Makes me wonder where thir line is between this and Black Mesa, though.
Comment on Valve issues DMCA takedown for "Team Fortress: Source 2"
bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 5 months ago
Valve are well within their rights here. This isn’t new content or transformative. It’s literally trying to remake the same game using the same engine. These devs knew they were playing with fire. Never come between GabeN and his hats.
Stovetop@lemmy.world 5 months ago
gamermanh@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 months ago
Black Mesa is a remake of a single player game that Valve wasn’t planning on remaking any time soon, more profitable to make it official and take a cut
TF2 actively still makes them sht tons of money, no profit in splitting the fan base
Vespair@lemm.ee 5 months ago
Imo, Trademark. Black Mesa is a concept from Half-Life, but “Black Mesa” to the best of my knowledge wasn’t a registered trademark. “Team Fortress/Team Fortress 2” are registered trademarks however, and that significantly changes the value and functionality of the specific terms.
MotoAsh@lemmy.world 5 months ago
That would only allow them the name, not the content. They always had to get Valve’s permission.
Vespair@lemm.ee 5 months ago
Yes, but it’s easier to give permission to use concepts that don’t infringe on trademark than it is to give permission on something that could be argued in court as muddying a trademark.
I know they require permission either way, but what permission they’re actually asking for changes based on what terminology they use
yamanii@lemmy.world 5 months ago
But we just got Portal Revolution some days ago, on steam.
Mountaineer@aussie.zone 5 months ago
I’d guess the fine line is “Valve intend to earn money from something official in the future”
Vespair@lemm.ee 5 months ago
Unfortunately it’s not just well within their rights, it’s their legal obligation. The stupid situation that is America means that for them to be able to maintain their claim of ownership on the IP trademark, they have to both actively use the trademark and actively police unauthorized use of the trademark by others. If they don’t, they risk losing the right to claim the trademark, which wouldn’t just mean independents running servers for the game, but also would mean unscrupulous entities could produce and sell merchandise featuring the trademark en masse without having to seek permission from or pay any commissions to Valve.
It’s shitty, but it’s more shitty because of the stupid system we’ve built than because of any intentional malevolence on Valve’s part, imo.
Important caveat: I am not a legal professional and it is entirely possible my understanding of trademark law is flawed, but this is my earnest understanding of the situation.
baggins@lemmy.ca 5 months ago
DMCA has nothing to do with trademarks
Vespair@lemm.ee 5 months ago
Well then I got nothin’ 🤷♂️
yamanii@lemmy.world 5 months ago
No, it isn’t.
Petrella v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.
It is hardly incumbent on copyright owners, however, to challenge each and every actionable infringement. And there is nothing untoward about waiting to see whether an infringer’s exploitation undercuts the value of the copyrighted work, has no effect on the original work, or even complements it. Fan sites prompted by a book or film, for example, may benefit the copyright owner. See Wu, Tolerated Use, 31 Colum. J. L. & Arts 617, 619–620 (2008).
Draedron@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 months ago
It being within their rights doesnt make it less shitty. Fuck IP
eskimofry@lemmy.world 5 months ago
We need to change IP and copyright law to add a “use it or lose it” clause for games that have been left to languish for eternity.
A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 5 months ago
just result in companies releasing even shittier games just to protect their IPs.
Sorgan71@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Not eternity 95 years.
Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world 5 months ago
My thinking is that it was hot garbage that was trying to milk the TF2 name to grow their own fanbase. And valve didn’t want to be associated with that.
My guess is that Black Mesa looks great, had passionate people who were really communicating and engaging with valve/community, and it felt like a step forward.
Cybersteel@lemmy.world 5 months ago
They got a taste of their own medicine. They should have gotten rid of those low effort, asset swop games on the store then.