DMCA System accepting false claims

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(Apologies for the re-upload, I asked someone who posts here often to report this but forgot he can’t file it under someone elses account)

This is by no means trying to serve as an effective counter notice, neither is it an argument about whether Half Heads violate TOS or not.

Many creators, including me, are being targeted with frivolous DMCA notices that both:

  • Take down an item that isn’t originally created by them.

  • Remove assets that have no validity to be considered an “original work”

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(Mesh 135549280038177, 140483886506105 and 117116099402097 were removed.)

Now, here’s the example I’ve run into with this issue. Said user ss88325 has copyright claimed three of my meshes claiming that they’ve been stolen from him. The problem?

I’ve had the item he’s claiming me for up before him, all the way in November, whilst he’s claiming with a stolen mesh made in December on my newly uploaded heads.
https://www.rolimons.com/item/75860488783339

Not only that, but the mesh he’s claiming I stole is a bevelled Roblox head mesh. This DMCA serves no purpose but to remove competition.

If this isn’t fixed, there’s no telling what happens when these people move out of heads and into bundles, accessories, etc. Not to mention how long support take to appeal items that have been taken down.

Expected behavior

In the future, please consider assets people have already uploaded on their account in regards to DMCA. If someone has already uploaded a certain mesh months earlier than what someones claiming then it shouldn’t pass requirements as a claim. In regards to that, This DMCA (either way) shouldn’t of really fit the requirements for an original work.

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You’re correct that the DMCA system is commonly abused, but I’m just not sure how they’d fix this. Unless the mesh is identical, it’s hard for them to tell this is the case and I’m not sure agents have the time to go through your inventory to look for previously-uploaded versions of the allegedly infringing content.

Theoretically, you should be able to file a counter strike provided you have a URL to the same mesh that was uploaded before the “original” one in the claim.

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That’s fair – as to respect their time I’d hope in the future there are systems available to them to better check the validity of copyright claims. The mesh is identical to the one I’d previously used in items, just reuploaded. I’ve seen this same issue occur with hue shifts of items, where bad actors would be able DMCA recolors of an item with the original texture.

:+1: All is good with the counter-claim

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Haha, just noticed this but this guy is a complete grifter – His previous usernames tell you everything about him. Before he changed it, it was FreeHeadlessUGCgames, so he would of had to of been trying to scam people with those crappy obbies that give you the “real headless”

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Just goes to show when moderation is unprofessional about taking down these games, they thrive and move onto messing with real creators

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A friend of mine was hit with a DMCA by the same individual — it’s a situation quite similar to the one in your case. I’ll assist them once they respond via DM. For now, submitting a counter notice seems like the most reasonable way to resolve the issue. If there’s further abuse, I believe it would be more appropriate for staff to get involved.

Also, the content they claim to be copyrighted doesn’t appear to be original enough to qualify for copyright protection—yet somehow, Roblox’s agents are greenlighting these claims, which is quite baffling. If a staff member gets involved here, I’d be happy to share more details.

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Hi karol, thanks for reporting this issue. If you believe ss88325 is copying your intellectual property, please file a counter notice against them. We will conduct further investigation into this user and take action if we determine abuse is happening.

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I’ve already sent a counter-DMCA notice to this user, though I think the bigger problem is that these meshes I’ve being DMCA’d with do not have enough stand alone individuality to be claimed as “IP Infringement”

Not only this, but the current system for DMCA is incredibly easy to abuse. Like the example I was referencing a few comments above, someone can download the original texture/mesh of an item, and any future items that are uploaded by the original creator can be DMCA’d by false actors.

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Thanks for the follow-up. We’ve submitted a counter notice in response to their false claims, and we believe your investigations into their abuse of the system will greatly support this process. They appear to be bad actors, sending DMCA takedown notices for completely original content/simple objects.

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Roblox absolutely needs to check the validity of these claims. The least they could was check when both items were created. This was such a good update which has backfired terribly. :sad:

Some ways you could stop this:

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I didn’t want to bring this up here, but the DMCA agents have been “reviewing” their counter notice for over 2 weeks now, and there’s an unnecessary delay going on.

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I just got a reply and the mesh was restored. The other agent was really hopeless about it.

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