Topic: The Removal of the Freedom Force Resource Forums

[Glitch Girl]

I received an email last night from our hosts which I have included below.

Short version: we have been accused of copyright infringement and trademark violation in the Freedom Reborn Resource section by a former member of this site.  This is why, with heavy heart we must close this section for the time being.  I cannot say if we will be able to reopen it in the future, if at all.  I wish I could, but unfortunately, if Freedom Reborn is to continue at all, we are forced to make this consession.

More information as it becomes avaiable.

Hello: We are contacting you as the primary registered contact for your site presently on file with Lunarpages.com. We have received a formal copyright infringement claim as to certain information contained on your web site which complies with our established format requirements and 17 USC section 512(c)(3). We are including a copy of the complaint herewith. The claim, among other things, identifies specific material which is allegedly being infringed and states under penalty of perjury that the use of the material on the web site unauthorized and that the complainant is either the owner or is authorized by the owner to assert the right to the work and that no right has been granted for use on your web site. We are not making any determination on the merit of this claim. However, based upon our receipt of this claim according to Lunarpages policy which complies with the safe harbor provisions of 17 U.S.C. section 512(c), Lunarpages must disable access to the pages identified below until we receive from you a counter notification pursuant to 17 U.S.C. section 512(g)(3) which provides the following: (a) Your full and complete name, address, and telephone number, and a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of Federal District Court for the judicial district in which your address is located, or if your address is outside of the United States, for any Federal District Court judicial district in which you may be found, and that you will accept service of process from the person who provided the original notice of infringement or an agent of that person at your address. (b) A statement from you under penalty of perjury that you have a good faith belief that the material in question has been or is about to be removed as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material. © Your physical or electronic signature. Upon receipt of the above counter notification from you we can release the restriction placed on your site. LunarPages is a strong supporter of Copyright and Trademark rights on the Internet. We believe that we have adopted a fair, comprehensive policy toward the protection of those rights and we look forward to assisting you in any way possible in this regard to ensure a fair, appropriate and expeditious response toward the protection of those rights. Of course if you should have any further questions, comments or concerns regarding this matter please do not hesitate to let us know. Very truly yours, Lunarpages Legal


I am no longer a member of the online game modding community found at www.FreedomReborn.net. Since my moving on, this community continues to provide my work for it's other members when this is not appropriate. This site is hosted by your services. Furthermore, beyond my own work, this online community is a game modding community in which the members specialize in creating content which is primarily the intellectual property of Marvel Entertainment and DC Comics for use in the gaming environment. While I am not an authorized agent of either firm, it may be desirable to pursue having that community remove all content owned by those parties in advance, as I intend to notify those firms of this site, promptly, so that they may exercise their copyright as well. In compliance with your instructions, the below conditions are satisfied with regard to my own copyright claim. 1. A physical or electronic signature of the owner of the copyrighted work or an authorized agent of that owner. italpornstar, ips, or [name deleted] 2. identification of the copyrighted work alleged to have been infringed. all posts works ranging from simple posts to tutorial/instructional posts, to posts distributing my game textures, special fx etc. made by me (ips) initially. 3. identification of the allegedly infringing material sufficiently precise to allow Lunarpages to locate the material. all posts by the member name of "ips" found on the online forum/community at FreedomReborn.net 4. Adequate information by which we can contact the complaining party specifically including a physical postal address, telephone number and email address. [address deleted]. a proper statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted material is not authorized by the copyright owner, the copyright owners agent or the law. No party is allowed to host, distribute or continue to do so, any work I have created without my permission, including online communities which I am no longer a part of, (as in this case). 6. a statement under penalty of perjury that the information in the notice is true and correct. and This statement is completely true and sincere. 7. a statement under penalty of perjury that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner. I am authorized to act on my own behalf. Thank you in advance,[name deleted])

Could a mod please "annouce" this?  Thank you

UPDATE:

Since I posted the abobe, all of IPS's posts have been deleted as per the email's demand. I have informed our hosts of this and the removal of the resource forum.  Now all we can do is wait and see what happens.  (This information was also posted below, but I added it up here for clarity sake).

[lugaru]

Wait, what?! I mean I get it but... sigh...

[AfghanAnt]

Wait, what?! I mean I get it but... sigh...

There is nothing to get. He's being petty and taking it out on us all.

[tommyboy]

I would hope that at least those who create original work not based on any copyrighted characters can find somewhere to post their works for use in Freedom Force or FFv3R.
As to the rest....no comment, it speaks for itself.

[bearded]

we are a strong community. 
so...on to the original character designs!  for now, anyway.
i want to say thank you to GG and the titans for keeping the community forums alive, if limited.
maybe a single topic for ppl to showcase original creations?

[Zapow]

Also, if you host copyrighted material for Freedom Force on a website, this complaint just painted a big bullseye on you.

We don't host or distribute copyrighted content so this part of his complaint is baseless. Howver, you guys do. Complaints to DC and Marvel open the entire community to C&D orders. I don't know if that was his plan but that is the direct result.

[AfghanAnt]

Also, if you host copyrighted material for Freedom Force on a website, this complaint just painted a big bullseye on you.

We don't host or distribute copyrighted content so this part of his complaint is baseless. Howver, you guys do. Complaints to DC and Marvel open the entire community to C&D orders. I don't know if that was his plan but that is the direct result.

I don't think he realized that his attack on FR would spill over onto other sites but I'm positive we will see some site go offline or dump content soon.

[lugaru]

Honestly it does not affect me that much since these day's I'm mostly here for conversation, I have not done a skin or even had FF installed for about a year. On the other hand for the sake of everyone else I hope we can fish his contributions out of the pool, pour in some more chlorine and get back to buisness as usual. Shame too, I always liked the guy, despite the attitude.

[TaskMasterX]

Umm... FR doesn't host anything. Not Marvel, DC or IPS stuff. There are just links to sites with such things. Isn't there a difference? Can't it be explained to your hosts that this guy is simply angry at being banned and is making false accusations?

[bearded]

Umm... FR doesn't host anything. Not Marvel, DC or IPS stuff. There are just links to sites with such things. Isn't there a difference? Can't it be explained to your hosts that this guy is simply angry at being banned and is making false accusations?

i think the issue is his posts.  his posts would have to be removed.  they provide pics of his artwork that is accessable by this forum.

[BWPS]

I'm a fool at the legalese but wouldn't deleting all of IPS's old posts fix his whiny baby problem?

[TaskMasterX]

Umm... FR doesn't host anything. Not Marvel, DC or IPS stuff. There are just links to sites with such things. Isn't there a difference? Can't it be explained to your hosts that this guy is simply angry at being banned and is making false accusations?

i think the issue is his posts.  his posts would have to be removed.  they provide pics of his artwork that is accessable by this forum.

Then by all means, do it.

[bearded]

claim as to certain information contained on your web site

that you have a good faith belief that the material in question has been or is about to be removed as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material.

those 2 things seem extremely relevant to me.  i would say all of his posts need to be deleted.  even the posts in non ff forums.

[Panther_Gunn]

The problem I have with that whole claim (at least that part of it) is that how can general posts made of his own free will be considered copyright, and not just him posting his opinion and thoughts?  I don't think that everything we say and type is instantly copyrightable.

[Johnny Patches]

 
 this is really shocking news   like there isnt enough b.s. going on in the world today
just more to pile on the mess thats been created

[M25]

 

Can't fault the board admins for protecting themselves and/or the site, though.  Hopefully this can be resolved.

[Zapow]

The problem is that this site will be shut down very soon regardless of the merit of his claim. Our host doesn't investigate first. They take away access and then the accused has to prove the claim is baseless.

Removing his posts are no problem. But as I've stated before, ips put the entire community in the crosshairs by complaining to Marvel and DC. Removing the Freedom Force portion of this message board is a precaution to protect you guys, not us.

I'm going to break one of our rules here and air some dirty laundry. Given the circumstances I think it is warranted.

This is the reply Randy received from ips when he was banned.

thanks for that honest deposition that just amounts to Zapow and MikeB7 just don't like me.

there was nothing pointless and needless in these disputes at all. and you all know it. the sad thing is that this is all petty vindictive crap. but, that's ok, 'cause i'm pretty good at vindictive.

This is part of message between ips and Gdaybloke from last night.

So, you left a bunch of chumps on power trips in charge. While you were gone, they picked on someone who doesn't take crap. What did you expect? Dirty? Not so much, considering. They set the tone and I just kept up the pace. That's my "side". I think it's a little bit unrealistic to not expect this sort of response considering their actions.

I just don't want there to be any misconceptions as to why ips made this complaint.

[Lionheart]

Unfortunately, if he goes through with his threat to contact Marvel and DC, posting any of their stuff could still get us into trouble.

For me, I mostly do original stuff so I'm not affected that much. I see no reason why original material could not be posted still.

It's sad. Here a long term member of the community gets himself in trouble with the forum and proceeds to try to obliterate us, not just with the web host, but to make legal trouble for us with Marvel and DC. Considering that he did mostly Marvel and DC skins himself, it shows the hypocrisy and utter vindictiveness of his action. He's not just striking out at the people who banned him or those he might have had conflict with on the forum, he's striking out at all of us.

Sorry for the commentary. It's just very frustrating to see this kind of thing happen.

[bearded]

is it possible to use the same web address and have a different server?  i'm willing to put up a monthly donation.

[BentonGrey]

I am utterly disgusted by this.  How could someone be so selfish and hypocritical?  I could rant for pages, but there doesn't seem to be much point.  Admins, thanks for the heads up and for working to blunt the blow.

Forgive my ignorance of the matter pertaining to maintaing a forum, but if someone OWNED their own server, and FR was hosted by this person....would we be safe from this kind of thing?

[doctorchallenger]

I really wish this wasn't a family friendly forum right now, so that I could express my true feelings, using the language such an occasion deserves.  Not that it would be productive, but it would make me feel better. 

As BG just said a big thank you to the admins. You don't desrve this.

[Glitch Girl]

UPDATE:

All of IPS's posts have been deleted as per the email's demand. I have informed our hosts of this and the removal of the resource forum.  Now all we can do is wait and see what happens.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Well, the site's been shut down before.  If we have to be shut down for a bit while we dispute the claim, I can think of worst.

The fact is, according to the host's own policies, the complainer has to be the owner of the copyrights, so IPS can only post about his own stuff.  To make it worse, all the links to his stuff were ones that he put up, so it's a petty thing.

At any rate, if all his stuff is down we should be able to resolve this.

As to Marvel and DC, I doubt we'll have too much trouble.  Fan made works are pretty common.  The one site that was pulled down had some stuff going on that went beyond just fan works.  In addition, DC seems to be pretty cool about stuff like this generally.  Only Marvel has a history of going overboard, and then only about big name, popular stuff, which our community definitely isn't.

Still, I can't believe he did this.  If he was trying to get back at the admins, he hurt a LOT more people than that.  He could, in effect, shut down the entire community for essentially not agreeing with him.

[clownprince]

  all i can say is wow. here i am enjoying the game again. and boom someone really let loose. 

[wickerman]

IMo the idea that he will contact Marvel and DC and say 'hey FR has your copyrighted work on it - oh and by the way, A TON of it was put there by ME - is pretty unlikely.  He's a 2 year old throwing a fit.  Hopefully removal of his stuff will end the issue.

Take heart folks, karma is a real thing - scumbags generally get theirs in the end...


P.S.  someone print this post and save it - I think this maybe th eonly time I have ever actually flamed someone in my life!!  I'm such a troll!!!   

[bearded]

the letter from lunarpages states that it is an issue with the individual.
i understand taking down all the things just in case.  but it looked to me like, the only way lunarpages would demand the marvel and dc taken down is if an agent of either contacted them.
so, not only does ips have to contact both, they then have to contact lunarpages.
i remember the dc/marvel panic years ago.  and they never cared about us at all.

[style]

Yeah I was here then too bearded. The reason why they don't care about us is because we are not trying to making any profit in selling anything. (This is truely like a Marvel comic story right now! Sheesh!)

[Sledgehammer]

Wow. I can't believe this...

I'm a law student myself. And even though codes, legislations and judge criteria may vary from one country to another (and I'm neither American nor living in the USA), from what I understand, he is making two points:

* To remove his stuff (from posts to personal creations). Since this site doesn't host any files, I guess the elimination of his posts will suffice. And it's already been done.

* To contact Marvel and DC. This seems threatening, but it only depends on the companies' attitude towards the subject. On one hand, I find it hard to believe that Marvel and DC don't know about Freedom Force and its community. Okay, we're not big, but back in the day, FF was probably the first successful superhero videogame. And this problem has been mentioned to death since then, without any major repercussions, as far as I recall. Both companies aren't unfamiliar with Modding, and big selling games have been modded too (think X-Men Legends/Marvel: Ultimate Alliance) without any serious legal problem. Those sites are still up and running -I know that those games are Marvel related and this one isn't, and that's quite a difference, but I digress-.

On the other hand, as Cat said, Marvel has a history of avoiding copyright infringements. But I don't think they have closed down sites related to videogames in recent times. They do have demanded the elimination of torrent links containing their comics, but that's a different matter altogether and their position is quite logical and understandable.

Many thanks to the admins for their hard work. Hopefully this will be solved real soon. Let's keep this community together: don't let the vindictiveness of one individual hurt us as a whole. I believe that, in spite of this turmoil, we will end up still standing, somehow - either here or in another site, we'll see.

[lugaru]

Still I expect nothing to come from the Marvel and DC angle, I've writen many a post about how we are not really all that on their radar. 90% of the censorship of copywrited material has been self inflicted, and the one website that got smacked hard was mostly for their Sims content since that was much higher profile than FF.

I even e-mailed marvel a long while back asking them to ease up on the mod community and perhaps even celebrate their actions (kind of like they did with that I'm a Marvel guy) since all they do is raise brand awareness for free. Ultimately I realized that as fanatical as most companies are with their brands, the comic book ones are not especially bad or good. I think they where just woried that people where going to take advantage of the vagely sexual undertone of the sims to post some really damaging "marvel vs dc" images. But ever since Sims 2 they have not said a thing.

[steamteck]

I'm stunned for all the problems he caused, I always thought he meant well and cared enough about the community to never do anything like this. Well I hope we can just ridden it out. There is still some brilliant stuff being produced. Maybe some of the best ever.