Just substitute The Sims 2 for Duke Nukem 3-D

[SparklePlenty]

Sound familiar?

BUILD EDITORS AND DERIVATIVE RIGHTS
(This is an archived case summary.)

Duke Nukem 3-D (DN 3-D) was shipped with a Build Editor which allowed fans to create their own levels for DN 3-D. Players were encouraged to build their own levels and to share them with other players. These levels were saved as .MAP files which, with references to the art databases of DN 3-D, allowed the recreation of user created levels with the use of any copy of DN 3-D. The DN 3-D licence agreement however, specifically forbade users from selling the levels they created. Micro Star downloaded over 300 levels from sites across the internet and marketed these levels as a CD entitled "Nuke It". Nuke It was packaged in a box containing screen shots of the new levels.

The owner of the rights to Duke Nukem 3-D, FormGen, brought an action alleging Micro Star was infringing the copyright on those rights by selling derivate works. This argument was based on the fact that the MAP files ran only in conjunction with the DN 3-D engine and all of the audio/visuals were extracted from the DN 3-D art databases. FormGen also sought a preliminary injunction to block the use of the screen shots on the Nuke It packaging. The district court rejected the claim for copyright infringement ruling that the levels were not derivative works. It did however grant a preliminary injunction barring Micro Star from using the screenshots and dismissing the fair use defence that Micro Star raised.

Both parties appealed this decision. FormGen appealed the ruling that MAP files were not derivative works. Micro Star argued that the audio/visuals were not incorporated into a "concrete" form and therefore could not be derivative works. The court sided with FormGen and dismissed Micro Star's arguments. The MAP files were incorporated into a concrete form when they were burned on to the Nuke It CD. The court also held that the files were obviously similar to DN 3-D since they were entirely generated by the DN 3-D engine and databases. Given its "concrete form" and similarity, the MAP files were held to be derivative works. Having found that the MAP files were derivative works, the court granted an injunction barring the production and distribution of Nuke It. Of the four factors considered, the determining factor appears to have been the fact that Nuke It impacted the potential market for DN 3-D sequels thereby reducing FormGen's ability to capitalize on derivate works of its own.

The court also upheld the district courts finding that use of screen shots from DN 3-D to market a product that competes directly with DN 3-D was not acceptable as a "fair use" of copyrighted material.

The citation is Micro Star v. FormGen Inc., 1998 U.S. App. LEXIS 22061, 48 U.S.P.Q.2D(BNA) 1026

Summary by Adam Nott

Posted Fri, 02 January 1998 00:18:00 EST by Chris Bennett

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[Plum]

No, that does not sound familiar at all.  You are clearly insane.

[Yaardarm Monkey]

No, that does not sound familiar at all.  You are clearly insane.

oh behave!    :mrgreen:

[SparklePlenty]

No, that does not sound familiar at all.  You are clearly insane.

And you just posted that to catch up with me in numbers of posts.  

[calalily]

That caselaw I found that pertains to the legal liabilities of paysites - that's about Duke Nukem and this case summary.   And here's the Supreme Court judgement:

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/9th/9656426.html

[Plum]

No, that does not sound familiar at all.  You are clearly insane.

And you just posted that to catch up with me in numbers of posts.  

How dare you!  It's so on now.

[Saraswati]

Judfer thank you so much for that.. so EA could take sites like TSR to court quite easily, they just aren't chosing to for some god unforseen reason.

I'm starting to wonder whether they're planning changes with Sims 3 that will make the whole thing null and void.. like we were wondering whether they would be stupid enough to reformat the CC stuff so it can only be uploaded to their site as an example. That would be the only reason I could see why they would not be dealing with this issue.

[Markus]

That would suck ass if CC could only be available on the Exchange. If it does occur, that's the end for me.

[Pescado]

I'm starting to wonder whether they're planning changes with Sims 3 that will make the whole thing null and void.. like we were wondering whether they would be stupid enough to reformat the CC stuff so it can only be uploaded to their site as an example. That would be the only reason I could see why they would not be dealing with this issue.

I do not see how such a thing is physically possible. I mean, that's already sort of the case now, given that the only supported "safe" distribution scheme involves sims2packing, but the thing is, No One Does That. Once a file is on your computer, there is no way for it to know how it got there. This idea is not only so ridiculous as to be laughable, but also basically impossible.

[Saraswati]

What made me think about that was the fact that Sims 1 wasn't tied into the game logic as much as Sims 2.. Sims 2 was originally intended to just share clothing and lots and was much more tied into a specific packaging form rather than bits you've got to download to specific folders. Now, four or so years later we've got single player games that only work if you're online (in other game series, my husband just bought one), EA getting us to create Pets only in an in-game engine and being packaged directly from the game..

I joined the dots and got very worried.. I hope it isn't possible, I really do. Or I hope they decide not to do it if it is because being around the 12 yo on the exchange all the time would be deeply unpleasant and I just wouldn't do it.

[alia]

Now, four or so years later we've got single player games that only work if you're online

No need to worry. Those games (requiring Steam for example) can and have been hacked. You do not need to log on their servers or even be online while playing.

Besides Valve (the company behind Steam) got huge amounts of complaints when they went offline for some hours after their server broke, because all those people who had paid for their games could not play, while those who had pirated the game had absolutely no trouble. Way to piss off your clientiele, Valve!

Sims3: EA is not going to try to turn Sims3 into a multiplayer game, since Sims Online was not a big hit. I rather think that Sims3 is going to the direction of the Sims Stories series. Maybe they will add an editor which the customers can use to create their own series. Hope so, because now the game has no real content, it's just a dollhouse. :roll:

[Saraswati]

They'll be idiots if they make it like Sims Stories.. because that series from my understanding has sold really badly from my understanding..

This conversation is actually a fair bit reassuring. It's like the big lurking hairy spider in the room (I use that phrase because my husband is chasing one of our bathroom as we speak) and when things are slightly urky and not talked about, it makes it worse.

[AW]

Personally, Sim Stories sucked.  It was completely ridiculous.  The concept was good, but the finished product was limited and eventually boring.

[alia]

Yeah, I understand that it gets boring really fast. I was talking about the concept, not any of the specific stories, as I have not played any of them.

If EA adds the story editor to the game, the players will start making their own stories. And of course there will be the free-play option all the time, so if you do not feel like playing the scenario, you can turn it off.