A few days ago, I made some banners for my texture pack, fiftyninecraft. I figured I’d put them up on a website called Zazzle where people could buy the banners on posters. The next day I got an email telling me that they had been removed for “infringing on intellectual property rights” and was contacted by the “intellectual property right holder” to have it removed.
Upon replying about why the posters were removed, they said:
“We have been contacted by legal representatives from Jinx, Inc., official merchandiser for Minecraft, and at their request, to remove Minecraft inspired designs from the Zazzle marketplace.”
I want to ask, is it really fair that they can have something removed just because it was inspired by something else? Sure, they have the rights to Minecraft merchandise, but does that give them the right to remove my stuff just because of a minor resemblance? It wasn’t a screenshot from the game, it wasn’t a texture from the game, not a thing from it. What do you guys think about this?
Oh, and I’m going to be asking the same question tomorrow to Bucky Roberts on TheNewBoston if I can get through. I just want to get your opinions on this. Thank you.
Those banners contain artwork that is completely yours. Whether it is minecraft or not makes no difference.
People take inspiration from EVERYWHERE for artwork. Just becuase you own the rights to something someone got inspired by, does not mean you own the product of their inspiration.
These banners are completely your artwork, you have every right to be able to sell it!
This isn't legal advice >.>
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Theevilpplz is so fabulous, hetrosexual men turn bi when he passes by.
Yeah, I'm re-uploading them, only without the minecraft tags. If they get removed again, I'mma be pissed. If inspirations are against the law and are a reason for stuff to be taken down, say goodbye to minecraft. It was inspired by infiniminer. In fact, say goodbye to most things in the world. Without inspirations, 90% of things wouldn't exist. Screw J!NX and their lust for money, trying to eliminate anything related to Minecraft at all. Screw. Them.
Working from my knowledge of US copyright law, I'd say those banners fall into the category of fair use of copyrighted material-- although they are in the 'format' of minecraft, enough material has been altered for them to be declared a product of your own mind and (in my opinion) copyrighted to you. Different people may disagree with me, however, as it isn't possible to define just how much needs to be 'altered/added/changed' for the use of said derivative materials to fall under the heading of fair use.
Working from my knowledge of US copyright law, I'd say those banners fall into the category of fair use of copyrighted material-- although they are in the 'format' of minecraft, enough material has been altered for them to be declared a product of your own mind and (in my opinion) copyrighted to you. Different people may disagree with me, however, as it isn't possible to define just how much needs to be 'altered/added/changed' for the use of said derivative materials to fall under the heading of fair use.
If only large companies had any logic other than "money money money"...
Gah, I need to get to sleep.
Oh, and this:
Wonder what they'd say if I uploaded it.. Probably get taken down for having an inspiration.
If only large companies had any logic other than "money money money"...
Gah, I need to get to sleep.
Oh, and this:
Wonder what they'd say if I uploaded it.. Probably get taken down for having an inspiration.
It's not about money, it's more about drawing a line. It's the same sort of thing that happened between Mojang and bethesda. Everytime that a Trademark might be even possibly infringed it MUST be defended by the person holding the trademark. Otherwise the Trademark weakens (ie they cannot legally defend another infringement of the same type). This make it harder and harder to defend a trademark.
Because the border between "inspired by' and "ripped off from" are a vague continuum the line MUST be drawn somewhere.
To be completely honest, I would have had a problem with the second banner if I was jinx. There are textures in that banner that, while they may have been modified they are VERY close to the default. What kind of site was this?
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"Look, I don't care if your 8 or 20. If you can't take criticism or opinions, then get off the internet." -Stronghold257
It's not about money, it's more about drawing a line. It's the same sort of thing that happened between Mojang and bethesda. Everytime that a Trademark might be even possibly infringed it MUST be defended by the person holding the trademark. Otherwise the Trademark weakens (ie they cannot legally defend another infringement of the same type). This make it harder and harder to defend a trademark.
Because the border between "inspired by' and "ripped off from" are a vague continuum the line MUST be drawn somewhere.
To be completely honest, I would have had a problem with the second banner if I was jinx. There are textures in that banner that, while they may have been modified they are VERY close to the default. What kind of site was this?
It's a site where you can upload things and have them put on shirts, posters, etc.
And it wasn't the images themselves they had a problem with, it was that they were related to minecraft at all. Or else they would have only removed the Overworld one if any. I can guarantee that if I were to upload them without mentioning Minecraft at all, they'd be perfectly fine, and they wouldn't care. They don't want stuff related to Minecraft at all. J!NX just wants to be the only place that can sell Minecraft merch so that all minecraft fans have to buy from them.
from the sites point of view I understand why they took them down. Liability sucks.
From Jinx point of view I understand why they asked. Though that part I have a little problem with. Especially since the company that they are making merchandise for doesn't seem to give two shits about trademarks or copyrights. Mojang could have sued the pants of the company that made Total Miner but they didn't (as far as I am aware).
If you want you probably have legal grounds to fight it. However, it wouldn't be worth it.
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"Look, I don't care if your 8 or 20. If you can't take criticism or opinions, then get off the internet." -Stronghold257
Working from my knowledge of US copyright law, I'd say those banners fall into the category of fair use of copyrighted material-- although they are in the 'format' of minecraft, enough material has been altered for them to be declared a product of your own mind and (in my opinion) copyrighted to you. Different people may disagree with me, however, as it isn't possible to define just how much needs to be 'altered/added/changed' for the use of said derivative materials to fall under the heading of fair use.
Having recently read the stipulations of the fair use law (Yes, its a law, it can not be denied and anyone is entitled to use it) I can safely say that there is no "X amount needs to be altered". If it uses ANYTHING from the original, it is 100% illegal. This is strictly in a physical sense. Inspiration does NOT fall under this as you are still creating the content yourself.
It's a site where you can upload things and have them put on shirts, posters, etc.
And it wasn't the images themselves they had a problem with, it was that they were related to minecraft at all. Or else they would have only removed the Overworld one if any. I can guarantee that if I were to upload them without mentioning Minecraft at all, they'd be perfectly fine, and they wouldn't care. They don't want stuff related to Minecraft at all. J!NX just wants to be the only place that can sell Minecraft merch so that all minecraft fans have to buy from them.
You tried to upload images with the Minecraft name, and sell them? That is clearly copyright infringement because Mojang has not given you permission to commercialize anything with the Minecraft name. Jinx has permission.
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Cast aside your festive doylaks: dragon stuff is about to happen.
Multiplayer is lonely once you understand how it actually works.
You tried to upload images with the Minecraft name, and sell them? That is clearly copyright infringement because Mojang has not given you permission to commercialize anything with the Minecraft name. Jinx has permission.
Does that mean adf.ly links/adcraft links for Texture Packs are illegal?
I do not remember Mojang giving us permission to profit off of Minecraft Texture Packs.
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Theevilpplz is so fabulous, hetrosexual men turn bi when he passes by.
Yeah, Zazzle is shitty like that. They get really trigger happy with the delete button. Re-upload it, contact customer service if you want with a dispute (they usually cave if you can prove it's fair use or that it was unfairly deleted), but your best bet is to keep from putting anything minecraft related in your tags. that's the only way jinx would find it. If you do a search in the marketplace for "minecraft" you'll notice there's just about nothing there, and the stuff that comes up is coincidental tagging crap. Jinx probably does a search like that daily, reports the ones that pop up with minecraft content, and continue with their day.
Does that mean adf.ly links/adcraft links for Texture Packs are illegal?
I do not remember Mojang giving us permission to profit off of Minecraft Texture Packs.
Mojang does not claim rights over texture packs, making the use of adfly links legal. If Mojang issues a license like what Bethesda does with their editor in which they claim ownership of any content used within the editor (Or the game in the case of Minecraft, then it would become illegal to profit from them.
On a personal note, I think its just all around in poor taste to profit from modding. Perhaps its just personal bias from being with the Bethesda modding community for 4 years.
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Cast aside your festive doylaks: dragon stuff is about to happen.
Multiplayer is lonely once you understand how it actually works.
Mojang does not claim rights over texture packs, making the use of adfly links legal. If Mojang issues a license like what Bethesda does with their editor in which they claim ownership of any content used within the editor (Or the game in the case of Minecraft, then it would become illegal to profit from them.
On a personal note, I think its just all around in poor taste to profit from modding. Perhaps its just personal bias from being with the Bethesda modding community for 4 years.
What's the difference between a Texture Pack with an adf.ly link and what Fiftyniner tried to do with those banners?
Having recently read the stipulations of the fair use law (Yes, its a law, it can not be denied and anyone is entitled to use it) I can safely say that there is no "X amount needs to be altered". If it uses ANYTHING from the original, it is 100% illegal. This is strictly in a physical sense. Inspiration does NOT fall under this as you are still creating the content yourself.
When I say 'amount of new content added', I am thinking specifically of several court cases in which the defendant was sued for making money off of derivative works. In every instance they claimed that fair use allowed them to continue their practices. However, the times the defendant lost were always cases in which there was no significant artistic or intellectual addition to the base material that would entitle the defendant to make money on their derivative work.
That's not to say that the defendant did not add any new material at all, the court simply decided that the defendant didn't add enough new material to justify the work's existence in the commercial realm. And frankly I concur with this decision-- otherwise we would see copycat artwork and fiction in which the new 'author' changes one pixel/character name/sentence and attempts to sell their 'derivative work'. That simply isn't fair to the original creator.
They could release some kind of "texture pack creator" and have terms that you have to agree to in order to use it, but it's not possible to place restrictions on independently created work only based on the intended use(in this case, as a texture pack for Minecraft).
EULAs were created for this reason. They could append a clause saying that the use of texture packs within minecraft causes you to forfeit ownership rights of the content to Mojang.
Bethesda does this with their software. If you make something that touches their editor or game, it becomes theirs.
The point being not to sell the content or start controlling content, but to avoid potential legal issues. If you have spent some time in the Bethesda community, you would understand why.
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Cast aside your festive doylaks: dragon stuff is about to happen.
Multiplayer is lonely once you understand how it actually works.
If my understanding is correct the banners has the Minecraft name on them. I may have misread and/or misunderstood.
The way I read it, he added a minecraft tag to it, because it was related to minecraft.
IIRC all a tag does is that when you search for 'minecraft', his banners would pop up.
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Theevilpplz is so fabulous, hetrosexual men turn bi when he passes by.
If my understanding is correct the banners has the Minecraft name on them. I may have misread and/or misunderstood.
EULAs were created for this reason. They could append a clause saying that the use of texture packs within minecraft causes you to forfeit ownership rights of the content to Mojang.
Bethesda does this with their software. If you make something that touches their editor or game, it becomes theirs.
The point being not to sell the content or start controlling content, but to avoid potential legal issues. If you have spent some time in the Bethesda community, you would understand why.
I find an issue with the "anything that touches this game becomes mine" clause. Namely that it assumes that however uses any content with the game has the right to forfeit the rights of said content to said game's owner.
Say that Mojang DID have that clause in affect. Then, someone makes a texture pack for Minecraft. They themselves never use siad pack with Minecraft, so they never forfeit the rights to it. And then someone else uses this same texture pack with Minecraft. Mojang goes ahead and claims the texture pack, but the person they claim it from did not create it nor have the rights to give Mojangs the rights to it. See what I am saying?
I suppose that to remedy the issue there could be another clause that one can only use the game as long as he owns the rights to all content he uses, but that would mean that just about nobody could use said game.
I find an issue with the "anything that touches this game becomes mine" clause. Namely that it assumes that however uses any content with the game has the right to forfeit the rights of said content to said game's owner.
Say that Mojang DID have that clause in affect. Then, someone makes a texture pack for Minecraft. They themselves never use siad pack with Minecraft, so they never forfeit the rights to it. And then someone else uses this same texture pack with Minecraft. Mojang goes ahead and claims the texture pack, but the person they claim it from did not create it nor have the rights to give Mojangs the rights to it. See what I am saying?
I suppose that to remedy the issue there could be another clause that one can only use the game as long as he owns the rights to all content he uses, but that would mean that just about nobody could use said game.
I agree, however it should be noted that (at least in the case of texture packs) Mojang has no provided a powerful editing program like companies like Bethesda or Unreal do.
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"Look, I don't care if your 8 or 20. If you can't take criticism or opinions, then get off the internet." -Stronghold257
No, I didn't advertise them as something like "Minecraft Fiftyninecraft banner" or something like that, if I remember, they were "Overworld Banner", "Aether Banner", etc.
The only mention of minecraft was the tags.
When Bethesda almost managed to sue Mojang for the name "Scrolls" I got the idea that I could make a game which is named just about every word in the dictionary.
And the only thing you could do in the game is to buy words from me to use for your own game. *While hearing a sinister laugh in the background.
Upon replying about why the posters were removed, they said:
“We have been contacted by legal representatives from Jinx, Inc., official merchandiser for Minecraft, and at their request, to remove Minecraft inspired designs from the Zazzle marketplace.”
I want to ask, is it really fair that they can have something removed just because it was inspired by something else? Sure, they have the rights to Minecraft merchandise, but does that give them the right to remove my stuff just because of a minor resemblance? It wasn’t a screenshot from the game, it wasn’t a texture from the game, not a thing from it. What do you guys think about this?
Links to the banners:
http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/7582/aether.png
http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/7506/normalr.png
http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/2103/nether.png
http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/7246/endk.png
Oh, and I’m going to be asking the same question tomorrow to Bucky Roberts on TheNewBoston if I can get through. I just want to get your opinions on this. Thank you.
People take inspiration from EVERYWHERE for artwork. Just becuase you own the rights to something someone got inspired by, does not mean you own the product of their inspiration.
These banners are completely your artwork, you have every right to be able to sell it!
This isn't legal advice >.>
Working from my knowledge of US copyright law, I'd say those banners fall into the category of fair use of copyrighted material-- although they are in the 'format' of minecraft, enough material has been altered for them to be declared a product of your own mind and (in my opinion) copyrighted to you. Different people may disagree with me, however, as it isn't possible to define just how much needs to be 'altered/added/changed' for the use of said derivative materials to fall under the heading of fair use.
If only large companies had any logic other than "money money money"...
Gah, I need to get to sleep.
Oh, and this:
Wonder what they'd say if I uploaded it.. Probably get taken down for having an inspiration.
It's not about money, it's more about drawing a line. It's the same sort of thing that happened between Mojang and bethesda. Everytime that a Trademark might be even possibly infringed it MUST be defended by the person holding the trademark. Otherwise the Trademark weakens (ie they cannot legally defend another infringement of the same type). This make it harder and harder to defend a trademark.
Because the border between "inspired by' and "ripped off from" are a vague continuum the line MUST be drawn somewhere.
To be completely honest, I would have had a problem with the second banner if I was jinx. There are textures in that banner that, while they may have been modified they are VERY close to the default. What kind of site was this?
It's a site where you can upload things and have them put on shirts, posters, etc.
And it wasn't the images themselves they had a problem with, it was that they were related to minecraft at all. Or else they would have only removed the Overworld one if any. I can guarantee that if I were to upload them without mentioning Minecraft at all, they'd be perfectly fine, and they wouldn't care. They don't want stuff related to Minecraft at all. J!NX just wants to be the only place that can sell Minecraft merch so that all minecraft fans have to buy from them.
From Jinx point of view I understand why they asked. Though that part I have a little problem with. Especially since the company that they are making merchandise for doesn't seem to give two shits about trademarks or copyrights. Mojang could have sued the pants of the company that made Total Miner but they didn't (as far as I am aware).
If you want you probably have legal grounds to fight it. However, it wouldn't be worth it.
Having recently read the stipulations of the fair use law (Yes, its a law, it can not be denied and anyone is entitled to use it) I can safely say that there is no "X amount needs to be altered". If it uses ANYTHING from the original, it is 100% illegal. This is strictly in a physical sense. Inspiration does NOT fall under this as you are still creating the content yourself.
You tried to upload images with the Minecraft name, and sell them? That is clearly copyright infringement because Mojang has not given you permission to commercialize anything with the Minecraft name. Jinx has permission.
Cast aside your festive doylaks: dragon stuff is about to happen.
Multiplayer is lonely once you understand how it actually works.
Alpha 1.0.4
Does that mean adf.ly links/adcraft links for Texture Packs are illegal?
I do not remember Mojang giving us permission to profit off of Minecraft Texture Packs.
Mojang does not claim rights over texture packs, making the use of adfly links legal. If Mojang issues a license like what Bethesda does with their editor in which they claim ownership of any content used within the editor (Or the game in the case of Minecraft, then it would become illegal to profit from them.
On a personal note, I think its just all around in poor taste to profit from modding. Perhaps its just personal bias from being with the Bethesda modding community for 4 years.
Cast aside your festive doylaks: dragon stuff is about to happen.
Multiplayer is lonely once you understand how it actually works.
Alpha 1.0.4
What's the difference between a Texture Pack with an adf.ly link and what Fiftyniner tried to do with those banners?
When I say 'amount of new content added', I am thinking specifically of several court cases in which the defendant was sued for making money off of derivative works. In every instance they claimed that fair use allowed them to continue their practices. However, the times the defendant lost were always cases in which there was no significant artistic or intellectual addition to the base material that would entitle the defendant to make money on their derivative work.
That's not to say that the defendant did not add any new material at all, the court simply decided that the defendant didn't add enough new material to justify the work's existence in the commercial realm. And frankly I concur with this decision-- otherwise we would see copycat artwork and fiction in which the new 'author' changes one pixel/character name/sentence and attempts to sell their 'derivative work'. That simply isn't fair to the original creator.
If my understanding is correct the banners has the Minecraft name on them. I may have misread and/or misunderstood.
EULAs were created for this reason. They could append a clause saying that the use of texture packs within minecraft causes you to forfeit ownership rights of the content to Mojang.
Bethesda does this with their software. If you make something that touches their editor or game, it becomes theirs.
The point being not to sell the content or start controlling content, but to avoid potential legal issues. If you have spent some time in the Bethesda community, you would understand why.
Cast aside your festive doylaks: dragon stuff is about to happen.
Multiplayer is lonely once you understand how it actually works.
Alpha 1.0.4
The way I read it, he added a minecraft tag to it, because it was related to minecraft.
IIRC all a tag does is that when you search for 'minecraft', his banners would pop up.
I find an issue with the "anything that touches this game becomes mine" clause. Namely that it assumes that however uses any content with the game has the right to forfeit the rights of said content to said game's owner.
Say that Mojang DID have that clause in affect. Then, someone makes a texture pack for Minecraft. They themselves never use siad pack with Minecraft, so they never forfeit the rights to it. And then someone else uses this same texture pack with Minecraft. Mojang goes ahead and claims the texture pack, but the person they claim it from did not create it nor have the rights to give Mojangs the rights to it. See what I am saying?
I suppose that to remedy the issue there could be another clause that one can only use the game as long as he owns the rights to all content he uses, but that would mean that just about nobody could use said game.
I agree, however it should be noted that (at least in the case of texture packs) Mojang has no provided a powerful editing program like companies like Bethesda or Unreal do.
The only mention of minecraft was the tags.
Genius.