What this thread is about
This is going to be mainly focusing as assets that have the inclusion of Version History, such as models and experiences, and why a huge flaw in the current DMCA System exists when it realistically shouldn’t. This isn’t a Bug Reports as the system is basically functioning as it was designed, I want it to be changed. If you want a proposed solution that focuses on the DMCA System entirely and not just models/experiences, click here.
How the current DMCA System works
Currently how the DMCA System functions if the asset you are requesting to be taken down is created after yours, the system by default sides with you and recognizes you as the original creator and a strike would be issued towards the malicious actor who stole your creation. If you try submitting a DMCA request but the asset is older than yours, your request will be flat out rejected.
Example:
Why is this not good?
The DMCA System by default will automatically favor whomever “created” the asset first by using the upload date, this system acts as a barrier to prevent false takedowns. What it doesn’t account for is version history which is arguably more important than upload date as it shows the full progression and creation history, and even includes exact dates when these updates were published. This also creates another issue where Support Agents will automatically close your appeal as the stolen asset is technically created before yours, despite you having version history to back it up. Even worse, let’s say you file a DMCA takedown against somebody who stole your model/experience, malicious actors can actually purposely revert their assets back to the previous state they were in to avoid the DMCA claim being filed, and support will just flat out reject your ticket. Completely ridiculous! See here:
Why is Version History more important than Upload Date?
Let’s say you create a game, and it becomes massively popular. You created your game on 2/24/2022. You have published hundreds of updates and your version history shows and proves the creation and progression of your game. Somebody with an empty account created on 2/18/2008 now reverted their starter place to yours, and was updated today. They have filed a false DMCA takedown against you, and because of how the system works, it automatically favors them because their experience has an older creation date despite you clearly being the original creator and have a multitude of proof to back it up, such as Version History which even includes full dates and the exact timeframe. You can’t counter-DMCA them either as their asset is technically older than yours because of the system heavily favoring creation date so your request will just get denied. Even if you were to counter them, they can easily revert the asset and your claim will just get thrown out. This is a huge problem.
Why this needs to be addressed
Creators shouldn’t be subjugated to massive headaches that affect their bottom line because of a huge oversight in how a system functions, because of it’s current functionality, realistically nothing is stopping a malicious actor from just using a stolen 2007/2008 burner account and mass filing false takedowns. In fact, this is already happening, as me, and my colleague have been dealing with it for years now. Roblox has done nothing to address this problem and this seriously needs to be reworked. When your game is struck, your game gets put under review and you are no longer able to make money or have players in your game. Each time you get an IP Violation notice, your account will get a DMCA Strike, if you get 3 more your account will get outright deleted. Roblox Support is super slow and nauseous at times to deal with, and the longer a game is down, the more revenue and players are lost because of support pacing.
Real Examples of this DMCA Abuse
History of DMCA Abuse
False DMCA Takedown Notices
System siding with Bad Actor because of Creation Date
Here’s a prime example of the system automatically siding with the malicious actor because the creation date is older, despite the version history having the entire timeline proving I created it.
Here is 1 of the 10 tickets that got denied because of the system favoring creation date.
False bans because of the DMCA Abuse
There were more bans, but it had gotten to a point where I just could not be bothered to include literally all of them.
My colleague had to resort to talking to an attorney to get this to stop, and even Roblox still couldn’t be bothered to help as they wouldn’t accept our e-signature. You can’t make this up.
Proposed Solution: How the DMCA System SHOULD function (Models/Experiences)
Version History for experiences and models should take priority instead of asset creation date by default, as version history also provides an accurate timeline of when it was actually created. If this change is made, false takedown DMCA requests for certain assets, like experiences would cease to exist, as Version History cannot be faked. Version History provides a 100% accurate timeline, and does not rely on creation date that can easily be faked just by publishing over an existing place file. This would also benefit other creators in filing legitimate DMCA takedowns because now when a malicious actor tries reverting an asset, the version history proves they stole it.
In conclusion: This absolutely needs to be changed. This affects all developers as anybody can be a target. I’ve already dealt with this, [spoiler](and most likely more unsung victims)[/spoiler] and nobody should have to go through the same thing when it is most definitely avoidable and easily fixable. In total I had to spend nearly 1,000 dollars in legal fees from repeatedly countering these false DMCA claims when I shouldn’t be held financially responsible over Roblox not being able to provide the correct tools and services, nor implement them correctly to prevent this from happening to begin with, if the system functioned how I want it to function, this would’ve never happened.
TL;DR: Version History should take priority over Creation Date for assets that utilize the function.
Alternate Solution(?)
The reasoning for this alternate solution is for the DMCA System in general, my thread is targeting a specific niche kind of abuse within the DMCA System regarding models/experiences, however that being said, this also doesn’t address the countless issues that creators are having with other assets other than Models/Experiences, this alternate solution is to address that.
The DMCA System by default should be required to have you provide your full legal name and some form of identification, as you are representing yourself as the original creator. Doing this would also minimize and prevent 99% of false DMCA takedowns occurring in the first place. This would make it far easier to counter false takedowns as well. This would benefit all developers, like UGC creators, game developers, clothing creators, artists, and many more whom are serious about their work and want it to be protected from theft, and also don’t run the risk of being abused by a faulty system.
Currently as of writing this, filing a DMCA takedown doesn’t require any form of identification whatsoever, and only becomes required if filing a counter notice which is utterly insane considering this is regarding the LAW. It should be required by default.
I understand that this could be seen as tedious or even unwanted, but keep in mind; This is a legal process, this is supposed to be taken seriously, and if steps or precautions like this are implemented, then the system would be more legitimatized than the current state it currently is in.
If anybody else has a better proposal or idea, be my guest and shoot your ideas. Thank you.
Miscellaneous Info
Questions I've been asked about this before
Q: Why don’t you just appeal it using Roblox Support?
A: We have, most of our appeals were rejected under the basis that their asset is older than ours because they used an empty 2007/2014 account and changed the starter place to ours, and because of the system favoring older creation dates, we had to repeatedly make multiple tickets until they reversed the decision. It took around 10-12 tickets in total.
Q: Why don’t you just counter the DMCA Takedown?
A: I did this multiple times, where I was essentially forced into providing my personal information to a malicious actor who could potentially use that info to target or harass me further. Every time without fail, whenever I countered these takedowns they would have another 2007/2008 burner to send another false DMCA takedown of my game. The reason why they do this is so they don’t have to respond to the counternotice because they’d have to provide their actual information, which they obviously aren’t going to do, so instead they just will bounce back on another account to ensure the experience stays down.
Q: Why don’t you pursue this person legally?
A: We have absolutely nothing to work off of, all of the accounts that were used to file these false claims were clearly stolen and entirely empty, so whatever info was on them is clearly not theirs, and they were likely using a VPN when filing these anyway. My colleagues attorney tried contacting Roblox and was met with radio silence. We shouldn’t be forced in a scenario where we are having to potentially spend thousands of dollars in legal fees because of a system that Roblox didn’t implement correctly. The only reason this person backed off is because they found out we were talking to our lawyers. We shouldn’t have to do that.
Other DMCA-related complaint threads
Improvements To DMCA system
Allow users to see their Current DMCA strikes & when these expire
Good Faith Takedown System for UGC Creators (Protection from Strike Accumulation)
Asset Theft and Major Protection Failures For UGC Emotes
Allowing Users to see their current DMCA Strikes/Moderation Status
Better way to request dmca or stolen assets to be taken down
Roblox dmca system was abused
https://devforum.roblox.com/t/dmca-should-be-addressed-strongly/3921794
UGC DMCA is useless
9/14/25 Edit: I found the messages as I thankfully had the photos of them still saved. They are now included in the “History of DMCA Abuse” section of this thread. I still highly suggest you support my Bug Reports > Website Bugs post about the archiving issue.