RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world 8 hours ago
I am curious to know what exactly the copyright infringement was? There are a vast myriad of Tetris clones, none of which the Tetris Company have taken down. Copyright isn’t something you can pick and choose when to enforce it, copyright holders are legally obligated to enforce it on every infringement, or they lose the copyright. Was the game using Tetris IP music or something?
I thought that was exactly how copyright works. It is infeasible to keep track of every infringement, so a policy like that is unenforceable.
Also its not out of the question that those myriad of tetris clones each secured some sort of agreement with the tetris company.
Apparently, the Tetris Company is a copyright troll / vexatious litigant.
According to Tetris Holdings LLC v Xio Interactive, the 10x20 play area and block shapes are somehow copyrighted, despite these being declared public domain previously.
Therefore all Tetris clones are somehow illegal. Absolutely insane.
The answer to both is variations on public domain works can be protected by trademark and copyright. Type A isn’t Korobeiniki, it’s a new work. It’s the same reason why Disney’s Snow White is protected by copyright (for a little while longer, anyway), but the original work it is based on is not.
You want this kind of protection. Otherwise works would effectively be held by the original artists in perpetuity, as a lack of protection even after they enter the public domain chills any investment in variation on those works that might lead to significant cultural impact.
I encourage you to read up on the basics and the reasons why these laws exist in the first place. This sort of thing is how we end up with misinformation like “piracy is legal if you own the original game” and “it’s 100% legal to jailbreak a video game console.”
I thought that was exactly how copyright works. It is infeasible to keep track of every infringement, so a policy like that is unenforceable.
That’s why DMCA takedowns exist, even automated after an Ai recognizes a song in example. As this has some bad side effects in an automated process or even persons and companies misusing it either willingly or by not understanding, it will remain a problem. DMCA exists because it is unfeasable to keep track of every infringement, and an instant action is taken just in case it is true.
missingno@fedia.io 7 hours ago
This is a myth. You're thinking of trademark genericization, but even that can only happen in very extreme cases.