As a Roblox developer, it is currently too hard to deal with people stealing my creations
If Roblox is able to address this issue, it would improve my development experience because it would minimize the number of bad actors stealing models.
Hey there, the whole purpose of this post is to request a feature that would save millions of creators from having their assets stolen.
What I wanna start off with, is, that with the new upcoming asset privacy and permissions feature that’s been teased at RDC 2023, would be nice to have more stuff we can do with our assets, I’ll attach an image below with 3 options I feel like would be needed
(example shown with a decal)
-
Un-private/private asset:
While these assets can still be seen if spawned in-game, only those with permissions can export these through studio, download the asset resource on their device or see other versions of the asset. This would prevent a lot of people from stealing meshes & textures through Roblox studio -
Download:
This is self explainatory, users can download .png, .obj & .ogg of the files they upload (or perhaps the asset in the extension roblox converted it to, eg. uploaded .obj, downloads .mesh) -
Delete:
Would delete the item from the catalog forever.
This would be a very needed option for our assets, because right now, archiving only makes the asset unusable until the creator decides to un-archive it. Allowing people to fully delete assets off their platform would be a very needed feature, not just for game assets but also for avatar items & would prevent people from getting botted DMCAs, as well as saving the Roblox platform from a potential lawsuit. [Avatar items would require robux to be deleted that should be used to go back to refund those who purchased the item]. A lot of other platforms allow their users to fully delete assets, such as videos or other media they upload, no reason why Roblox shouldn’t do the same.
Main reason for this request, is because right now I’m dealing with a lot of people not trying, but succeeding in stealing my models by using studio’s built-in 3D export feature.
Trying to export privated assets, would give the user an error similar to: “Warning: 1 or more assets you’re tying to export are private. Do you want to continue without exporting these assets?” and if they choose yes, the entire model is exported without the privated assets
All the privated assets should also only be visible to people with permissions, similar to models.
Currently images can be seen & downloaded by anybody on the platform.
(Uploader view)
(Other users’ view)
You can notice, the asset in question is an image, not a decal or model, so it can be seen on the Roblox’s page.
Additionally, depending on what browser the users are using (I’m using Microsoft Edge for this example), you can also download the image and save it in your computer.
This shouldn’t be allowed because this is how many people are having their assets stolen, and at this point it’s ridiculous we don’t have a proper way of protecting our assets.
Yes we can send copyright takedowns, but sometimes those are also not working properly, and unless you are a company, the DMCA takedown proccess will be so painful. Not all of us afford to pay people or even buy bots to actively check for stolen content, and it’s a very consuming part of our day, so why not having our stuff protected as much as possible to begin with?
I’m hoping there’s enough information provided in this post and I know many would agree with some changes needing to be done, and I can’t wait to see what the assets privacy & permissions feature is going to bring up. Hopefully some of the features I’ve mentioned above could also make it into the new update as currently Roblox faces a lot of troubles when it comes to assets privacy & copyright protection.
EDIT: (forgot to mention when I first posted)
The AI texture creator should also avoid making textures for private meshes, because currently, you can use the AI texture creator on user-made meshes, and they will be re-uploaded under your account, making it very easily to steal meshes and reupload them as marketplace avatar items & profit off other people’s work.
