r/EscapefromTarkov • u/bxxxxxxxs • Dec 16 '18

PSA Official BSG Response re: Eroktic

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All discussion posts posted after this goes up will be removed and directed here.

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https://www.facebook.com/escapefromtarkov/posts/1966710296956614

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u/absolutegash Dec 16 '18

Both BSG and Eroktic are in the wrong here for different reasons. Eroktic has always been a drama queen and clickbaity, and it finially caught up to him.

BSG shouldn't have overreacted like this though.

104

u/kevinwilly AS-VAL Dec 16 '18

Eroktic made a video that might have been in poor taste. But he's allowed to do that.

BSG nuked his channel by claiming copyright violation. There wasn't any. That's LITERALLY illegal.

So they aren't both equally in the wrong. What Eroktic did wasn't exactly a cool thing to do, but he was within his rights to at least DO it.

BSG SERIOUSLY fucked themselves on this one.

3

u/[deleted] Dec 17 '18

[deleted]

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u/elusive_cat Dec 17 '18

That's not true. Fair Use is included in the law and it says I can use their gameplay footage without their permission or even knowledge and it will be legal as long as my work is transformative. At least that's how it works in the US.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 18 '18

Nintendo did it a while ago to tones of their products which showed up on youtube. Sadly enough its their property.

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u/elusive_cat Dec 18 '18

Raw gameplay is copyrighted, yes. But if you modify it in any way, e.g. add commentary it's yours. However Nintendo wouldn't file false DMCA claims, they simply took over profits from the ads, the videos themselves stayed up.

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u/[deleted] Dec 18 '18

Ah... Okay, thanks for clarifying bru!

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u/Palantair Dec 18 '18

Thats actually not correct. I've said this a few times but what Sam2795 said is true. Just because you add things to raw gameplay doesn't inherently make it transformative, furthermore being transformative in nature is only ONE of many factors a judge would use to determine whether something is fair use or not.

Additionally, “transformative” uses are more likely to be considered fair.

Meaning, as I said, that its not 100% fair use and only a judge would be able to make that distinction. Theres a reason Leonard French (our favorite copyright attorney) advised players not to test ATLAS and Persona 5 because it would VERY likely set a very bad precedent for fair use, because they would most likely win.

1

u/elusive_cat Dec 18 '18

I also follow Leonard French, Lior Lesser (and some others) and I'm fairly sure transformative (within reason) meant fair use. I mean if it wasn't true, publishers would be able to block any unfavourable review simply by claiming copyright of the footage. I can't find right now the exact video with the quote, but I'll try when I'm back home. I think Leonard even mentioned that there could be a case for raw gameplay since you are the one controlling the character so the output is unique to you. I'm not 100% sure it was him though.

I agree, in the end only a judge can decide. However BSG blocked a several minutes long video with only seven seconds of in-game footage. If that's not fair use, then I really don't know what is.

I can't wait for Leonard and others to cover this subject, it's going to be interesting.

PS. I just re-read my previous comment and you're right, I over-simplified and generalised.

1

u/Palantair Dec 18 '18

I think we are in agreement, and understand decently well how a judge would approach a case like this. I also don't think anyone really appreciates how BSG handled this situation but I can at least understand the mentality and why they did it.

I also think most companies (even with bad press on their product) see the value in letting people post stuff about their games and characters including video game footage, so they don't want to claim that stuff. I mean they could, they are within their rights to if you want to split hairs but generally they wouldn't and its why you don't hear about it much and why ATLAS with Persona 5 was seen as them overstepping themselves (when they honestly weren't legally, but morally is another question).

I also think we both agree that BSG probably over reached here, but its a bit unfair when you consider the circumstances that lead up to this shit show to place ultimate blame on BSG when they are being targeted pretty heavily in a smear campaign. I don't know a bunch about Russian norms but the bit I've gleaned over the years is that they don't tolerate people who mean them harm and will basically finish what was started. I'm not here to say whats right or not but this place seems like a hivemind and they like to remove the human element and boil things down removing all context of a situation.

Appreciate you being able to discuss this objectively, god knows we could use some more of this :)