Legal Rights

[Barney's_Soul]

Then you would choose to play a free product based on your favorite anime series that happens to be better then an official release, in which you must purchase to play.
Right?

Huh....well if FUnination felt threatened by a FREE mod then they would issue a Cease and Deciest order....get it? Licensed DBZ games are made by developers full-time, and they recieve a paycheck unlike the ESF team, so you can't say that ESF is better then say Budokai 3. I think you missed my point anyway.

 

[-Nataku-]

There are a few flaws in that plan though. Firstly and most obviously, FUNi know of ZeQ2. They know it's unfinished. If they ever found out that it had been completed and distributed after they sent the legal notice they'd rape everyone involved (well, Zeth anyway).

There is no way of continuing work on the internet without the big corporations spotting it, if an 11-year old with Google can find warez then it's not going to be much harder for a trained IT team to track down ZeQ2.

Not realy i meened that, If they want to continue with zeq2.. it can no longer be
zeq2.... they cant post on forums thing like " hey zeq2 has beed shot dawn everybody, but just look at this nev zeq2 media but dont tell anyone its a zeq2 content" no.. the point is to post the media as a fanart, so many models are posted through out the web resambling goku and they are out of suspection couse no one says that they will be standing for characters of a super game. THe point is.. Go on with zeq2 , but dont ever say its zeq2.. change the content a bit, post work as fan art,post it ocasionaly, no webpage, maybe only a forum( wievable for members only ) CHaracters name will be changed, . They can stop them from making a mod called zeq2, but there is just no mutual right to stop peoples around the world from making things resambling DBZ...I bet that there is a solution to this case... RIO did you thinked about moving into hl2 engine? its far more diferent from q3? If you would move to Hl2 i think that this whole Valve and steam defence could reach zeq2.. just like it happens with esf...And i m sure of 1 thing, if you post a pic of a char resambling piccolo they just cant stop you from having it at your web site... as long as its named picolo, i bet if you would just change the names the whole case would be solved. Someone even gived a good example with guns in CS, we all know that the names are changed.. They changed the names .. but not the look.. a modeling resambling M16 is still resamling an M16 gun, but its called diferent so the guns companies cant lay their fingers on the copyright's. I bet if you would just simply change the names of the characters the problem would be solved... but its just a theory, im not an expert...sry if this went offtopic, but i think that zeq2 is the best example to talk about when a mod is closed by some retarded basstards from Uni

 

[PiXel]

Our host got contacted by Funimation, then our host had started removing copyright material from the site. We tried to resolve the issue with our host but they said ask Funimation for permission. Chance of permission is as low as them replying back to us. If we got a new host, Funimation would ask that host to remove content as well, would basically be a cat and mouse game. So we're throwing around some ideas with what to do.

Do you think contacting Funimation would work?

To get a mail back, yes but to get the Permanission - Never.

though the only way to get all down for urself is only that you?ve buying an own server, means, you buy for like 400$ like a new copmuter where you can put everything to get it hosted and get servers on the net. So the FUNi wont be able to remove your work. thats the only way wich could work. Otherwise they will tell you some shizzle like: If you wont remove it well sue you, they wont be able to... thats a longer story, but matter in fact, to do that would cost you more money and more stress.

 

[MC]

Not realy i meened that, If they want to continue with zeq2.. it can no longer be
zeq2.... they cant post on forums thing like " hey zeq2 has beed shot dawn everybody, but just look at this nev zeq2 media but dont tell anyone its a zeq2 content" no.. the point is to post the media as a fanart, so many models are posted through out the web resambling goku and they are out of suspection couse no one says that they will be standing for characters of a super game. THe point is.. Go on with zeq2 , but dont ever say its zeq2.. change the content a bit, post work as fan art,post it ocasionaly, no webpage, maybe only a forum( wievable for members only ) CHaracters name will be changed, . They can stop them from making a mod called zeq2, but there is just no mutual right to stop peoples around the world from making things resambling DBZ...I bet that there is a solution to this case... RIO did you thinked about moving into hl2 engine? its far more diferent from q3? If you would move to Hl2 i think that this whole Valve and steam defence could reach zeq2.. just like it happens with esf...And i m sure of 1 thing, if you post a pic of a char resambling piccolo they just cant stop you from having it at your web site... as long as its named picolo, i bet if you would just change the names the whole case would be solved. Someone even gived a good example with guns in CS, we all know that the names are changed.. They changed the names .. but not the look.. a modeling resambling M16 is still resamling an M16 gun, but its called diferent so the guns companies cant lay their fingers on the copyright's. I bet if you would just simply change the names of the characters the problem would be solved... but its just a theory, im not an expert...sry if this went offtopic, but i think that zeq2 is the best example to talk about when a mod is closed by some retarded basstards from Uni

Valve will not defend you unfortunately, how can they? What you base your mods on is your choice and Valve will leave it at that, and they will not become involved in legal matters having to do with your mod being based on something that is copyrighted.

Why does everyone think FUNimation is so bad for doing this? What about those who were remaking Chrono Trigger for the Unreal 2004 engine? That team did so much work and they progressed so much and all at the same time they delievered A+ quality, until Square Enix sent them the dreaded C&D letter. It's the law, laws are made by a government, not a company. A company has the right to enforce these laws if need be. "It's nothing personal, just business". Meaning that a company is trying to protect it's interest regardless of how small the infringement might be, it is simply survival of the fittest in which that company will make sure that they stay on top.

Thousands of C&D letters are sent out daily, lawsuits are being filed daily, some of them happen to be much worse than the closure of a mod.

You see, mods like ESF, ZEQII, BFP, etcetera affect a companies interest. Why? Why not? You have a mod that is constantly being worked on, that is free, a mod that has the potential of becoming much better than the console released games. In turn the company will lose money. The only thing is that the company saw these mods as a potential threat if they were to continue being developed. These mods might not be a threat now, but as they grow, the ideas grow, the development team grows, there could be a good chance that a mod made by a bunch of amateurs can compete with the retail games.

All of what I said is what I think, so I could be wrong. If so, please correct me.

 

[-Nataku-]

Valve will not defend you unfortunately, how can they? What you base your mods on is your choice and Valve will leave it at that, and they will not become involved in legal matters having to do with your mod being based on something that is copyrighted.

Why does everyone think FUNimation is so bad for doing this? What about those who were remaking Chrono Trigger for the Unreal 2004 engine? That team did so much work and they progressed so much and all at the same time they delievered A+ quality, until Square Enix sent them the dreaded C&D letter. It's the law, laws are made by a government, not a company. A company has the right to enforce these laws if need be. "It's nothing personal, just business". Meaning that a company is trying to protect it's interest regardless of how small the infringement might be, it is simply survival of the fittest in which that company will make sure that they stay on top.

Thousands of C&D letters are sent out daily, lawsuits are being filed daily, some of them happen to be much worse than the closure of a mod.

You see, mods like ESF, ZEQII, BFP, etcetera affect a companies interest. Why? Why not? You have a mod that is constantly being worked on, that is free, a mod that has the potential of becoming much better than the console released games. In turn the company will lose money. The only thing is that the company saw these mods as a potential threat if they were to continue being developed. These mods might not be a threat now, but as they grow, the ideas grow, the development team grows, there could be a good chance that a mod made by a bunch of amateurs can compete with the retail games.

All of what I said is what I think, so I could be wrong. If so, please correct me.

My obvious example mentining about Valve is ESF, ESF is still runing and its based on dbz... tbh dunno why you quoted me couse you almost didint anwsered any of my questions or even tried to adjust conversation about my points . But i will wait till RIO or ZETH will anwser, my post was made mostly twards them.. : ]

 

[Optimus Prime]

My obvious example mentining about Valve is ESF, ESF is still runing and its based on dbz... tbh dunno why you quoted me couse you almost didint anwsered any of my questions or even tried to adjust conversation about my points . But i will wait till RIO or ZETH will anwser, my post was made mostly twards them.. : ]

The fact that ESF is on Steam has nothing to do with anything. If Funi sent ESF a cease and desist order, they would have to honour it. They could not use the Steam engine as a defense.

I think the last thing the ZeqII team wants to do is take this lightly. What if they do try to skirt around the issue, go "underground" as many people have suggested and get caught?

They're going to be tied up in so much copyright and non-compliance litigation that they'll all start to wonder if it was really worth it in the first place.

 

[Sephize]

This might have been suggested already, but Super, u got a e-mail about those legal matters right? Can't u reply to that e-mail and ask more info about it?

 

[broli]

The fact that ESF is on Steam has nothing to do with anything. If Funi sent ESF a cease and desist order, they would have to honour it. They could not use the Steam engine as a defense.

I think the last thing the ZeqII team wants to do is take this lightly. What if they do try to skirt around the issue, go "underground" as many people have suggested and get caught?

They're going to be tied up in so much copyright and non-compliance litigation that they'll all start to wonder if it was really worth it in the first place.

Actually O.P. the laws are a bit more strict than that...By starting the mod esf, the esf team had to AGREE on being a LICENSEE of Valve for devolping the mod. As a licensee the only way to resolve it is to going trough the licenser. Since only they have the power to use the law directly on you.
So if funimation directly targeted esf by informing the host without valve's knowing first (like the bastards almost always do) , esf can set charges to that. Eventhough it will have to stop the development later on.

 

[frsrblch]

How can you say its highly unlikely when you don't even know the progress we made? Or even know how long we've been around? We were beyond BFP in a lot of areas, thanks to our dedicated coder RiO. I know, pointless me saying that cause the chance of you guys beliving me is next to zero

Don't say that! Now I have a sense of hope... great.

I never doubted the progress you guys were making, though.

 

[~*Logan*~]

Do you think contacting Funimation would work?

Absolutely not. If they would allow you to make the mod after asking permission, they'd probably allow you to do it even if you didn't ask. I'm sure Funi would say "no."

 

[L]

Our host got contacted by Funimation, then our host had started removing copyright material from the site. We tried to resolve the issue with our host but they said ask Funimation for permission. Chance of permission is as low as them replying back to us. If we got a new host, Funimation would ask that host to remove content as well, would basically be a cat and mouse game. So we're throwing around some ideas with what to do.

Do you think contacting Funimation would work?

I didnt know you needed a website to complete a mod.

The fact that ESF is on Steam has nothing to do with anything. If Funi sent ESF a cease and desist order, they would have to honour it. They could not use the Steam engine as a defense.

I think the last thing the ZeqII team wants to do is take this lightly. What if they do try to skirt around the issue, go "underground" as many people have suggested and get caught?

They're going to be tied up in so much copyright and non-compliance litigation that they'll all start to wonder if it was really worth it in the first place.

FUNI complained about IMAGES.
Nothing to really worry about.
You guys took them too seriously imo.

 

[Zeth]

Do you think contacting Funimation would work?

I do believe Dave was being rhetorical with this question. Thanks for the responses nevertheless though.

I didnt know you needed a website to complete a mod.

As our planned year downtime showed, you do not.

I think the last thing the ZeqII team wants to do is take this lightly. What if they do try to skirt around the issue, go "underground" as many people have suggested and get caught?

My words exactly. Thanks for being a bit more blunt than I was able to.

FUNI complained about IMAGES.
Nothing to really worry about.
You guys took them too seriously imo.

As far as legal matters go, there really is little argument of taking matters seriously or not. Aside from the one shown email, there were several followup and response emails as I mentioned between myself and dreamhost. Dreamhost furthermore acted as an intermediary between Funimation's legal department and our project in communicating the issue.

 

[Super Veggeto]

FUNI complained about IMAGES.
Nothing to really worry about.
You guys took them too seriously imo.

Notice they were talking about copyrights and such.
Besides, would you rather get a C&D? dont think it's worth the risk...
Zeth mentioned it before in one of his posts.

 

[L]

Notice they were talking about copyrights and such.
Besides, would you rather get a C&D? dont think it's worth the risk...
Zeth mentioned it before in one of his posts.

Just show's that you did not really care about your project.
You just cowered away.
Gir, what happened to you when you got a C&D?
Anything happen afterwords you got the letter?

 

[MC]

Why are we discussing ZEQII? I'm just irritated that this thread is all about ZEQII's legal problems rather than the intended topic. To be blunt, ZEQII received a C&D, that's it, nothing more needs to be said, no reason for an argument. Going underground would be the dumbest of things in which there would be no way ZEQII can be released to the public without grabbing the attention of FUNimation who would sue the team for failing to meet the demands of the C&D. The ZEQII team has no legal standing on this issue due to the copyright infringement of copyrighted material.

Why hasn't ESF been sent a C&D yet? Who knows, maybe it's luck, maybe they lack the potential threat towards FUNimation, etcetera.

I really do not mean to be disrepectful, but I am just saying what is on my mind.

 

[Super Veggeto]

Why are we discussing ZEQII? I'm just irritated that this thread is all about ZEQII's legal problems rather than the intended topic. To be blunt, ZEQII received a C&D, that's it, nothing more needs to be said, no reason for an argument.

Again, someone who doesnt know what he's talking about...

This isnt a C&D.

 

[MC]

I sincerely apologize for my mistakes, I will try not to make another one, but still why is all of this discussion about ZEQII?

 

[Grega]

Why hasn't ESF been sent a C&D yet? Who knows, maybe it's luck, maybe they lack the potential threat towards FUNimation, etcetera.

Thats a simple one. As stated in this thread todays market means better graphics better game. And ESF is based on the HL1 engine wich means in todays market funni has nothing to fear. Also ESF was active for over 5 years. Its far to late for funni to act now when its been this long.

As for the ZEQ problem. I say contact funni ask if they want to buy off the rights for your code (sharing them with you 50-50 ofcourse). But providing there own core. Instead of using Q3.

Of Funny is atleast a little bit smart they will grab the opertunity to establist a class A game for the PC. There last unconcured market.

And since you guys will be asking if they want to do that. Basicly giving them an opertunity to increase there market to the PC with a game they know will be great. You guys can basicly make the contract. Since you will be the sellers of your code. And funni will be the client.

I say its worth a shot. If they decline you can still do what youd do if you dont send it. If they accept both sides have something added to them. You guys get payed. And they get there PC game.

Basicly you cant loose anything.



EDIT: The discussion is about ZEQ2 cause they got the legal problems ^^

 

[Optimus Prime]

Just show's that you did not really care about your project.
You just cowered away.
Gir, what happened to you when you got a C&D?
Anything happen afterwords you got the letter?

Yeah, I mean, following the law is cowering away. Good argument.

Since you will be the sellers of your code. And funni will be the client.

Funimation doesn't make games. They sell the rights to the DBZ trademarks, so other companies can make DBZ games. If anything, Funi would be the one selling something to ZeqII, not the other way around.

 

[L]

Yeah, I mean, following the law is cowering away. Good argument.

They complained about pictures... on a website.
Not the project itself.