND a DMCA Infringement notice. Our service provider is requiring that we comply with this notice and remove offending games from our site within 24 hours. This email is to inform you of that pending action.

This hub entry will be suppressed and removed from our listings later today. We are working on how to best handle this; we may provide a link to your outside website and/or forums from the new hub page (which will otherwise explain the reason for delisting).

BYOND has no control over your game itself, so if you do continue hosting it or making it available, you should inform your users during this interim period. Keep in mind that you or your internet service provider may be contacted by Funimation in regards to this issue. Ultimately, the best way to resolve this is to transition your game(s) to use non-copyrighted elements. In this, not only would it be safe from further legal contacts, but would be eligible for featuring on BYOND.com itself.

I apologize for the inconvenience. I have fought this as best I can (having multiple discussions with the lawyers at Funimation today), but, ultimately, it is not my decision. Feel free to contact me via the support form or directly at tom@byond.com if you have any questions.

Tom Hehre
Owner, BYOND.com

*** Attached notice ***
March 29, 2011

RE: FUNimation DMCA Infringement Notice -- DMCA3360 -- byond.com

In compliance with relevant federal copyright law, I submit the following:

I hereby certify, under penalty of perjury, that the following information is accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief.

I am an employee of FUNimation Entertainment. I am authorized to act on behalf of FUNimation Entertainment with respect to the matters discussed herein.

FUNimation is a company engaged in the production and distribution of animated motion pictures. We own or control various exclusive copyrights and trademarks related to the animated motion pictures known as Dragon Ball Z, One Piece, Soul Eater and Yu Yu Hakusho (collectively referred to as the "Properties"). FUNimation is the owner of certain exclusive rights in and to the Properties throughout the United States. Specifically, FUNimation is the exclusive licensee for production and distribution of home videos, DVDs, and other home video formats and devices.

Our investigations have led us to have a good faith belief that the above referenced site is being used for the unauthorized distribution (downloading, uploading, file serving/swapping, streaming, stream embedding, torrent seeding, torrent tracking, torrent linking, other linking, link aggregating or any similar activities) of digital files embodying the Properties. The use of the Properties in this manner is NOT authorized by FUNimation Entertainment and is a violation of FUNimation's intellectual property rights, including its rights under the Copyright Act. Infringing materials can be found at the following URLs:

[list]

FUNimation Entertainment hereby demands that you expeditiously disable all access to said infringing materials.

If you should require any further information please do not hesitate to contact me by email at ***@funimation.com. The physical and mailing address of FUNimation Entertainment is 1200 Lakeside Parkway, Bldg 1, Flower Mound, TX, 75028. Please contact me immediately if this notification is not in substantial compliance with the requirements of the DMCA, or if some other problem arises with respect to our request. I would also request notification of your compliance with our request.

Sincerely,
/s/ ***
FUNimation Entertainment
#1 Mar 29 2011, 7:55 pm
We didn't get found by the companies, basically some poor, whiney ass cry baby got mad cause Falacy was making a profit and they decided to tell Funimation about it.
#2 Mar 29 2011, 7:57 pm
Wow, what the hell..
Also, aren't fan games legal as long as they're free-to-play?
#3 Mar 29 2011, 7:57 pm
Where is this announcement at? o_O
#4 Mar 29 2011, 7:58 pm
Only if the company says so.
#5 Mar 29 2011, 7:59 pm
@LordAndrew: It's kind of a behind-the-scenes thing right now. Hasn't quite publicized yet.
#6 Mar 29 2011, 7:59 pm
Ah.
#7 Mar 29 2011, 8:10 pm
Oh man, first Android Data quits, NEStalgia gets a rise in popularity, and then this happens?

BYOND has a brighter future.
#8 Mar 29 2011, 8:28 pm
Ganing wrote:
We didn't get found by the companies, basically some poor, whiney ass cry baby got mad cause Falacy was making a profit and they decided to tell Funimation about it.

Maybe he'll have to *gasp* make something original. The poor baby.
#9 Mar 29 2011, 8:39 pm (Edited on Mar 29 2011, 10:09 pm)
Techgamer wrote:
Maybe he'll have to *gasp* make something original. The poor baby.
Yea... If only I had some "original" games.
EDIT: Those words are all links, if you couldn't tell...


The peoples republic of china wrote:
Oh man, first Android Data quits, NEStalgia gets a rise in popularity, and then this happens?
BYOND has a brighter future.
Was that supposed to be sarcastic? Or are you really that delusionally backwards?
#10 Mar 29 2011, 8:41 pm
Was that supposed to be sarcastic? Or are you really that delusionally backwards?

Oh yeah, forgot about Hentai hill.
#11 Mar 29 2011, 8:42 pm
Techgamer wrote:
Oh yeah, forgot about Hentai hill.
Most played game on BYOND, and I bet it wouldn't have had any copyright issues. That comment you seem to have replied to wasn't even directed at you...
#12 Mar 29 2011, 8:42 pm
I will post an announcement later tonight, after we follow up with the suppression (which may not be a permanent thing.. we'll see how it pans out).
#13 Mar 29 2011, 8:44 pm
Sounds good to me.
#14 Mar 29 2011, 8:45 pm
Kumorii wrote:
Also, aren't fan games legal as long as they're free-to-play?

No. The only derivative products of copyrighted works are those that fall under fair use, such as works of parody, works commenting/reviewing/etc. the copyrighted work, or similar. Monetary gain is not at all a thing in regards to copyright law, though it may be the major decision on whether or not a copyright holder actually pursues a copyright infringement case.
#15 Mar 29 2011, 8:46 pm
so....
#16 Mar 29 2011, 8:54 pm (Edited by moderator on Mar 29 2011, 9:05 pm)
For those of you wondering here is the email:

Greetings,

Funimation Entertainment, holder of intellectual property used in your game(s), has issued BYOND a DMCA Infringement notice. Our service provider is requiring that we comply with this notice and remove offending games from our site within 24 hours. This email is to inform you of that pending action.

This hub entry will be suppressed and removed from our listings later today. We are working on how to best handle this; we may provide a link to your outside website and/or forums from the new hub page (which will otherwise explain the reason for delisting).

BYOND has no control over your game itself, so if you do continue hosting it or making it available, you should inform your users during this interim period. Keep in mind that you or your internet service provider may be contacted by Funimation in regards to this issue. Ultimately, the best way to resolve this is to transition your game(s) to use non-copyrighted elements. In this, not only would it be safe from further legal contacts, but would be eligible for featuring on BYOND.com itself.

I apologize for the inconvenience. I have fought this as best I can (having multiple discussions with the lawyers at Funimation today), but, ultimately, it is not my decision. Feel free to contact me via the support form or directly at tom@byond.com if you have any questions.

Tom Hehre
Owner, BYOND.com

*** Attached notice ***
March 29, 2011

RE: FUNimation DMCA Infringement Notice -- DMCA3360 -- byond.com

In compliance with relevant federal copyright law, I submit the following:

I hereby certify, under penalty of perjury, that the following information is accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief.

I am an employee of FUNimation Entertainment. I am authorized to act on behalf of FUNimation Entertainment with respect to the matters discussed herein.

FUNimation is a company engaged in the production and distribution of animated motion pictures. We own or control various exclusive copyrights and trademarks related to the animated motion pictures known as Dragon Ball Z, One Piece, Soul Eater and Yu Yu Hakusho (collectively referred to as the "Properties"). FUNimation is the owner of certain exclusive rights in and to the Properties throughout the United States. Specifically, FUNimation is the exclusive licensee for production and distribution of home videos, DVDs, and other home video formats and devices.

Our investigations have led us to have a good faith belief that the above referenced site is being used for the unauthorized distribution (downloading, uploading, file serving/swapping, streaming, stream embedding, torrent seeding, torrent tracking, torrent linking, other linking, link aggregating or any similar activities) of digital files embodying the Properties. The use of the Properties in this manner is NOT authorized by FUNimation Entertainment and is a violation of FUNimation's intellectual property rights, including its rights under the Copyright Act. Infringing materials can be found at the following URLs:

[list]

FUNimation Entertainment hereby demands that you expeditiously disable all access to said infringing materials.

If you should require any further information please do not hesitate to contact me by email at ***@funimation.com. The physical and mailing address of FUNimation Entertainment is 1200 Lakeside Parkway, Bldg 1, Flower Mound, TX, 75028. Please contact me immediately if this notification is not in substantial compliance with the requirements of the DMCA, or if some other problem arises with respect to our request. I would also request notification of your compliance with our request.

Sincerely,
/s/ ***
FUNimation Entertainment
#17 Mar 29 2011, 8:56 pm
Putting the email up on the post for others to see. Thanks, Quaddw.
#18 Mar 30 2011, 2:11 am
Popisfizzy wrote:
Kumorii wrote:
Also, aren't fan games legal as long as they're free-to-play?

No. The only derivative products of copyrighted works are those that fall under fair use, such as works of parody, works commenting/reviewing/etc. the copyrighted work, or similar. Monetary gain is not at all a thing in regards to copyright law, though it may be the major decision on whether or not a copyright holder actually pursues a copyright infringement case.

It goes beyond what you have listed. Fan fiction falls under derivative work, and is legal. Fan games, are basically fan faction of a different medium.

There is also a lack of similar products out there, so transformative works could come into play, since these fangames are something that isn't otherwise available (various anime-themed MMO/MUD).

However, many of these fangames are using graphics and such taken from various games, or using images (for backgrounds, banners, logos, etc.) that funimation actually does have copyright claims to.

So long as a game is using it's own graphics, not using any code or software, or utilizing too much of the original story (a game where players relive Goku's life as per the Dragonball/z/gt manga/anime). Having a game where people can be a "Saiyan" and run around collecting 7 dragon balls, would not however.
#19 Mar 30 2011, 3:14 am
So Starlight is in the clear. >D
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