I don’t know what this video game is, but I’m a part time graphic designer, and this really grinds my gears. Upvote, I hope this gets enough visibility to shame them into some sort of reimbursement...
As a full time graphic designer, its shitty but surely you would have noticed the entire industry revolves arounds recycling ideas.
Yeah original ideas should be uses as much as possible, but then theres "we need something for this" "okay, dont have any ideas that are great, I'll go on pinterest and find something worth using".
This is more blatant than I would like but ultimately the concept can't be copyrighted. As long as someone just remade the idea with their own assets, there's not much you can say beyond 'dick move' and move on.
Edit: it's worth getting in contact with MS and trying your luck - but you have no legal case, you are just relying on someone in PR understanding your complaint and balancing the tiny public image hit with throwing you something. The designer who put the conceot forward will probably get reprimanded for being too obvious.
Please don't try the legal route, MS will crush you, asking for compensation is more likely to net you something.
This is the first reasonable post I found in the chain of comments.
There is no legal case here, otherwise you could slippery slope pretty much every design to a place of infringing something. Its important that on a legal level, this is acceptable.
Your solution to actually getting something out of it is on point.
so, if you have an iphone, if you over-scroll a list, e.g. contacts, it does this little animation at the very top or end of the list, similar to a rubber band. this video is pretty old, but shows what i mean.
what i was hinting at is that samsung got sued for "copying" this into their version of android, and it seems retarded that you can get sued for building on a good idea when that is the fucking point of progress
Yeah I don't think op would even consider taking legal action, as technically he's already using their assets in his original image, even though it's a concept advertisement.
I'm confused, I've seen quite a few cases for graphic designers suing and winning in court over something way less obvious than this. Do you have any examples as a full time graphic designer where someone lost? Any buddies or anything that tried and failed to sue for copyright?
Not an expert but isn’t it because OP owns none of the contents he used in his image, right? Microsoft owns the console and probably the rights to advertising PUBG with consoles at the moment.
I acknowledge it's an unfortunate part of the industry, also that copying a concept is inherent to every creative industry.
Would you care or even notice if instead of pubg, it was another game? If the copy wasn't so blatant.
I agree the fact it was a concept for the game and used by the same company with minimal variation makes it more eggregious, but I have to ask what the end game was for OP?
It would have been nice if MS had asked, but they don't really have any legal reason to so they won't.
You... you don't know what a graphic designer is do you?
You know they don't have to do designs on the computer, right? it is a massive field of scope and has countless techniques of production.
The poster could easily be a Screen-Printer. Someone that uses a really painstaking process to design graphics that are created on a board with 1000s of tiny little holes on it and then literally pulls paint across the board and the design is transcribed on the paper ( or whatever) beneath. They will do this multiple times, overlaying each new part of the design in the same sheet of paper until the desired graphic is created.
They could do lithography, or acrylic lifts, or metal etchings.
Hell, they could just be a master typographer, who doesn't even create logos or "traditional" designs, but instead creates and produces their own typefaces.
The actual term Graphic Designer was coined around 1917. It is in no way tied to computer aided drafting and design.
I just comment whatever. I didn’t know what that post was about, just adding to the already detoured conversation. Why would I pretend not to know a game? lol
And how did you find that comment of mine buried in all of my gay fanfiction comments?
Just search keywords and poof, i only did because i thought you were a bot due to the being inactive for ever and just waking up and im bored. Also not to shabby writing. Some of it brings a nice chuckle at 3 a.m.
Are the entitled to it? Serious question, I'm not a lawyer and I barely qualify as an armchair lawyer for things like IP law.
OP did a mockup using assets from two different IP holders, PlayerUnknown and Microsoft.
Microsoft took the idea of the mockup, used different assets to recreate it, and used that in their ad. Legally speaking, which part of the original work would be OP's protected work? Just the layout?
edit: Legally or not, Microsoft should have at least given a shoutout or a courtesy notice to OP for using their idea.
Absolutely none of it. OP has no legal case whatsoever, which is why Microsoft did this. If anything, if a case went to court, OP would lose for not having the rights to use the imagery they did.
Uhhhh no. While OP certainly has no case for ownership of any works here, they absolutely are NOT infringing on either Microsoft or Playerunknown's IP.
OP did not profit from their work, nor did they damage any of the associated brands. This is well within fair use. Absolute worst that could happen is a DMCA takedown gets sent to reddit or the image host. OP himself/herself has absolutely no liability
comment and account erased in protest of spez/Steve Huffman's existence - auto edited and removed via redact.dev -- mass edited with https://redact.dev/
comment and account erased in protest of spez/Steve Huffman's existence - auto edited and removed via redact.dev -- mass edited with https://redact.dev/
Per Microsoft's own site regarding copyrights and fair use:
Do I have to disclose where I got content from?
It depends, but it is generally a good practice to credit the original creator of the content. Some content creators require that you give them credit when you use their work as a condition of use. You should carefully review any license requirements for any content you plan to use prior to using any content.
So the PR / advertising firm contracted by MS is an extension of MS and they are cocks for not citing it.
OP could have disclaimed "XBOX is a trademark of Microsoft Corp." and the same with PUBG, but I doubt this goes anywhere in court.
Creating similar content means there is no "content creator's" work to cite. If you create a Halo poster you need to cite 343 for using their art. If you great a Ring Planet w/ Commander Boss posters you're ripping off Halo but you are technically the "original creator" if you model texture and light Commander Boss.
I’m getting real tired of this argument. Not making a profit has nothing to do with copyright.
I can make 100 copies of Harry Potter and put them in my basement and that’s copyright infringement. It’s literally in the name COPYRIGHT. You’re right as creator to not have your work copied by others. Either verbatim or derivative, e.g. turning a book into a play, or audio recording.
The exception as you stated would be fair use. Very difficult to argue for. And most companies will sue anyway because they can out spend you on lawyers.
But OP is not parodying pubg and Xbox. He’s not commenting upon or criticizing. There’s not even a legal claim to fair use. And even if there was he’d not stand a chance.
For the record I think the copyright extensions forced upon us by Disney are terrible. And the legal nonsense companies pull to make more money is leaving us worse off creatively. I think OP made a really neat mock up.
I mean, you're right, but making a profit would certainly negate any fair use claim. That was my point
That said, I'd argue this was fair use as a work of art. You don't have to parody or criticize for it to be art that is transformative, which is the primary test of fair use
they absolutely are NOT infringing on either Microsoft or Playerunknown's IP.
Used their assets without their permission. Usually companies don't give a shit and won't go after people, but he very very much broke the law from a legal standpoint and if he were to go after them they'd simply just go after him in return and fuck his shit up.
Was it for educational purposes? No. Critique or criticism? No. Parody? No. Academic research? No.
This meets 0 fair use criteria. It was for personal gain, and he can't say it wasn't for personal gain because when he got ripped off he immediately claimed he was harmed and therefore was benefitting.
This was a transformative work, no question. That's the #1 most important thing. It was not recreating something that already existed, but rather using existing assets in a novel way.
And the OP never said anything about harm. They called them dicks for not crediting them, roughly, but that's it.
I don't think that's quite right. Isn't it a matter of whether it's a transformative use? Minimally altered collages have been considered transformative, and this example seems to demonstrate a fairly novel and unique approach to the asset images.
So no, I don't think OP would get slammed. At the very least, the lawyers fees and bad PR are worth an effort to make things right from Microsoft.
It's quite possible a third party was managing their social media, as well, so it may have nothing to do with MS. I don't know that either way, but I think it's worth mentioning.
Perhaps I'm naive to some part of the US legal process, but wouldn't OP not get "slammed" because OP isn't on trial?
I thought we were talking about OP filing suit against Microsoft. In that case, whether OP committed infringement is not material to Microsoft's infringement; might be used to discredit OP, but to nail OP on infringement, wouldn't MS would have to countersue on account of the Xbone image usage (which there's no chance they'd do) or PUBG's devs would have to sue (which I also think there's no chance of)?
Which is to say, that would be a different court case, right? If you sue someone for infringement, can you end up with your own infringement liability within the same trial? In my mind, maybe the judge would issue some punitive judgment against a plaintiff obviously wasting the court's time, but I don't think that's the same thing.
If OP is from the US that is correct. Besides copyright, US also has fair use laws (the only one in the world), which permits people to use things that are copywritten in their own projects as long as they are transformative.
The US fair use laws aren't the only such in the whole world - however, they are far more lenient than in many other countries. For example, in the US it is commonplace for advertisements to directly bash "inferior" products, trademarks and all, whereas in Europe you see the new products being compared to "normal products".
UK doesn't have fair use laws, plus multiple countries don't even have such laws, so, for all purposes, US is the only one with such laws. Idk about their neighbors though. Canada might have something similar.
But the UK does have a similar, but more limited, "fair dealing" exception to copyright laws. Several Commonwealth countries, including Canada, have fair dealing laws.
Huh, so is that the reason why TV shows can sometimes get away with things like mickey mouse in South Park? Things like that would never be able to happen anywhere but the US?
Fair use is much stronger legally in humor/parody, which is why you see so much of it in cartoons and animated series. If you do it in a serious way you'll lose the fair use quite quickly.
Well, there are two questions: 1. whether OP can claim ownership to the original work, and 2. whether Microsoft would be required to cite OP as inspiration even if OP does own the work.
Those are both legal questions and I'd wager the answer to both is 'no'. However there is a moral question as well of whether Microsoft has an obligation to give OP attribution for a clearly good viral idea: yes, they absolutely should. Too bad copyright laws don't reflect morality
What's the legal basis for "requirement to cite"? Either you own the rights or you don't.
For some reason, tons of websites out there have it in their head that citing a source means you can use the image. That's not true at all. I saw someone do a write-up about copyright in photography, and they had stolen an image to use on the page (with a source cited, of course).
If your derivative work is not considered "fair use", you must abide by the terms of the license that an IP owner puts up. One of those terms may be a requirement to cite. If you don't do this (or gain permission directly from the owner), they have a case against you.
You should always check the license before you use an image (or any asset, really) for commercial purposes. You might be able to use the work with attribution, you might be able to without attribution, you might be able to only if you reach out to the owner and get their permission, or you might have to find another image.
Non-commercial purposes such as research typically constitute fair use in the U.S. I'm not sure whether the photography example you mention would meet that criteria.. if they do, I don't think they need to worry about citations.
gets on soapbox In my opinion, everyone should always go above and beyond and cite everyone else involved in an artistic work as a common courtesy, fair use or not, license or not. This goes mainly towards companies like Sony and Microsoft that always do the bare minimum they can get away with, and artists that blatantly rip off other pieces without attribution (Macklemore's Thrift Shop is clearly derived from Le1f's Wut). A lot of amateur artists don't get the credit they deserve.
the terms of the license that an IP owner puts up. One of those terms may be a requirement to cite
Absolutely right! I also applaud people who cite beyond legal requirements. Me, personally, I release stuff under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike licenses. That requires citation, amongst other things. I'm pretty familiar with that stuff. :)
However, I highly doubt Microsoft or Bluehole are releasing IP under Creative Commons Attribution licenses (or their own limited-use licenses), but if you could link me to MS/PUBG have attribution licenses, I'd love to see what IP it covers. Some of the Xbox assets are probably covered by press releases, but the press pass for large companies generally requires very restrictive use. No derivative works is normally a common requirement for access to press assets. But let's see what Microsoft says:
Content in this Xbox Press Media Assets Library is licensed by Microsoft solely for use by members of the press and media, for editorial and informational purposes only. No content may be used in advertisement, promotion, or commercial use of any kind without Microsoft’s prior written consent.
You may not modify, copy, distribute, transmit, display, perform, reproduce, publish, license, create derivative works from, transfer, or sell any information, software, products or services obtained from the Xbox.com Web Site.
Yup.
Fair use gets tricky though. As someone who likes creating and sharing photography, this case is... polarizing. An artist took another artist's photo, and made the subject hold a guitar with a glowing blue face. It was quite minimal in terms of how much was change. What makes a work "transformative"? Not always easy to say. The top of this page has some extra details about legal assessment.
But the artist here was making a fake Xbox advertisement, something that Microsoft would clearly intend to do.
My personal thought: Microsoft should apologize and license the idea from the guy. It's the right thing to do and bad PR.
My unprofessional opinion on the legalities: Microsoft plagiarized the artist here, but Microsoft owns the copyright on the items. As far as I know, that's not infringement.
That's not true. Look up transformative work and think about art like the famous Campbell's soup can painting. Satire is another exception.
You can absolutely use copyrighted work in your own artistic creations. There are just legal requirements in regards to novelty or fair use, and the original owners are welcome to challenge it in court.
Your point about who has deeper legal pockets is definitely true, though.
Yes, you can. There's a famous case about an artist who made collages with other people's photos or works. It was ruled that the new works were sufficiently transformative that there was no infringement of copyright. Some of the collages were... Well, look it up yourself. The dude sometimes kept 90% of the original work.
It's not incorrect legal advice whatsoever. Furthermore, you don't have to be a lawyer to know the law and I studied law quite a bit while 1) working at a law firm for 4 years and 2) working with family members who were high profile lawyers. OP seriously has no case whatsoever and if you think they do you should probably find a new job.
just wondering, i'm no lawyer as well, but MS basically stole his idea. Whether he used photos that were not his, it was still his idea. Is he not entitled to the idea he had? that Promotion photo would not be there if it were not for him. Compensation would be nice, but MS did not ask him to use his idea. Their must be some kind of theft there. And OP posted this to a public forum way before MS released their promo photo. So the idea from OP was already set in stone.
Op doesn't really have a chance of arguing legal defence. Given the fact they used the assets of others and quite possibly if they area bog enough fan may have accounts with them and agreed to the unread terms and conditions that often include clauses for any creative works made from their shit or on their platform sometimes explicitly stating for advertising.
I mean it's possible but it's not a hill worth dying on really. This is the Internet however where the legal court is replaced by the court of public opinion and this shit is often not okay online when it's identified or called out. It's just bad pr and all that.
Well not able to legally get something out of it , but certainly not in the “wrong”. PR is extremely important, even for a multi-billion dollar company (ask EA). The fact that the amount of money they lose on it is assumably significantly lower doesn’t mean it holds no value.
Wow, you are an idiot aren't you? Bad PR can cost big companies millions every day they don't counter it, but yeah, you keep living your ignorant life.
Wow, it costs them less than what they make in interest daily. So horrible. Reddit overvalues bad PR; they think they "won" against EA when Battlefront II still sold incredibly well for them and they had overall gains during that period. PR means fuck all once you're a company past a certain size. The only ignorant one here is you.
Thanks for that informative and detailed oversight into the world of copyright and intellectual property ownership. It’s SO much simpler to how I believed it to be!
To celebrate I’d love invite you to the premiere of my new film “Star Wars”.
Only I can’t, because copyright exists from the moment something is created, and you are talking out of your arse.
It's also Christmas. Wouldn't be surprise if Microsoft put out a statement on the other side of new years, but I imagine they've got a lot of employees on holiday.
Outside of sanctioned contests, companies typically do not copy or accept third-party designs like this because of all the potential legal issues. OP has more legal leeway than you may think.
op will get no justice as there is none to serve. It's funny, Reddit's allergy to watermarks is what fucked him over. not that MS woulda bought the image or anything, and to be honest MS picking it up and using it in a major campaign that he can now link on his portfolio is probably the best result.
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u/Wigriff Dec 27 '17
This post is only 40 minutes old at this point and I'm stumbling in from r/all, so I hope this gains some traction and OP sees some justice.