Scratch

meew0 wrote:

Namco deleted somehow a pac-man project here, just because it has the copyrights on pacman.

The Scratch team were forced to take it down.

scratch_yoshi wrote:

I am still on Namco's side.

How would you feel if your Ace Attorney projects were taken down?

johndo77 wrote:

scratch_yoshi wrote:

I am still on Namco's side.

How would you feel if your Ace Attorney projects were taken down?

I'd respect that it was copywright law and I'd delete all my copyright-infringing projects.

waveOSBeta wrote:

umm... that's what you say you would do. I would fight for my rights.

+1

agscratcher wrote:

waveOSBeta wrote:

umm... that's what you say you would do. I would fight for my rights.

+1

+90000000

This thread needs a button!

[url=http://qr.net/b7yi][img]http://qr.net/b7yh[/img][/url]

Last edited by ThePCKid (2011-05-22 15:54:41)

waveOSBeta wrote:

Niice... Can you make one for the petition, too? 

Sure!

GarSkutherGirl wrote:

agscratcher wrote:

waveOSBeta wrote:

umm... that's what you say you would do. I would fight for my rights.

+1

+90000000

-9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999

Copyrights don't usually affect Scratch because of it's education usage, and it invokes a little thing called fair use.

Last edited by Earthboundjeff (2011-05-22 16:59:03)

Exactly. 

scratch_yoshi wrote:

johndo77 wrote:

scratch_yoshi wrote:

I am still on Namco's side.

How would you feel if your Ace Attorney projects were taken down?

I'd respect that it was copywright law and I'd delete all my copyright-infringing projects.

If you don't mind me asking: how come you don't just delete those projects outright, then? Leaving those projects up there while acknowledging copyright law is just like stealing something and acknowledging that it is wrong to do. 

waveOSBeta wrote:

Dear Namco Bandai,

I’m sure that you are aware that many people have been angry at you for taking down a pac-man project on Scratch (scratch.mit.edu). Under normal circumstances, this would be fine. However, you do not send DCMA notices to the thousands of flash remakes of the same game. Also, Scratch is an educational site, and therefore should be exempted from such rules. A list of scratch members that support this can be found here.

Sincerely, [my name].


Soo.... Shall I send it? xD

It's an okay letter, but for me, it sounds kind of... short. 

You'll probably want to hit on the point of Fair Use, that:
1) the point of creating and releasing the Pac-Man project was for educational purposes. Fair Use allows for the use of copyrighted materials to be used if it is for educational purposes. Releasing a project on Scratch allows for people to learn from each other's work and thus furthers the educational purposes - so the project should be considered under the terms of Fair Use.

2) the project in no way compromises the financial stability and integrity of the Namco Bandai company. This I find the most important part since this is the main argument for Fair Use in a copyright case; and highly I doubt Namco Bandai lost millions of dollars over this Scratch project being released online.

A second point you may want to give is that many people learn by imitating what is around them: just as people learn to draw from image references, it's natural for users to figure out programming from trying to imitate one of their favorite games.

Last edited by cheddargirl (2011-05-23 07:24:33)

cheddargirl wrote:

waveOSBeta wrote:

Dear Namco Bandai,

I’m sure that you are aware that many people have been angry at you for taking down a pac-man project on Scratch (scratch.mit.edu). Under normal circumstances, this would be fine. However, you do not send DCMA notices to the thousands of flash remakes of the same game. Also, Scratch is an educational site, and therefore should be exempted from such rules. A list of scratch members that support this can be found here.

Sincerely, [my name].


Soo.... Shall I send it? xD

It's an okay letter, but for me, it sounds kind of... short. 

You'll probably want to hit on the point of Fair Use, that:
1) the point of creating and releasing the Pac-Man project was for educational purposes. Fair Use allows for the use of copyrighted materials to be used if it is for educational purposes. Releasing a project on Scratch allows for people to learn from each other's work and thus furthers the educational purposes - so the project should be considered under the terms of Fair Use.

2) the project in no way compromises the financial stability and integrity of the Namco Bandai company. This I find the most important part since this is the main argument for Fair Use in a copyright case; and highly I doubt Namco Bandai lost millions of dollars over this Scratch project being released online.

A second point you may want to give is that many people learn by imitating what is around them: just as people learn to draw from image references, it's natural for users to figure out programming from trying to imitate one of their favorite games.

Yea, I have the same feeling about the letter.

In fact, I think I am going to send my own letter, with cheddargirl's suggestions.

It is time for Namco to learn their lesson. 

Last edited by fire219 (2011-05-23 08:34:12)

Hello Namco-Bandai,

As you are aware of (and if not, have been reminded by other e-mails), that you sent a DMCA notice to the Scratch Team requiring them to remove 124scratch's Pac-man project. This would be fine with me, the Scratch Team, and all of the other 200,000+ "Scratchers", if you had also sent DMCA notices to the thousands of free flash versions of Pac-man that are all over the internet. But instead, you targeted 124scratch's project only, and angered the before-mentioned 200,000+ Scratchers, and probably made sure that they will no longer buy any of your products.

One thing you may have overlooked is Scratch is for educational purposes, and therefore is protected by Fair Use. Fair Use allows copyrighted materials to be used for educational purposes. Since 124scratch shared the project with others, there is no doubt that the project was protected by Fair Use. Also, the project did not, and would not affect the financial strength and integrity of the Namco-Bandai company or brand. In fact, the financial strength of Namco-Bandai is more likely to suffer from the 200,000+ Scratchers not buying your products.

One last thing is that people, especially kids, learn best from copying their favorite thing or game. As you can see from how most, if not all, of 124scratch's projects are inspired by Pac-Man.

As you see,  124scratch's project was not infringing copyright law, or Namco-Bandai's intellectual property. It was quite wrong for you to send that DMCA notice, and may even have broken a few laws yourselves.

Sincerely,
Matthew (last name here) (fire219 on Scratch)   

What do you guys think?

Last edited by fire219 (2011-05-23 10:05:46)